Warning about henna tattoos

A family holiday to Bali turned sour for a Secret Harbour couple after their six-year-old son had a reaction to a henna tattoo.

With two days left of their holiday the Brown couple’s son Will had a temporary ink tattoo painted on.

Will’s mother, Paula, who has a nursing background, said her children had henna tattoos on previous holidays with no problems.

But she said her son complained of irritation after 10 minutes and by the next day blisters had appeared.

“The day after when I looked at it I noticed that there were blisters and I thought ‘oh god, he is really having a reaction to it’,” she said.

Mrs Brown said her nursing background kicked in and she made sure her son’s arm was kept out of the sun, and clean.

“I have worked in emergency for four years and never seen a reaction with a henna tattoo, I just assumed it was his skin and there was something in it that didn’t agree with him,” she said.

“As the black washed away over the days the redness started showing through and it was really raised and angry looking.

“If I had known he was going to have a reaction to it I wouldn’t have let him have it done I would have said no — I was furious.”

Mrs Brown said she wanted to warn other parents to say no to henna tattoos as she believed it was unclear what was being used to make the ink.

“I’m just so glad that when he has been scratching it he hasn’t got it infected,” she said.

Secret Harbour Doctor Norman Pinsky said he had come across this type of reaction in the past and advised against henna tattoos in foreign countries.