Im at a loss, and have -no- idea what to do. I have several tattoos. I have a partial sleeve that is in progress thus far on my arm. We are working at the moment on the back of my hand and it will NOT take ink.
I have stonework and a celtic annulus, we are trying to get the linework and shading done. We did the linework in one session and every single piece of it fell out, no joke at all. waited 4 weeks, went back got the linework redone, added some shading in and some white last friday, I am 6 days out now and I can see the EXACT same thing happening again.
I have had three total artists tattoo me, the ink that they did didnt have this same problem. (But was also not in the same spot) So far the sleeve that is being worked on is on my left arm, the problems i have had the most issue with the ink staying in has been the back of my hand/wrist/top and back of my forearm (not inner forearm)
I have seen thousands of the tattoos this artist has done, he is a shop owner and has been doing it for 10+ years, his work doenst suck, so i cant imagine that it is his work but I dont know what to do.. I have a piece on the back of my hand that I cant not have taking ink and looking like shit forever.
I have tried a ton of different aftercare methods. Tattoo Majik, Aquafor, A&D, Eucerin Intensive Repair lotion, H2Ocean, neosporin, safe 4 hours…. This most recent time the attempt to heal was doing the following.
Wash once per day, and dont touch it for anything, put neosporin on it for 2 hours within the first 12 hours of healing. wash that off and continue to wash only once per day and keep tattoo majik on it, and as of yesterday after the peeling started, switch to the repair lotion. (For those who dont know what the tattoo majik is, it contains Virgin Olive Oil, Beeswax, Hemp Seed Oil, Infusion of Calendula Flowers, Comfrey Leaf, Plantain and Mugword, Aloe Vera, Tocopherol, Vitamin e, and Oil of Lavender ((Its almost like a glorified carmex without the menthol it seems)
Someone… anyone.. please help x_X
Edit: I dont know if it makes any difference at all but I am very pale skin, but freckled, and I heal abnormally fast and have very thick skin, to the point that the last time I had to get stitches, I got only two and the cut was fully healed within 7 days
You may just have a certain zone on your body that ink will not take to. Remember, when you get tatooed you are basically injecting a foreign substance into your body and hoping that it will not reject said item. It might be that whatever the makeup of your skin is in that area is not susceptible to ink. Also, the skin is very thin on the back of the hand/wrist area. There may not be enough dermal layers in your case to hold on to the ink. Or, you talk about what a fast healer you are, your body might be “healing” wonderfully and removing the foreign item for you.
Lastly, I have heard very mixed things regarding the use of Neosporin. Its a petroleum based product from my understanding and the concern is that petroleum can pull the ink out. So you might have a combination of things working against you?
Can you post some pictures? There’s a lot of smart people here that can probably give a lot of good advice, especially if they can see it.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/30465821254889345801166.jpg
That was a few hours after it was done, had aquafor on it and plastic wrap for about 4 hours after it was done.
this is 6 days later, its hard to see because i took the picture with my phone and not a camera, but not only is the black up and giving me the finger while it falls out, so is the whites. :/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/841/110929002.jpg/
like i said the neosporin was for a very short time, they were thinking that it might help speed up the ink healing into the skin, was put on clean, left on for two hours, washed back off.
Had to edit the /image code off it, for some reason they werent displaying.
Hard to tell (the second photo not as good as the first in quality), but I was expecting much worse from your initial message to be honest. It does look like there might be some ink loss in the shading below that jagged section toward the bottom of your hand, but the rest doesn’t seem all that bad for less than one week post procedure.
Remember, the skin on top is healing, and part of that process is when it starts to dry and peel on top of the ink. Mine looked very funky for a few days when I hit the 6 day mark. It gets an almost milky film on top that obscures the ink. Scary to see even though my brain could rationalize it and expected it.
Let it heal a good 6 weeks or more before you really decide if it worked or not. Then have your artist take a look and give you some feedback. Most of the best aftercare instructions involve the least amount of steps. At this point you may only need to put a very small amount of lotion (fragrance and dye free, of course!) a time or two each day depending on how bad it is itching and flaking. Remember, its a self inflicted wound, basically, and a wound needs air to heal. Don’t slather on all kinds of goop, even lotion. A little dab will do ya!
And if you see it clear up when you put some lotion on, you know its going well and will probably be fine once it heals.
But, like I said, there are a ton of very smart people here that may have some better thoughts/advice based on their experiences. See what they have to say when/if they chime in.
Good luck with it! It looks pretty nice, good work! Wear it loud and proud!
Im excited as hell for it to all be done which also spawns my worry for it falling out. I have a stone infinity symbol on my inner arm, as well as each of my four sons names with a single black star representing our house/family name when my grand parents came over from ireland. on the top is the word Gra in gaelic meaning love, and on the back of my forearm is 4 plates of plate armor, each held down with a rivet showing a different religions symbol (9 of them, including everything from the Salems Cross to the ancient indonesian cross) each plate containing a symbol engraved into it as well, the background of the entire sleeve to be done in marble/stone, and on my bicep will be the only recorded male gorgon in mythology, the only ever guardian of the ‘god’ Zeus looking down my arm turning it to stone/marble.
it should be a badass piece when its done and very meaningful to me…. i just need it to heal!!
alot of people who tattoo well loose alot on their hands, hands aint the greatest place to get a tattoo (though I think they look dope)
alot of people, ALOT dont hold white ink for shit, starbrite is the best white, recommended by Brandon Bond and other top artists who dont use any other starbrite color,
I guess you are a ginger? funky skin, I think you are healing just fine, hand work is going to have to be touched up, wait a LONG time between sessions, you will get enough in their to look good
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