So i got my first tattoo today, and some thought have come to my mind.
While sleeping, would it be better to wear clothing over the tattoo (loose fiting of course) or simply let the sheets get a little ink? (I don’t care about the sheets, just for the best for my tattoo)
While outside, would it be better to have sleeveless, therefore have nothing coming in touch with the tattoo, but risking accidental touching, or sleeve, therefore not risking? Sun is not an issue since i leave the house only when it’s dark.
Somewhere I read a tip about letting cold water run over the tattoo for a few seconds when you clen it. That, according to wherever i read that (don’t remember where) would help the color not to fade. Doesn’t seem logical to me, but could I be wrong?
Any input on those thoughts?
Welcome to the forum!
Jerry’s right “dry wrap” is the way to go.
I’ll go farther and suggest that your artist use a non-petroleum based lube when tattooing. The earlier tattoos I’ve had the artist used A&D ointment and the ink ran out of me during the first shower I took. I use “redemption” but there are more cocoa-butter based formulas around.
Healing for large sessions:
Bandage your tattoo with saran/plastic wrap allowing no air to get to the tattoo for the first 72 hours. Within those 72 hours remove the wrap every 4 hours and wash thoroughly with non-scented anti-bacterial soap. Re-apply wrap with new saran/plastic wrap. Repeat process for remainder of 72 hours. After 72 hours remove the wrap leaving the tattoo exposed and use an intensive care FRAGRANCE-FREE dry skin lotion such as Lubriderm. Apply lightly as needed and for as long as needed.
Healing for small sessions:
Take the bandage off when you are in a sterile environment and able to clean the area. Wash thoroughly with clean hands and non-scented anti-bacterial soap. Pat dry and apply a thin coat of Vitamin A&D Ointment (found at most stores in the baby section) 2 to 3 times a day as needed for 3 days. After 3 days switch to a FRAGRANCE-FREE lotion such as Lubriderm. Wash the tattoo throughout the day making sure it stays clean.
Remember:
NO swimming. NO sun tanning. NO picking. Period! Sunlight fades tattoos, so after your tattoo heals keep it covered or use sunblock when you’re in the sun.
Just a note on sunscreen: I’ve just tried three brands of SPF 50 water resistant spray on during a week at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Margaritaville Parrot Head Sport is the only one that actually drys on your skin. On the beach sand did not stick nearly as bad as with the other “wet” brands.
(also tried were Coppertone “Sport”, and Banana Boat kids, both SPF 50)
Just some input from the anarchist who doesn’t follow rules very well… ;D
I just got a new tattoo. Fairly big, took about five hours. I’m simple; I cleaned it, and applied A&D (because it works well on me), whenever needed and when I remembered to. Day after I got it, I covered it in aqua proof bandages and went swimming and sun bathing.
Two days after that, I went swimming with it uncovered. I kept it covered from the sun as much as I could, but I was in Miami and Key west, with 95-100 degrees and burning sun. I did my best! ;D Shouldn’t go swimming with a fresh tattoo, but the wound had healed up and I cleaned it straight after, so it wasn’t much of a risk. Pools is worse. Don’t do that.
My tattoo now, two weeks later, is perfectly fine and healed up. I cleaned it with womens intimate whipes after being in the ocean and through out the day, did it in the shower morning and night. (leg tattoo), and added some lotion whenever I felt it needed it, aka when it was dry. I’ve used a number of lotions, all depends on what I have around me when I need it. None with fragrance though.
Honestly, it depends on you and your body. My body has this kickass attitude of healing everything no matter what. I’ve experienced it with piercing, surgerys etc as well, so I know my body can take it. If you have very sensitive skin, and wounds tend to take time to heal, then use a method like these guys recommend. They are all good methods!! I personally can’t do dry wrapping, as my tattoos start to ooze and bleed ink terribly.
Keep it clean, avoid anything dirty and unless you dry wrap, don’t let it dry out.
Stay away from pools, and keep sun blocking it in the sun later on.
Thanks for all your input guys!
To be honest I’m not going with dry wraping, but i’ll keep it in mind for future tattoos. Just by researching on the internet I see that even tattoo studios recomend things that other studios say you should not do etc.
For this first one i’ll stick to what my tattoo guy has told me. I took of the plastic wraping 8 hours after the session, cleaned only with water and i’m aplying a cream on it every few hours, not to over do it but not to let it dry either. I’m gonna drop by the shop today and check with him and all.
As for swiming, exposing the tatto to sun and all that, I would never do it in the first weeks of a new tattoo. No reason to… I can enjoy swiming and sun all year round, and I still don’t, so why once I got a new tattoo?
Just so happens that I can’t enjoy sun or swimming most of the year, that week was actually the first time I’ve been swimming in two years 🙂
So yeah, I wasn’t gonna miss out on that. The swimming turned out to be no problem at all. I waited until the wound had closed, and I did ask several artists about it, and they said it’s not recommended, but as long as it was closed up and I cleaned it after, there really wasn’t much risk to it.
And avoiding the sun was hard, because I could exactly wear jeans in that heat, and I didn’t have anything long enough to cover it! 🙂 But I kept it in the shade as much as possible.
It’s not recommended, I’m just saying it won’t kill you 🙂 I know my body very well and know exactly what it can take, so I took a well calculated risk based on also being well informed about what I was doing. So it really wasn’t much of a risk for me 🙂
So to save some time on what my artist recommends in terms of tattoo healing, here is the link to that specific post on my blog!
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