Girl’s arm smelled like ‘rotting flesh’ after henna tattoo left her with chemical burns
Parents are being warned against letting their children have black henna tattoos.
The new summer phase has seen youngsters have the temporary ink marked on them.
But now one girl has been suffering with chemical burns from the markings – and her skin smells like rotting flesh.
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Alisha Evans said her daughter Amora Evans – whose tattoo became infected shortly after having it put on during a holiday in Turkey earlier this month, was “over the moon” with a temporary wolf tattoo she had on their final day of their fortnight break.
But two days after returning to the UK, the mum-of-two said her 10-year-old began complaining of a painful and itchy arm, so rushed her to a pharmacist as soon as possible.
(Image: Kennedy News and Media)
The 31-year-old said that over the course of 10 days the wound on her arm became “angry looking” as blisters started to bubble up before it turned bright red and started oozing yellow pus.
It’s believed that the burn was caused by a chemical commonly found in black henna and dark hair dyes.
After two trips to the pharmacist and a doctor’s visit where she was prescribed antibiotics.
Alisha, of Alsager, Cheshire, said: “It smelt like rotting flesh, it was awful.
“I’d say to other parents to not let their children have these black henna tattoos, I had no idea that this chemical – called Paraphenylenediamine (PPD) – existed.
(Image: Kennedy News and Media)
“It sounds really silly to let your child have them, but everybody had them and I didn’t even think it could cause something like this.
“To be honest, I was really scared at first because I didn’t know what it was and what was happening, which is why I started researching it so thoroughly.
“Then I realised that it was actually really common.
“Thankfully a more severe reaction hasn’t happened and it hasn’t got any worse. It’s just worrying.”
Henna tattoos are not widely available in the UK, but can be done at certain specialist locations by trained experts.
A test patch to check for allergies is always advisable before having the full work done.
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