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I’ve never heard of such a thing happening, Polly. If you’ve taken the shot before, what typically happens? Do you get any site irritation, and if so, how long does it last?

Take this with a grain of salt, because I’m no expert, but I really don’t think so.

I did some tinkering around on the internet and the published fact sheets are mostly probably stuff your Dr. already told you, but they suggest that site reaction shouldn’t be any big deal.

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No, it will not do a thing to your tattoo. The needles are very small and you will be injecting the medication (interferon) underneath the layers of skin.

Check to see if your doctor will set up an appointment to show you the correct way of injecting. Remember to ALWAYS pull back on the syringe once you are under the skin to see if you are not in a vein….if blood comes up into the syringe you have hit a vein. Remove the syringe and inject a new one. (hitting a vein with interferon will make you very very sick!)

Good luck and kick some HCV (or HBV) ****!!

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In general, they should not cause irritation.
Now to say this, every person is different doll.
All I can say is that I myself have NEVER seen any irritations on patients from the injection site.

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No, my husband has a lot of tattoos, arms, chest, abdomen and is currently taking the interferon and ribivarin treatments. The injections have not done anything to his tattoos. He has been doing the injections for 3 months. Once in awhile the site will get a little red, but it does not harm the tattoo. Just be sure to move the injection sites around to each leg and the belly. (it sounds bad, but it does not hurt when you do shots in the belly) If you don’t move them around you can get fat build up at the site that you inject all the time. And you do NOT have to do like the other answer said about pulling the plunger out to be sure you are not in a vein. This is not how they teach you to do the injections. Be ready for some side effects of the treatment. My husband has become so anemic that yesterday he had to have a blood transfusion. However, now his viral load is less than 20. If you need to ask questions or anything you can email me

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Really don’t know. Just be thankful they have meds for it now. From the other answers I see that it shouldn’t. I lost my beloved mother to that many yrs ago, no meds back then that worked. I hope you do well and I wish you all the best. A tat is the least of your problems, take care of you first and foremost. You have that adorable little one who needs you. You’ll be in my prayers along with a few other friends on here. ~

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The injections should not do anything to harm your tatt.
If you are still worried about it, ask your G.P

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Listen….If it were me, I wouldn’t worry to much about your tattoos- especially since you are ill and there is treatment. More than likely the interferon will not cause any harm to your tattoos. I would say inject in the stomach, but truth is, the legs are much easier simply because of location. Plus there is less body fat in the upper thigh area- in the stomach, if you are over weight, your meds will more than likely end up in the layers of skin and you want the meds underneath the layers of skin!
As for fat accumulation, I have never heard of such a thing, but I have heard of scar tissue. It’s real simple, just alternate your legs each week and please! DO pull back on the syringe to check for blood. HepSteph has it right- interferon can cause you to become seriously ill as it is not meant for the bloodstream. It can cause issues with your cell counts at a serious level and it can also make you have a headache and vomitting you will never forget, tremors like no other earthquake.

Listen to those who know what they are talking about and tablescrap the rest.

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Hi hon. The only problems I ever had with the injections was a little redness around the injection site. I don’t think there is any need to worry about your tats. They should be fine. Like a few others have mentioned, just alternate the areas where you give yourself the shots and like Steph said, **Make sure you do not hit a vein! She is right, this medicine is NOT meant for the bloodstream and can make you very sick if it does go through a vein.** It is very simple to make sure you are not in a vein…just slightly pull back the plunger and if there is no blood, you are good to go..push the meds on in. However if there is blood in the syringe, find another spot. Not only can it make you very ill if you inject in a vein, but it can also leave a very large red, irritated, bruised area at the injection site. Please make sure you are not in a vein when you inject the meds. Other than checking for that, the injections are fairly easy and simple to do. Good luck and like Steph said, Kick some Hep ****!! We Heppers have got your back!!!