# @science on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DQxu9DIk4Im
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/36675698-science-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/94871c8e84.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-11-08T01:30:17.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Science 🧬 (@science) — https://gondola.cc/science

## Caption

According to researchers from the University of Alabama, getting a bunch of tattoos is a lot like working out. When you first start, your body is weakened by the new stress. At the gym, this means sore muscles. For tattooing, the process often leaves you feeling generally exhausted because your body is wondering why you injected a foreign contaminant deep into your skin. ⁠
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But after a few days in the gym, your muscles start to strengthen and you no longer feel like death. Noticing how this works for muscles, the team wondered if the same could be said about tattooing. Could getting multiple pieces tattooed act as an immunological exercise routine?⁠
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As it turns out, yes. The researchers were able to verify this by heading out to a local tattoo shop and recruiting volunteers for a study that examined how many tattoos a person had and how long each tattooing session was. With this data, they then analysed blood samples to gauge the participants' levels of immunoglobulin A, which is an antibody, and cortisol, a stress hormone.⁠
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The team found that people who were getting their very first tattoo had a large drop in immunoglobulin A, thanks to rising cortisol levels. As for those who had been tattooed many times before, immunoglobulin A levels decreased only a tiny bit, which, according to the team, suggests that the body is strengthening its immunological response. ⁠
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"After the stress response, your body returns to an equilibrium," said Christopher Lynn, one of the study's authors. "However, if you continue to stress your body over and over again, instead of returning to the same set point, it adjusts its internal set points and moves higher."⁠
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#tattoo #ink #science #biology #dna #immunesystem

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## Tags

science, tattoo, immunesystem, ink, dna, biology

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