Nation's First Tattoo Clinic Finds Ink Answers In NYC

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Daphne Warrington has more than 20 tattoos, but just one has caused her trouble. The tribal design on her left calf composed of her and her siblings' first initials turned from an homage to her family into a source of agony.

Warrington, a Jamaica, Queens resident, got the tattoo in Brooklyn about a decade ago. Six months to a year later, she noticed a tiny bump that started to itch. Eventually it spread and got so bad that she was scratching her leg until blood poured out, she said.

The affliction stumped her longtime dermatologist in Park Slope. She went through at least 20 different creams and other products before finding one that kept it under control. But her skin flared up worse than ever last fall. She didn’t know what to do.

“It was starting to come back bad and I said, ‘I don’t want to go through this thing again,’” said Warrington, 47.

Warrington finally got relief from Dr. Marie Leger, a dermatologist who in December opened the William Street Tattoo Center in the Financial District, the nation’s first clinic dedicated to tattoo-related medical issues. It’s affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine.

Leger’s research into tattoos and their effects on the skin found that of the one third of Americans who have tattoos, 6 percent have chronic problems lasting longer than four months.

The tattoo center aims to treat and study those complications and learn more about what tattoos can do to the skin. The clinic has seen 20 to 25 patients so far.

“Now that such a large portion of the U.S. population has tattoos we have a real opportunity to learn a lot about them,” Leger said.

Most tattoos turn out beautifully and heal normally, Leger said. But they can cause myriad problems — all of which the center treats — ranging from mild allergic reactions to infections and more serious issues that make the skin itchy and scaly, she said.

European researchers have found some interesting patterns, such as the fact that red ink is most likely to cause problems, Leger said. But there’s still a need for more research into how tattoos can affect the skin.

Leger wants the tattoo center to be a part of that research, she said. Tattoo removal is one area of interest — the center uses a cutting-edge "pico-laser," also known as a picosecond laser, along with other treatments to see what works best, Leger said.

The clinic hopes to eventually create a database of all the complications a tattoo can cause, Leger said.

“We’re just hoping to build a center that can really be a place that people come to — tattoo artists, clients, referring physicians — that can really kind of help with all things tattoo-related,” she said.

One of the conditions Leger treats is sarcoidosis, an unusual disease that causes bumps to form on the skin, lungs or other organs. Tattoos can cause the condition to show up for the first time in patients who wouldn’t otherwise know they have it, Leger said.

That’s what happened to Warrington. Her first dermatologist thought she might have sarcoidosis, but a specialist she was sent to checked in her lungs, not on her skin, she said.

But the disease came to Leger’s mind immediately when Warrington first saw her in October, Warrington said. The diagnosis was confirmed and Leger started giving Warrington steroid shots to treat it — more than 45 at first, then fewer as her skin improved.

“They couldn’t figure out what was wrong for 10 years,” Warrington said. “I’m glad there’s an answer for it so now it can get fixed.”

Leger wants to enlist tattoo artists to help their clients spot issues that might need a doctor’s attention. She’s reached out to hundreds of artists by mail and recently gave a lecture at a tattoo shop.

Bushwick-based tattoo artist Karen Glass met Leger at one such talk. While she’s only had to refer clients to a doctor a couple of times, Glass said it was reassuring to connect with a “tattoo-positive” dermatologist.

Tattoos can be “really empowering or healing” for people who get them, Glass said. Some people have told her they feel apprehensive about going to see a doctor who might question their decision, she said, but she felt that wouldn’t happen at the tattoo center.

“It’s a great resource for us,” Glass said. “It’s going to make my clients feel safer, it’s going to make me more confident that they’re going to get the care that they need if something goes wrong.”

Warrington once felt a dermatologist she saw on Long Island was “throwing shade” at her tattoos, she said, but she doesn’t feel that way with Leger. She and the doctor have already started talking about treating some more of her skin issues, she said.

“If it hadn’t been for her I would’ve gone another 10 years without paying any attention,” Warrington said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the neighborhood where the William Street Tattoo Center is located. It is in the Financial District, not the Lower East Side.

(Lead image: Dr. Marie Leger opened the William Street Tattoo Center, the nation's first clinic dedicated to tattoo-related medical issues, in December in the Financial District. The clinic treats tattoo complications and removes tattoos using a pico-laser, which is pictured. Photo courtesy of NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine)