The Swedish forward, due to appear in today’s FA Cup Final, underwent tests for Aids and cancer this year as doctors tried to establish the reason for his persistently inflamed hip. After two weeks of examinations they realised that the player was experiencing a rare allergic reaction to the ink used in his tattoos.

Ljungberg, 28, a part-time model, had two tattoos of panthers on his back. The ink had caused a lymphatic gland to inflame, which was pressing on a nerve in his side.

He had an operation to remove the gland and missed four weeks of the season. He returned last Sunday for the final Premiership game of the season at Birmingham and will face Manchester United today.

Ljungberg admitted that he was terrified by the ordeal. He told The Sun: “I was very worried. I did not feel sick or ill but, of course, I was injured and we did not know why. I was tested. Nobody seemed to know what was wrong with me. It all happened during a two-week period and, of course, I was terrified.

“Eventually the doctors worked out that it was something in the tattoos. I was relieved that they had found out the problem. I am fine now.”

He said that he had decided against having any more tattoos in case of further adverse reactions. The main risk from them is usually infection from hepatitis B or C, and Ljungberg’s case is extremely rare.

The huge growth in tattooing has been driven by its popularity among celebrities, with David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Eminem among those who display their body art.

The number of tattoo parlours across Britain is reported to have soared from 300 five years ago to more than 1,500.

Two years ago Selfridges made its temporary tattoo parlour a permanent feature of its Oxford Street store after being overwhelmed by interest. In the United States, an estimated one in seven people — 39 million — has at least one. But their growing popularity has not been without pitfalls.

In June 2003 a tattoo and piercing parlour in Dundee was closed down amid fears of a hepatitis B infection when health officials found equipment and skin cream contaminated with blood.

This has not deterred prominent role models. Beckham has ten tattoos, including a green cross with wings stretching across the nape of his neck.

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