Getting your first tattoo rarely happens in a perfectly calm, logical moment. More often, it arrives wrapped in adrenaline and emotion, with the sense that something meaningful is about to happen.

As we age, skin changes, chronic health conditions, and medications can affect how tattoos heal and raise the risk of infection. Older adults need to consider the health risks before getting tattoos.

Script tattoos can be powerful personal expressions, but they’re also one of the easiest styles to get wrong. Font choice, size, and placement all influence how your design will look years from now.

With two full sleeves of tattoos at age 68, Barb Jerabek turns heads. She has ready advice for people of her generation who ask her advice about getting ink: “If not now, when?” Jerabek said, “Time ...