Medical tattoo

Ötzi, a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC and whose remains were found near the Austria–Italy border, had tattoos over his joints that may have been part of pain relief treatments similar to acupuncture.

He tried to cover leucomatous opacities of the cornea by cauterizing the surface with a heated stilet and applying powdered nutgalls and iron or pulverized pomegranate bark mixed with copper salt.

[4] In 1835, a German doctor named Pauli used mercury sulfide and white lead to tattoo over skin lesions including nevi and purple plaque.

[20][21] Scott Kelly used marker tattoos in the positioning of sonogram probes for multiple checks for atherosclerosis while on a long-duration mission on the International Space Station.

Alternatively, people with skin conditions or scars may choose to get a decorative cover-up tattoo with a piece of art over the area.

[28] Another option some people choose after mastectomy is to get a decorative tattoo on the chest as body art instead of a reconstruction.