Updated

Updated · Newsweek · Jul 21

Pennsylvania Woman Undergoes Surgery to Remove 3 cm Ankle Tumor After Pain Returns

Updated

Updated · Newsweek · Jul 21

Pennsylvania Woman Undergoes Surgery to Remove 3 cm Ankle Tumor After Pain Returns

Q: Could chemicals in tattoo ink awaken a dormant bone tumor years later?

There is no strong evidence that chemicals in tattoo ink can awaken a dormant bone tumor years later. In Skylar Jordan Linn’s case, the timing raised a reasonable question because the tattoo was placed directly over a pre-existing ankle lesion and she felt unusual pain during the session. But the key medical fact is that the lesion was already there: a non-ossifying fibroma had been seen on MRI in 2016. By 2026 it had enlarged and weakened the bone, which is why doctors moved to surgery and biopsy. Until pathology fully classifies the growth, no one can say what caused the change. What is known is narrower. Tattooing can cause local trauma, bleeding, inflammation and immune reactions. Tattoo inks may contain heavy metals, industrial pigments and other chemicals, and some studies have raised broader concerns about chronic inflammation and possible cancer risks. But those concerns are not the same as proof that tattoo ink can trigger growth in a dormant bone lesion, especially one deep in bone. For bone tumors, doctors rely on imaging and biopsy, not timing alone. A painful lesion that grows, expands bone or threatens fracture must be investigated because benign lesions can behave aggressively and some malignant tumors can look similar on scans. In Linn’s case, the more evidence-based explanation is that a pre-existing bone lesion changed over time; whether the tattoo contributed through local trauma or hemorrhage remains speculative, not established.

1 articles · Updated · Newsweek · Jul 21

Skylar Jordan Linn, 24, had surgery in May to remove a 3 cm lesion from her right fibula after renewed ankle pain led doctors to find the tumor had nearly doubled from 1.4 cm in 2016.
January pain after ice skating sent Linn back to old scan records; when she told her doctor the pain matched the earlier lesion site, an X-ray and MRI showed bone expansion and a possible fracture risk.
Surgeons performed curettage with allograft bone grafting, scraping out the tumor and filling the gap with donor tissue; a biopsy found the growth does not yet fit a specific diagnostic category.
Linn said the 2023 ankle tattoo was unrelated but may have coincided with the same spot, and her TikTok post about the discovery has drawn more than 300,200 views.