i got a beautiful, shaded tat on my inner ankle ( about 3 1/2 inches across) in maui on 2/15, then flew home to NC. it’s been 9 days; the tat still feels sore, and the area around the outside of the bottom edge is pink ( not red, not raised, and not really hot);
i’ve been washing the area 2-3X/day w/ dial, and have been applying a thin coat of curel 4-5X/day for the past wk. most of the tat peeled a few days ago, but, there are areas that are brownish( i did have somewhat of a tan since i was on the beach for 10 days, but, no burned skion), and i can’t tell if they’re raised or sunken:confused:. the entire area feels smooth and looks milky AND it feels like i was kicked in the ankle. the skin also feels very tight.
i’ve contacted my artist, but not heard back;
can anyone tell me if i should be worried, what to do and when/if the problem ( if it is a problem) will resolve itself?
thankd!
me again. i just looked @ the tat thru a magnifying glass…it seems the areas i’m worried about look like ‘breaks’ in the surface that look like they’re filled up w/ ‘rust”?:eek: ( don’t see any of the tat color in the ‘divots’, but then, i didn’t dig at them.) am i facing a likely ‘touchup’ w/ another artist, or have ppl had this problem and ended up w/ a great tat?
scabs would be raised, right?
does anyone have a clue as to what’s going on and what i can do to either cure it or to keep it from getting worse?
i still haven’t heard frm my maui artist; ya might wanna think twice before getting a tat far away from home. i got my first one here 18 mos ago, and everything was fine. but, it was on my shoulder; do feet/ankles heal differently
any/all input greatly appreciated. none of my friends have tats and my husband wasn’t exactly thrilled about me getting it.:cool:
me again. i just looked @ the tat thru a magnifying glass…it seems the areas i’m worried about look like ‘breaks’ in the surface that look like they’re filled up w/ ‘rust”?:eek: ( don’t see any of the tat color in the ‘divots’, but then, i didn’t dig at them.) am i facing a likely ‘touchup’ w/ another artist, or have ppl had this problem and ended up w/ a great tat?
scabs would be raised, right?
does anyone have a clue as to what’s going on and what i can do to either cure it or to keep it from getting worse?
i still haven’t heard frm my maui artist; ya might wanna think twice before getting a tat far away from home. i got my first one here 18 mos ago, and everything was fine. but, it was on my shoulder; do feet/ankles heal differently
any/all input greatly appreciated. none of my friends have tats and my husband wasn’t exactly thrilled about me getting it.:cool:
Hi Char
First of all don’t panic. I mean this everything can and will be sorted.
I posted to a thread called Paranoid about infection’ – in that I listed the main signs of infection which you have to look for – pls check that out.
Onto the tattoo – some tattoos can take upto 14 days to heal depending where on the body. The ankle is very close to the bone and so it will be very tender. Also if it was done with bone tapping method it will be very sore.
Ok those little bumps – are they red? If they are I underline this Do Not Pick Them!, this could mean there is a small amt of infection in there or keltoid scarring. Eitherway if you pick them you will lift the ink and possibly get blood poisoning.
Also in your post you referred to the tatt looking milky again this could be a slight infection.
Do not worry if it is you can quickly get it solved by a short course of antibiotics.
My advice is get it checked with a Dr (just in case as we are not med professionals and better safe than sorry) but in most cases the tattoo will heal fine within 2 weeks but continue to keep it clean and let it breathe.
A small touch up of colour is no big deal and any experienced artist can do it – but do not set new ink in until it is fully healed. Some artists suggest 8 weeks just to let the area settle.
Other things that can irritate a new tat is sand and salt (seawater).
Get it checked out and you will be fine.
Take Care
Matthew
thanks for the reply, matthew. please direct me to your ‘paranoid’ thread.
upon closer inspection, the areas i’m concerned about are ‘divots’ or ‘breaks’ in the surface that seem to have a rusty color @ the bottom. would that be blood? if so, what’s the likelyhood that there is ink below them? i think that the soreness is actually related to these areas…should i put some antibiotic cream on just those spots?
Hi Char
The link is below
http://www.thetattooforum.com/paranoid-infection-t10894.html?t=10894&highlight=paranoid
I would suggest getting some omoxycillin or pencillin type anti-biotics (if not allergic) over creams they work better in the body. Creams are not always good at been absorbed into the blood stream
It could be a build up of scar tissue (keloid sorry about spelling error keltoid) or a small amount of infection/inflamation. Again it is impossible to see if ink has taken until they go down.
The ink issue is not a big deal the main issue is that you make sure you stay healthy. Once the inflamation has gone down you will be able to see if the ink has taken properly. It is possible they overworked the area which means that your ankle is very tender.
Again don’t worry get it checked out by a med pro be safe and then if necessary get a home pro artist to touch up any of the ink if required.
Take Care
Matthew
You must be logged in to create new topics.
