Do Come In To Donate Before You Get Your Tattoo
Youve got your design ready and youre probably on a wait list for the next available appointment. It can feel like going under the needle is ages away, so what better way to kill some time than coming in to donate with us? If you can squeeze in a donation before you get inked, youll be helping to save lives, and we know youre not afraid of needles!
Blood Saves Lives And One Donation May Save Up To Three
In northern Colorado, someone requires a blood transfusion every 37 minutes, according to Bridget Aesoph, donor recruiter for Garth Englund Blood Donation Center.
Blood facts
Blood is composed of several important components. Plasma is the base, made of mostly water. Red blood cells pick up oxygen from the lungs and transport it via the circulatory system to every cell in the body, providing energy. Platelets help the blood clot to reduce bleeding after injury, the first step toward healing damaged tissues. Each of these blood parts can be safely transfused to patients that need them when in the hospital.
All blood donated through UCHealth Garth Englund Blood Donation Centers stays local. It helps patients at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Greeley Hospital and Estes Park Medical Center.
Blood products are not only needed for trauma patients up to 100 pints of blood products per patient but women with complications during pregnancy sometimes need a blood transfusion. Children with severe anemia and many who have complex medical or surgical procedures need blood transfusions. Cancer patients also need these products.
Tattoos And Body Piercing
People who received a tattoo at a state-licensed and regulated facility in Florida or South Carolina are now eligible to donate once the area has healed. People who received a tattoo at a non-regulated facility or outside of Florida or South Carolina must wait 12-months before they can donate.
People who received any type of body piercing done with single use equipment in Florida or South Carolina are now eligible to donate once the area has healed. All other types of piercings require a 12-month wait before donating.
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Can You Give Plasma While Pregnant
While there are some limitations for women who want to donate plasma, it is possible if they meet certain criteria. If youre pregnant now or have been recentlybetween pregnancies then unfortunately your application will not be processed because HLA antibodies could trigger an infection during donation and therefore put others at risk too including those with healthy kidneys already damaged by disease However hope isnt lost! You can still help out by being an EVALUATE DONOR this means producing less valuable types of blood like platelets which helps prevent strokes/heart attacks
Do People Lie About The Time It Has Been Since Getting A Tattoo
Yes, the possibility of providing wrong information about your tattoo to a donation center is high. But why would someone want to risk anyones life if the whole purpose of donating blood is to save them? In some cases, its stupid to lie about your tattoo, as blood and plasma centers conduct a few tests on you before you donate. So even if you lie, it wont work in your favor and save you the embarrassment. These tests reveal if you have a disease or infection that could harm the person receiving your blood.
Tattoos are one of the reasons for a blood infection, but thats not always the case. It happens only if the ink or equipment used is of poor quality and if your tattoo artist hasnt followed sanitization guidelines. When you get a tattoo on your body or get any part pierced, your immune system gradually starts to process slowly. Thus, you become more susceptible to catching different viruses and infections, especially blood-borne illnesses such as hepatitis.
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Are There Other Things That Make You Ineligible For Blood Donation
Before you go to donate blood, you need to make sure that you are aware of any factors that may make you ineligible for donating blood. There are a couple of conditions that may mean you cannot donate any blood.
Tattoos are usually one reason why people may get turned away from giving blood, but you may also get turned away if you have a tattoo that you got within one year of trying to give blood.
This is because foreign materials can get into your blood and contaminate it when you get a piercing. In some cases, this may even mean that you get blood infections, for instance, HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.
In some cases, it may actually be possible to donate blood if you have recently had a piercing though. Namely, if you went to a professional establishment that operates using single-use nail guns.
If this is the case then you should have no problem giving blood. If the gun is reusable then you will need to wait for 12 months before you try to donate blood or plasma again.
There are also other conditions that make it so you cant donate blood. Some examples include sickle cell disease hemophilia, jaundice, ebola, babesiosis, Chagas disease, and a number of others.
These conditions arent necessarily ones that you will get from having a tattoo, though it is slightly more likely that you will get these diseases and viruses after you have gotten a tattoo.
If Youve Been Sick You Might Need To Wait A While
You should be completely recovered from any infection for at least 14 days before giving blood and if youve been on antibiotics youll have to wait seven days after finishing your medication before donating.
If youre on specific medical treatment, check with your local blood donation centre to see if youre eligible to give blood.
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How Long Does It Take To Donate Blood And Whats The Process
The physical part of donating blood takes about ten minutes, but the entire process can take up to an hour. Thats because it includes registration, a mini-physical to ensure you meet the eligibility requirements to donate blood, the blood donation, and light refreshments before you leave to ensure your body is replenished with fluids.
Make sure to take care of yourself leading up to the blood draw. Get a good nights rest the night before, drink plenty of fluids, and eat a healthy breakfast that morning. Its a good idea to drink an extra glass of water within 10 to 30 minutes before you donate.
If youre nervous about donating blood, dont worry. You may feel a quick pinch or a sense of discomfort from the needle, but it happens quickly, and the pain should go away as the blood is drawn. You can look away if you dont want to see the blood or worry about getting queasy. Please tell the phlebotomist if you have a history of nausea or fainting during blood donations.
Donors Wanted: New Returning And Inked
Lifeblood predicts the changes will see 17,000 extra donors now able to roll up their sleeves and donate plasma, boosting stocks by 50,000 donations a year.
In the regional NSW city of Tamworth, dozens of locals were waiting out the four-month window.
Weve got around 100 Tamworth locals who have been prevented from donating blood or plasma due to having tattoos one in seven Australians have been tattooed, Ms Dietrich said.
We definitely always need both whole blood and plasma, but plasma is in high demand considering we make 18 different products from plasma.
You can donate plasma more often, you can come in every two weeks if you have time and are healthy and well, so wed love to see more people come in centre: new, return, inked.
Ms Dietrich said the plasma donations helped people with autoimmune diseases, cancer, haemophilia, kidney diseases and burns.
It makes a lot of different products for a lot of sick people, she said.
An hour of your day, come on in and have a sausage roll and a milk afterwards.
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Can You Donate Blood After Getting A Tattoo Red Cross
While your tattoo may be permanent, the deferral isnt. If your tattoo was applied in one of the 11 states that do not regulate tattoo facilities, you must wait 3 months before donating blood. To learn more about eligibility criteria for donating blood, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS .
How Long After Blood Transfusion Can You Donate
Blood Transfusion. Wait for 3 months after receiving a blood transfusion from another person in the United States. You may not donate if you received a blood transfusion since 1980 in France, Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar or Falkland Islands.
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Will A Plasma Center Be Able To Tell Ive Got A Tattoo
Technically, a center cant tell precisely when you got your tattoo or even if you have one if its well hidden. If the tattoo is in a place that you can see easily through like your neck, hand, or your arm and it appears to be fresh, then they are likely to know that it was applied recently.
In the event that they dont notice, the center is still going to run tests on you in order to check that you are safe to donate blood, such as tests for viruses like hepatitis.
People who have tattoos and piercings can often get these sorts of illnesses, though its much more likely if the person has had a tattoo that hasnt been sanitized or done correctly. Hepatitis is incredibly dangerous, causing bad illnesses.
The recipient of the blood can end up getting the virus and that can be dangerous for them, sometimes lethal.
In some situations it may be possible for you to get a tattoo and donate the blood without anyone even being aware of it, but this is a risk that you should be avoiding since it can put another persons life at risk.
You can still donate blood if you have a tattoo you just need to wait a while after getting a tattoo in order to do so. Its the right and responsible thing to do, after all.
There are a couple of requirements for donating blood if you have tattoos that you need to be aware of. Weve listed many of them below.
Tattoos And Blood Donation
As you may know, when tattooing, your tattoo artist will use a tattoo needle to pierce through your skin to shape and outline your tattoo. The tattooing process allows a lot of bacteria living on your skin to get inside of it and potentially enter your bloodstream.
Among those bacteria, there could also be some blood-borne pathogens that could spread across the blood and result in some sexually-transitive diseases that you may not know about. Thats why many hospitals and medical facilities, as well as blood donating facilities, had a pretty strict policy about donating blood from tattooed individuals.
Even a famous football player Cristiano Ronaldo avoided getting a tattoo because he frequently donated his blood.
As you may know, the healing process for a tattoo can last anywhere from two weeks to six weeks, and cause skin infections if the aftercare is not properly done. The risk is only increased if you didnt get your tattoo done at a certified and regulated tattoo studio but went to an unregulated tattoo artist who didnt adhere to all the rules for hygiene when tattooing.
Still, a lot of professional artists are trying their best to adhere to those rules and make a tattoo that will heal easily and as painlessly as possible, while also advising their clients how to take care of their tattoo so that itd heal swiftly and so that they could get back to donating blood as soon as possible.
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How To Prepare Yourself For Blood Donation With A Tattoo On
If you meet all the requirements that allow you to donate with a tattoo, there are a few things you must do before your blood drive to help you go through a smooth process. These things are all the more important to follow, especially if you have a tattoo. If youre eligible to donate, even with your tattoo, its best to wait at least 6-8 weeks for your tattoo to heal correctly. And this way, you will donate pureblood without any risk of transmission.
As your immunity is at its lowest when you get a tattoo, you can do a few things that will help you boost youR immune system. You must follow a clean and iron-rich diet, consume beans, red meat, spinach, and other iron-rich foods. Make sure you take part in activities such as dancing and exercising to help settle your stress levels, as stress has a major effect on your body function and may affect your ability to donate blood. Lastly, make sure to drink lots of juices and water to flush your internal system and get you back on track.
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Travel Guidelines For Blood Donation
To protect the blood supply and to comply with regulations and safety guidelines, blood banks defer donors who have travelled to certain parts of the world. These rules are in place due to a potential travel-related risk of contracting an infection that may be transmitted through blood transfusion. If you have questions or need more information, please call 1-888-8-BLOOD-8.
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Procedure After Donating Blood
Your responsibilities as a donor dont automatically end after your blood has been taken.
When the job is done, you are then going to have to make sure that you do all you can in order to avoid getting diseases and viruses, since your immune system will be down after youve donated blood and when youve had a tattoo.
Do everything you can to look after yourself after youve had a tattoo in order to avoid any nasty side effects.
Do things to keep your blood pressure in check and to avoid getting fatigued. The best thing to do is to have lots of water. Hydration can help you to avoid any unwanted side effects from giving blood.
You should aim to have a minimum of 32 ounces of water after you have given blood, and dont drink anything containing alcohol around one to two days after you have given blood.
You need to be taking the opportunity to rest and relax after you have given blood, so dont overexert yourself physically either since it can add to feelings of weakness.
Look after your skin in the area of the tattoo as well there are products designed specifically for this purpose.
How Long Should I Keep My Tattoo Covered
Right after the needles done buzzing, your artist will wrap a covering over your tattoo to protect it from bacteria and irritation. The type of covering you get depends on your tattoo artists preferenceRaeman uses regular saran wrap for her clients, and she recommends that you leave it on for around three hours.
Dagger opts for a covering called second skin. Its a clear sticker that stays on your tattoo for about three days and keeps everything off site. After the three days, you can take it off and live your life.
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Eligibility To Become A Blood Donor In India
Several different organizations and hospitals organize blood donation camps in India, where donors can donate blood. Besides, donors can also visit the hospitals blood banks to donate blood or directly donate to a receiver. Several parameters determine the eligibility of an individual to donate blood in India. According to the Ministry of Health, the Government of India guidelines below mentioned criteria is to be followed:
- The donor must be healthy and fit and should not be suffering from any transmittable disease.
- The donor must be 1865 years old and weigh a minimum of 50 kg to donate blood in India.
- The donors pulse rate must be between 50 and 100 without irregularities.
- The donors hemoglobin level must be 12.5 g/dL.
- Donors blood pressure level must be Diastolic: 50100 mm Hg, Systolic: 100180 mm Hg.
- The donors body temperature must be normal, with an oral temperature not exceeding 37.5 °C or 99.5°F.
- The time between successive blood donations should be more than three months.
- The donor should not be anemic.
- The donor should not be pregnant.
- The donor should not have gotten any tattoos, piercings, or acupuncture treatments recently.
- The donor should not have any disqualifying medical conditions.
NOTE: In case of any doubt, it is essential to speak to your doctor about your eligibility to give blood. Also, it is advised to get yourself tested for any conditions or infections, especially if youve recently traveled, or had unprotected sex.
The bottom line
Can I Donate Blood After Getting A Piercing
It depends on how you get a piercing. Most blood donation centers permit people with new piercings to donate blood after 12 weeks. However, there are some exceptions. The American Red Cross requires an awaited period of one year for anyone who gets a piercing in the mouth. Other piercing-related surgeries like earlobe repair and cauliflower ear are not permitted to donate blood.
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