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How Does My Immune System Effect My Microblading Results? 🤔

**How does the immune system affect your degree of fading & results?**

When the pigment is placed in the skin, it triggers an immune response in the body. The immune system kicks in to defend the body against the wound and to "eat" the foreign bodies (pigment).

The immune system sends in fighter cells called macrophages and phagocytes. Think of these little guy's like the body's microbiological Pac-Men, they try to eat and envelop the foreign bodies in an effort to contain the threat, in this case our pigment.

- If they "eat" the pigment molecule then it is flushed out of the body via the lymphatic system.

- If they "envelop" the pigment molecule then the pigment spreads a bit, as it has tried to flush the invader but didn't get far. (this is why most clients strokes spread as they heal)


Three images showing a macrophage, left, with green tattoo pigments. The macrophages were killed, releasing the pigments, center, but new macrophages moved in, right, and consumed the ink globules.Credit...Baranska et al., 2018


When the body is breached by infectious agents, such as certain microbes, they encounter various parts of the immune system. In general, phagocyte is a broad term which refers to any cell which carries out phagocytosis.


??PHAGOCYTES?? (phag·O·cyte)

A type of immune cell that can engulf large prokaryotic cells, such as bacteria, foreign bodies or eukaryotic cells, such as yeast cells or dead cells to kill them, or small foreign particles to remove them from the circulation.


??MACROPHAGES?? (MA-kroh-fayj)

A type of white blood cell that surrounds and kills microorganisms, removes dead cells, and stimulates the action of other immune system cells. Macrophage is a type of white blood cell which is a phagocyte. They are scavengers which constantly move around to kill microorganisms, remove dead cells and foreign bodies.

Everyone heals differently. Healed results are highly dependent upon a multitude of factors. While, an experience artist can be a great judge of skin, types and ethnicities, resulting in certain unexpected healing results. There's many other factors that are out of the artists hands.


A few examples of different healed results after the initial microblading session:



These photos give you an idea of how differently each person can heal after their first session. But also people can fade almost completely after session 1 and it's important that they don't miss their 4-8 week touchup!

This will replace strokes that have all but disappeared as well as reinforce strokes that have faded a bit.


HERE you can find a post on other reasons your microblading can fade after the first session.


Another very important and often overlooked reason for excessive (and repetitive!) fading are...AUTO IMMUNE CONDITIONS!! Years ago I had a lovely client that faded way more than I expected after her 4-8 week touchup. (when this happens, I always tell them to let me know if they have any issues with retention again over the next 6 weeks. I then extend a complimentary touchup to them) On her 4th time coming to see me I noticed psoriasis plaques on her arm. When I asked her about them she told me she was having psoriasis flare and had them all over her arms and torso! BINGO!

Autoimmune disease happens when the body’s natural defense system can’t tell the difference between your own cells and foreign cells (or pigment!), causing the body to mistakenly attack normal cells (and pigment!). There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases that affect a wide range of body parts.

Common autoimmune diseases in women include:

  • Rheumatoid arthritis, a form of arthritis that attacks the joints

  • Psoriasis, a condition marked by thick, scaly patches of skin

  • Psoriatic arthritis, a type of arthritis affecting some people with psoriasis

  • Lupus, a disease that damages areas of the body that include joints, skin and organs

  • Thyroid diseases, including Graves’ disease, where the body makes too much thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism), and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, where it doesn’t make enough (hypothyroidism) of the hormone

  • Type 1 diabetes, a condition in which the immune system damages the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas

Symptoms of autoimmune disease may be severe in some people and mild in others. There are different degrees of autoimmune disease. The symptoms a person gets likely relate to multiple factors that include genetics, environment and personal health. Many of us don't even know we have one. (I've got 3!🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️)


Be sure to be straight forward with your artist and honest on the consent form you fill out. This will allow them to explain any issues that you may experience



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