Tattoos are now a part of the fashion of world footballers. A lot more footballers who added their limbs with various inks, ranging from Lionel Messi, Raheem Sterling, Sergio Ramos, Delle Alli, Ederson and many more. It would be close to 50% of professional footballers have tattoos in their body. One famous footballer who does not tattoo his body is Cristiano Ronaldo. Tattoos may have become a lifestyle for some people, but for a physiologist, it might be a barrier for sweat glands that works well.
Recently, several researchers at Alma College Michigan, led by Maurie Leutkemeier, a professor in the field of physiology and health sciences, conducted a study of 10 young men who were in healthy and fit condition and had at least one tattoo on one part of their body. The researchers tried to compare the condition of sweat glands on tattooed and non-tattooed body parts by attaching pilocarpine nitrate, a compound that stimulates perspiration. And the results of these studies indicate that the body parts that are tattooed produce less sweat than the body parts that are not tattooed. As for the sodium content in sweat, the tattooed body part also has a sodium content nearly double that which is not tattooed.
At recent writings, Dr. Leutkemeier assumed that “there might be permanent changes in the skin after tattooing, because some of the coloring left in the skin prevents sweat glands”. But in the end Dr. Leutkemeier concluded that “it is not possible to tattoo enough to inhibit perspiration to contribute to overheating or other problems, even when playing football”. But a different matter was expressed by Dr. Ingo Frobose from German Sports University, Cologne at The Sun, “I will ban soccer players from tattoos, various studies show that players experience a 3-5% decline in performance after having a tattoo. The skin is the largest organ we have, but we put poison into that organ.”
Dr. Frobose did fail to elaborate on studies that showed performance degradation as intended, but he highlighted that 60-70% of ink from tattoos does not survive on the skin and instead it enters the bloodstream. “As a result, the strength of one’s recovery suffers and you are no longer as fresh as before,” he continued. Indeed further research is needed to investigate the effects of tattoos on sweat levels, their composition and any potentially detrimental effects on sports performance. But one thing is clear: with the tattoo who are now very common, at least the waterbreak rule during matches has been applied to parse dehydration and overhead on the players. What do you think about tattoo?
