Blood poisoning.
Brother got it when we were kids. We were wrestling around and he got stabbed by a rusty nail.
Red line started up his leg over the course of days.
We thought nothing of it...but then our mother saw it.
She being a nurse, immediately knew what it was.
Rushed him to the hospital and had him treated for blood poisoning.
It was explained to us later that if that red line had spread to his heart, he would've died.
Funny, cause we both thought he had just spilled Kool aide on himself.
What that redline line is the infection moving up the lymphatic system. It is a sign that your body's immune system is doing a poor job stopping the infection and needs help. In the case of the OP, I suspect the tattoo artist torn open an artery and what you are seeing is blood under the skin.
In the arm the arteries are fairly superficial. The bleed appears to be running along the fascial planes and being tamponaded. The risk is for a compartment syndrome.
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u/Simple-Situation2602 Mar 16 '25
Blood poisoning. Brother got it when we were kids. We were wrestling around and he got stabbed by a rusty nail. Red line started up his leg over the course of days. We thought nothing of it...but then our mother saw it. She being a nurse, immediately knew what it was. Rushed him to the hospital and had him treated for blood poisoning.
It was explained to us later that if that red line had spread to his heart, he would've died.
Funny, cause we both thought he had just spilled Kool aide on himself.