So, I've been planning a new tattoo for four years. I just haven't quite done it. But I just realized that I was wanting to place it on my right hip. Well my CRPS is in my right foot and moving up my right leg. So would that be a bad idea? Would it maybe trigger something bad?

Can I still get a tattoo jut maybe in a different place?

IMO Nobody knows your body better than you. Will you pay a price for it? Will it ramp you up? How long will it take you to ramp down after the tattooing? Will it cause your CRPS to spread? And is it worth it to you, even if you do pay the price?

There's definitely risk but no guarantees. Getting a tattoo could cause your CRPS to spread...or it could not. As Spike said...what it really comes down to is whether it is worth the risk. If worst case scenario happens...will you still be happy you got it? I know some people have gotten tattoos after CRPS and they did not have spread or worsening pain...and others did. Only you can decide if it is worth it to you.

Hi Becca,

This sounds inherently risky. Especially with your nervous system in overdrive and symptoms spreading. If you decide to go ahead at the very least wait until your pain is well managed and stable. And by all means ask your doctor what they think.

Personally I wouldn't take an avoidable risk that didn't have a therapeutic upside. How your body will react is unknown and if it doesn't go well...

The thing is I was only diagnosed in Oct. I'm very new to this whole thing so I don't really know much about how my body responds to anything yet!

The risk is not worth it. I got a horrible taste of what a spread would be like after taking a drug that was supposed to help me. My face, mouth and tongue were on fire. My arms tingled. Shudder.

I dread every procedure, including having my teeth cleaned, because I know there is a possibly of re-awakening the dragon in a new area. I went through weeks of hell recovering from a colonoscopy and endoscopy. A fairly short drive on Thanksgiving set me back weeks.

Now that I have had brain surgery I am queued up for a follow up, lol, "minimally invasive" procedure at 6mos., 1 year, and 3 years. OMG, so upsetting, but I had no other choice, because my aneurysm was too big to ignore.

You do not have to do this. It is not necessary to your health, happiness or appearance.

In my opinion, I would not go through with getting a tattoo. The risk of spread, even this early on is too high. No needle pricks, surgeries or other trauma unless absolutely necessary. Maybe one day things will settle a little for you, you will get your CRPS under more control and you can reconsider then. If you do decide to go ahead and give it a try but please use something like Emla to keep the nerves as settled as possible. If you have something drawn up, leave it as artwork on paper for now.

Given the fact that you are fairly new to how CRPS will affect your body, if it were me in your shows, and now knowing you are fairly new, if it were me, I would take the advice of those that have posted here already. In my opinion, I agree with these others, I don't want anything that is going to make my days more painful.

I had surgery less than a month ago. It took me from the day of the surgery until just yesterday to finally have my inflated pain get back down to baseline. This disease is a Monster. It will use anything and everything (at times) to inflict more suffering and pain. Now that is not always the case, but... as for me personally, I hate CRPS pain so much, I don't chance much that I don't have to. Well, that is the case most of the time. I'm naturally on the wild side, so I had best be honest about that too. *GULP* If I could physically shift the gears on a Harley, I know that I'd go for a ride. *GULP* But, I certainly wouldn't do anything to my physical body, knowing that there is a good chance, I could pay the price.

Becca, It can be hard to know what to do when all this is new and you don't know what will happen. I personally think it best to be kind to yourself and avoid things that have the potential to make you worse. (unless medically necessary)

Treat your body like a much loved child. Support it with plenty of tender care. Sometimes it will need a push so it can advance but just undertake the challenges with a bit of extra caution.

When in doubt, use this as a sounding board or ask your doctor. There are no silly questions when it comes to taking care of your health.

Take care of you,

Yeah. I was thinking probably it wasn't a good idea right now when its such early stages and not controlled at all. I don't have a planned date or anything (honestly I wanted to do it when I turned 40 but that was a few years ago...)
Now I'm worried about getting my teeth cleaned and my routine GYN appt that is coming up. UGH.