Mum issues warning to Bali travellers over health incident

A mum has taken to social media to inform others of the risks of a popular tourist pastime after her child suffered a horrific skin reaction.

A worried mum has posted on Facebook to share the reaction her child had to a Bali henna tattoo.

On Wednesday, she posted to the “Bali Bogans” Facebook page warning other people not to take the “risk”, sharing a photo of her child’s arm.

The picture shows the lines of the henna tattoo, a temporary design popular in Bali, especially among children.

“This photo was taken 15 days ago, two weeks after application and has since gotten worse,” she wrote.

“I’m an idiot, I know!”

She said she’d previously seen a warning about henna reactions, but didn’t think of it while her son was getting one in Bali.

“Even as I was watching my son get it done, it totally slipped my mind.”

“So just a refresh for anyone who may already know or not. Don’t risk it.”

Commenters on the post shared similar experiences.

“I had this done on my first trip to Bali when I was 10,” one woman said.

“I came up exactly like this photo, but worse and it was years before the scars finally healed.”

“When I was sick they would show through more clearly. I’d never recommend anyone to get it done.”

A mum has warned a Facebook group against Bali henna tattoos, in another case of skin reactions after her child received the temporary design.

Another woman said she would have amputated a body part if she got the same reaction.

“I knew nothing about it either and got my whole hand and forearm done in Seminyak,” she said.

“I’m so lucky nothing happened or I would have had to cut my arm off.”

In 2019, Catriona Rowntree shared her friend’s experience with a dodgy henna tattoo.

“When travelling to Bali, everyone tells you what to do and what not to do. Add this to your list of ‘do nots’ … do NOT get a henna tattoo, unless you can be 100 per cent sure it’s henna,” she said.

“My 10 year old son got what we thought was a ‘henna tattoo’ on our last day in Bali and it wasn’t until a week later, after we’d returned home, that it started turning red, itchy, raised and sore.”

“It wasn’t henna! We believe it was black hair dye mixed with … God knows what. It may have been mixed with petrol or kerosene, we’ve since learned.”

She said after a course of prednisolone and cortisone, it wasn’t itchy or red any more, but her son would probably have scars for years to come.

Another boy, Benjamin Horsington (6), returned from a Bali holiday with his father with a ‘black henna’ tattoo which left scars on his arm along with lifelong allergies due to the chemicals used with black-henna.