Forum Discussion: How do You Care for Your Tattoos?
Sunday August 17, 2008
Kerrie (Fairychick) says: "You'll probably get a different answer from every person. When I'm in the shower, I don't really wash the tattoo, I just let soapy water run over it & then rinse it off. The main reason for that is b/c if the tattoo develops any scabs they would get soft in the shower & could be pulled off prematurely by scrubbing the tattoo. You absolutely want any scabs to fall off on their own, when they're ready. Otherwise you risk losing the color underneath.
As far as aftercare, I use A&D ointment very sparingly for the first few days. Around day 4 I usually get into the really dry, itchy, peely phase and that's when I switch over to lotion. I use dye-free, scent-free Lubriderm. Usually it's another 3-4 days I use lotion until the peeling & dryness goes away, and then I let the tattoo be & don't do anything special to it."
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Comments
I agree with Kerrie (Fairychick). Basically there is an initial healing phase where you want to keep it moist with just about anything that is petroleum jelly based, but don’t scratch or pick at it (slapping it while bandaged can provide some relief, and is pretty harmless). During initial healing any friction from clothes or scratching can be quite damaging.
After the initial healing phase is a period where the skin regains its’ texture and elasticity as the old skin peels off, somewhat like sunburn.
Well I’m on my 4th Tattoo (5th session) am currently working on a large snake on my hip, thigh and knee and i have been struggling with aftercare big time. first session was 4 hours of outline and it was pretty straight forward, healed really quickly and very well. Next and rest of sessions have been laying colour in and omg each session has brought a different set of circumstances which has taken me to the limit of aftercare, With my first 3 tattoos, 2 on upper arms and 1 on upper back, it was pretty striaght forward, rinse down and light coating of vaseline. There has only been light shading of colour on my other tattoos, but this current project is solid laying in of colour. I won’t blether on about each session, but i have had 2 infected areas, neither relating to my tattooist, one relating to going out and getting caught in a vicious wind which pushed lots of grit and dirt into the tattoo and the second from using too much BEPANTHEN (which is very sticky) and my dogs hairs getting stuck into the area. This session i’, trying a different approach, because i ahve hairy moulting dogs i have opted for Savlon antiseptic cream, i know its not particularly recommended but i have to err on the safety side, i have also been using a product called Kamillosan, chamomile ointment (sold in the baby ailse for soar bottoms). I have also taken to having short daily baths, which i have never done before but, another problem i suffer from is extreme swelling and redness and find the hot water soak takes the heat out of the area, so far i havent found that the soak os taking any of the skin off. I have been having this tattoo since January, i would love to do 4-6 hour sessions but am very restricted to 2 hour sessions due to the swelling. I am also feverently looking for any info on a blood condition called neutrophillia vs tattoo’s. I believe the instant swelling may have something to do with this blood condition. After a tattoo session i can go from one extreme to another, on 2 occasions i have gone into shock on the night of the tattoo and one occasion had severe vomiting. I absolutly 100% do not put these issues down to my tattooist, i have pretty poor health with many conditions, Fibromyalgia, chronic back pain and chronic fatique syndrome + neutrophillia, so i can say that the reactions are defo related to my health. If anyone has seen any reaserch into any of these conditions or have heard of similar situations please let me know. I god damn love tattoo’s, even though it puts me through hell.
Tattoo after care is a rough subject. Because so many people are intolerant to so many things, as well as different healing capibilities. When it comes to after care I’d say for the first tattoo follow what your artist says and then go from there judging on what you experience