Hi everyone,
My first post here.
I’ve been doing quite an extensive research on tattoo aftercare and have arrived at the following questions:
-At what point is the tattoo completely healed?
-When they say, “Stay out of the sun for two weeks”, are they inferring healing or is that an arbitrary number that may or may not be associated with healing?
Reason I’m asking is that I seem to “heal” rather quickly. By one week, signs of peeling are just about gone. There are no rough spots; the skin is smooth. It’s still slightly itchy, but that’s about it. Since it’s been just one week, I feel like going out in the sun and applying sunscreen now. Will I be ok? And yes, I have a recent piece that was done exactly a week ago. I’m tired of waiting exactly two weeks, and that is what I’ve done for all my other six pieces located throughout my body.
Thanks for the advice.
Welcome to the forum!
To completely heal a tattoo can take three months.
Some quicker, some slower. It depends on where it is located, how heavy it was put on (in). and other variables.
Just remember how short a few weeks are compared to the rest of your life. A lot of us here avoid prolonged exposure to the sun.
About three months! After it’s done peeling sometimes you could go into a second peel. After peeling it will seem to get cloudy as new skin is growing over it and after that skin exfoliates then it’s healed. If you want to go out in the sun without causing damage to it just keep it covered it is really just that easy.
Generally the outer layer of your skin re-news itself every 25-40 days or so (depending on age, health a ton of stuff) Deeper layers take longer. So, after a while your tattoo starts to heal, after it’s done peeling you get fresh, normal skin covering your tattoo. This usually takes about 2 weeks after the tattoo has been done, which is why the sun/swimming thing is based on this. This outer layer protects the deeper layers of your skin, and you can apply sunscreen etc. But, deeper down it is not completely healed yet, and sometimes there will be spots taking longer to heal depending on when the actual wound closes and the skin is intact and healthy again.
Before you have this new layer of skin on your tattoo it is very vulnerable. It may FEEL healed, but; As long as the skin is shiny, or in any way not quite like the rest of your skin, it is not healed. It won’t kill you to go out in the sun, and by using a high SPF and avoiding prolonged exposure you should be totally fine, but it’s indeed not healed yet. Sun exposure on a tattoo, fresh or old, without protection will cause it too fade.
But, if you get a sunburnt tattoo.. You’ll feel it. They hurt. A LOT. I don’t see a lot of sun so I often forget sunscreen, but I remember quite quickly after going out because my tattoos start to heat up a lot more than the rest of me :p Put on 30-50 spf and don’t sit straight in the sun for hours, you should be fine.
Thanks for the replies. My piece is still shiny so I guess it is not healed yet. Regarding fading, I think this really applies to colored tattoos. I have several black ones that never get sunscreened, and they’re just as black as the day I got them over ten years ago.
And sorry, I’d rather not post a photo of my new piece in case someone tries to copy it. Thanks!
@djrell 140893 wrote:
Thanks for the replies. My piece is still shiny so I guess it is not healed yet. Regarding fading, I think this really applies to colored tattoos. I have several black ones that never get sunscreened, and they’re just as black as the day I got them over ten years ago.
And sorry, I’d rather not post a photo of my new piece in case someone tries to copy it. Thanks!
Absolute bullshit
@buttwheat 140896 wrote:
Absolute bullshit
Sure. Just like the advice that “expert” tattoo artists give when it comes to aftercare. Too much conflicting advice.
@djrell 140897 wrote:
Sure. Just like the advice that “expert” tattoo artists give when it comes to aftercare. Too much conflicting advice.
Huh?
56789
You must be logged in to create new topics.
