When chef Nelize Pretorius first noticed her vision blurring one eye, then the other doctors suspected something routine: conjunctivitis. But when the test came back negative and her symptoms rapidly worsened, confusion set in. Her GP couldn’t explain it. Hospital specialists couldn’t explain it. And Pretorius was left terrified.
“I could hardly see,” she said. “I was losing my vision and nobody was able to tell me why.”
The answer, when it finally came, was as unexpected as it was alarming. The problem wasn’t her eyes at all it was a years‑old tattoo on her back.
Pretorius was diagnosed with tattoo‑associated uveitis, a rare inflammatory condition where the immune system reacts to tattoo ink and begins attacking the eyes. The consequences can be devastating: permanent vision loss, glaucoma, and a lifetime on immunosuppressant medication.
“You get a tattoo and think the risk is that you might regret it later in life,” she said. “But the real risk is you could potentially lose your vision.”
Her case is now part of a growing body of evidence linking tattoo ink to serious autoimmune reactions, raising new questions about long‑term safety and regulation in an industry that continues to boom.
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