hepatitis c and tattoos

[guitarstargirl]

i posted a few days ago about us finding out friday that he has the virus.  i was feeling better about not having it because of the low chance of getting it through sex but the day after i posted my boyfriend reminded me of the fact that we've both had tattoos done by friends at their homes (not the same people though).  i'm still waiting to get my test done but now i am VERY freaked out that i might have it.  
btw, my friend that i got a tattoo from was licensed.   he owned a shop that he'd closed 2 weeks before because he couldn't afford the rent at the mall.  i'm hoping that because he was licensed things were safe on my end.
has anyone on here gotten it via tattooing?

[guitarstargirl]

thanks you guys!  i called the health department today about getting tested because it's listed as a service on their site.  they told me that they actually don't offer it so i'm trying to figure out what to do.  the only other place i can find is through our hospital system but you have to have a physicians referal and i don't have insurance.  my boyfriend is going to see if his doctor will write a referal for me...  i just want to get the stupid test over with!!

[Marcia2202]

The longer you wait to get yourself tested, the more it will drive you crazy. The mind can be a dangerous thing.

If your friend was a certified tattoo artist, he should be aware of sterilizing between people, even though they are related, friends, partners or whatever.

So if he followed standard procedure you should be alright.

Get yourself tested, than you will have peace of mind!

[nygirl7]

Any time there is blood to blood type contact you are at risk.  I don't know what the odds really are but all you can do now is be tested and wait for the results. Home tattooing without sterilization of instruments would be one of the ways that it would be possible because there is no sterilization involved except some alchol and that wouldn't do the trick.

You could have a completely separate strain of the virus that you got all on your own. You can't know until the results come back - unfortunately none of us can tell you the answer you are looking for.