Let’s face it, folks, getting a tattoo is not in the same league as buying cosmetics or plastic containers. You are asking someone to create an open wound on your body and fill it full of ink. You take enough risks having this done in a clean environment with properly sterilized equipment. Do you really want to take a chance on getting inked in a room full of who-knows-what kind of germs, with an artist whose equipment can’t be properly sterilized? Do you want to be the tenth person in a row, when the artist is getting tired? Do you want your ink to be some kind of quickie job because there are ten other people waiting in line?

Excuse me while I shudder.

Now, people who have read through this blog so far will, I’m sure, point out that I personally got an unplanned tattoo at a big tattoo show in the bowels of the Queen Mary, which is hardly a hospital suite. And that’s a legitimate objection. At least the artists at the show had to go to mandatory classes on hygiene and safety, and they had their autoclaves and other sterilization tools there with them. But yes, I took a risk, the more so because the artist was from out of town and if something went wrong, all I had was a long-distance call.

Do a Google search on “tattoo party” and take a look at what turns up. The emphasis is on fun and doing the latest in thing. No one seems to think about the germs in the surroundings, or the ethical integrity of an artist who’d be willing to go along with the idea of a tattoo party, or whether he or she is playing hooky from a legitimate shop to get paid under the table.

I read about.com’s body-art boards (see the link under “Resources”) on a regular basis, and their host Karen Hudson has wise advice for everyone. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Submit this post to:

Hide Sites

Now what?

Well, as with any healing skin wound, it’s going to weep. It’s going to itch. And later on, it’s going to peel. All of which are good reasons to grit your teeth and vow to keep your cotton-pickin’ hands OFF it. Do not scratch, rub, or try to peel yourself. What it boils down to is that you’re going to have to leave that new ink strictly alone if you want it to last.

The problem is that a new tattoo (again, like any other skin wound) is going to form a scab of sorts. (Show me one person who survived childhood without ever wanting to pick off a scab.) Scabs, being far less flexible than the underlying skin, tend to pull at their borders and break in the middle. That may lead to further scab formation. The scabs that form are likely to be colored the same as the underlying ink and it’s all the more tempting to pick at them to get rid of them once and for all.

In a word: DON’T.

If you pick those scabs off before they fall off naturally, you run the very real risk of pulling the ink off with them. Your tattoo will end up with holes in it and will look terrible. Why go to all the trouble and expense to get inked if you’re going to pick the thing to pieces afterwards? Grit your teeth. Keep your mitts off.

Keep using whatever aftercare product you chose. They will usually keep the scabs reasonably soft and less irritating. Wash the area gently with warm water at least once a day and gently pat it dry. You could follow that up with something like Bactine Hurt-Free Antiseptic Wash, which kills germs and also contains a mild topical anaesthetic that may dull the itch and prickle of healing skin. Once that’s dry, reapply your chosen aftercare product with a gentle hand.

The length of time it takes a new tattoo to heal depends entirely on the individual. Some people have smooth, irritation-free skin in a week. For some people the process takes longer, sometimes much longer. And in some cases, which I’ll address more fully in a future post, the skin may never properly heal at all.

Stay out of the sun while your skin is healing, and if your new tattoo is someplace that is normally visible when you’re outside, be sure to apply sunscreen forever after lest the sun fade the ink. (Most ink does fade and sometimes change color over time, which I’ll also talk about in more detail later on.)

The healing process is like getting the tattoo in the first place–endure a little discomfort now, enjoy your ink for a lifetime afterwards.

Submit this post to:

Hide Sites