It depends upon the sensitivity setting of the scanner.

I had a total hip replacement in July 2000 (opposite hip due in July),
and I set off scanners at some places (a few prisons I visit) but not
at courthouses or airports.

I wrote "a few" because the scanners go off at Level 4 -- highest
security -- but not at Level 3, 2, or 1 institutions.

And I'd like to invite your wife to join us at alt.support.arthritis
and talk about her problems and surgery, if she's so inclined to.

yeah they might but I don't think you should worry them unnecessarily.  MS
is enough to worry about, their tattoo's are the least of their problems.
I've had cancer three times, no scratch that this is my forth time and I've
had many many different scans and being burned by a tattoo was the least of
my worries.

It doesn't depend on the "shop," it depends on the ink. Your tattoos
must have been done with non-metallic inks. I saw one ad for black ink
maded with "india ink," that stuff they make (or used to make) from the
"ink" of octopi.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. I just
posted this information for those who are considering getting a tattoo.
People on the MS group may get an MRI someday.
Sylvia

====> it just go happens that i had a tattoo shop in one of my buildings
that i rented out and i was interested in how they did things.  they
took the time to explain everything to me.  from how they sterilized the
needles to how to set the depth of the tattoo gun and adjust the points
of the gun as well as the different types of inks.   most inks do not
use metals because it can cause a body reaction.  they also specialized
in henna and body piercings.  now,  you have a lot of metal in body
piercings and i could see where that could affect a MRI.  i know that
the people who got their tongue pierce often broke teeth because they
would forget that they had that piece of metal in their mouth and would
bite down and fracture the tooth.

now, for the good side of tattoos.   they also specialized in medial
tattoos.   this is the art of doing everything from creating permanent
eyeliner and make up to cover up tattoo work on burn victims where they
would tattoo the scarring to make it the same color as the surrounding
tissue or they would tattoo over a birthmark or a port stain.  they
could colorize using a tattoo over a surgery scar to get it to blend in
with the skin.

doctors would send their patients to them if they felt that the tattoo
shop could help them.

it was an interesting business because it's not what one would think of
a tattoo shop would be.

so, getting back to what this thread is all about - if you get a tattoo,
you can't get an MRI

here's an article that may help to explain things.  after all, they use
tattoos to mark the spots for radiation.

~ curtis

------------

BellaOnline's Body Art Editor

Medical Tattoos and Micropigmentation
Slowly but surely, the back alley practice of tattooing is finding
credible uses in the medicine world.

Believe it or not, there are a few instances where making a permanent
mark is necessary for medical procedures.

Tattooing occasionally comes into play in the realm of healing and more
often than not, there is a practical motivation for an unchanging mark
and not too much art is involved. However, this can be an awkward area
as sometimes the medical necessity overrides the patient's choice,
occasionally resulting in a required, unwanted tattoo.

The most common application of medical tattooing comes in the realm of
radiation therapy for cancer. For certain types of cancer, radiation is
an effective treatment but tissues must be precisely treated, neither
missed in the x-ray passes nor over-irradiated. A sort of targeting
pattern is often tattooed onto these patients as the treatment schedule
is frequently stretches over a period of months This is the most
reliable way of marking the treatment areas without having to remeasure
and remark, giving the oncologist a fixed map to follow.

Increasingly there is usage of tattooing for reconstructive purposes,
often called "micropigmentation." In this instance, rather than fanciful
designs, the artistry comes in reproduction of the natural, providing
the opportunity for restoration through camouflage and re-pigmentation
of the skin. Scar re-pigmentation and aureola reconstruction following
mastectomy are the leading areas where tattooing can be a part of a
patient's post-surgery treatment options.

Replacement of larger areas of skin pigmentation due to disease or burn
damage are areas that are seeing expansion of these "dermagraphics" as
doctors and tattooists collaborate more with patients to restore a
pre-illness and pre-surgery appearance.

People of color have the most options in this area. Ink colors can be
matched to individual skin tones and shades, allowing all manner of
discolorations to be filled and blended with the surrounding areas.

Using tattoing to restore flawed patches of skin is a technique that
actually works better the darker the person's skin color and does not
work as well for Caucasians.
White tattoo ink is not opaque and can not be added into the skin over
darker tattoo colors or skin discolorations to make them lighter. A
dermatologist would most likely use a laser to remove errant skin
pigmentation in those cases.

A British widower recently made international headlines with her choice
of tattoo. The 85 year-old woman, who once worked in nursing, visited a
local tattooist to have specific "do not resuscitate" instructions
tattooed on her chest. Having seen many people resuscitated against
their wishes once incapacitated, she wanted to make sure that any
attendant medical staff knew her explicit preference.
She hoped to spark more debate rather than start a new fashion trend, as
well as make sure her final wishes are seen to as she specified.

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional    
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc

lol sounds more like smuggling

Elephants in a circus?! I thought the animal rights folks got that
stopped. Now they use human beings in their place. :)

DCI