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no, matthew is no doctor (hey, matthew 🙂 ), but the advice you gave me was the most helpful i got anywhere; i kind of knew mine was infected, just didn’t want it to be!
of course! you can’t get antibiotics w/out a dr’s prescrption anyway ( not in the US, anyway).
but, if you have swelling, redness, and leakage of some kind, chances are you have an infection. i am VERY grateful that someone here urged me to see a DR ( who confirmed the infection and wrote me a presciption). i wish i hadn’t waited as long as i did to see one, cuz i wonder if my ink wouldn’t have ended up being as messed up if i had gotten antibiotics right away.
PHOTO’s
it’s been 2+ months now, and the surface of my tat is STILL not quite right ( not ‘tight’, but when i push the skin, it looks like some type of plastic wrap, not skin-like), and i will DEFININTELY have to get a few places recolored. i live in NC, and summer is coming, which means the beach and the pool, so, i’ll just use a lot of sunscreen on it and wait til fall to get it retouched, locally.
i don’t want to scare you dani, but, you need to get on antibiotics cuz i’m almost certain you have an infection. things will work out, but, be prepared for needing a touchup down the road.
i still don’t know WHY i got the infection. dirty air on the planes? dunno. but, it is what it is 🙁
hey! sunday was 5 wks for my tat. i’m still waiting for the entire crinkly top surface to come off. when i wash it, if i rub it a bit, some bits of dead skin (?) come off, but, i don’t want to do any MORE damage! but the milky, waxy, cloudiness is mostly gone.
i took my UK GF who was visiting me in NC/USA to the shop that did my first ankle tat a few years ago; she got her first tat, a star…i held her hand :), although she said it didn’t hurt 🙂 Her artist said my tat was healing nicely, considering the infection i had, and thought that more than likely, i’d need a touch up in 2 areas, which is better than the 10 areas i thought i’d have to have touched up! those 2 areas have lost their scabs ( as have all the other areas), the ‘divots’ are still below the surface; no tat color is showing in the bottom of these ‘craters’ although the brownish color that’s showing is much darker than my skin color. but. he said, until that ‘crinkly layer’ ( he called it a scar? is it a scar?) came off, he couldn’t say for sure it i’d need a touch-up or not ( hopefully NOT!)
sooooooooooooooooo…the saga continues.
So I guess I am just paranoid!
if you see red streaks, run, don’t walk to the doctor cuz red streaks going upward towards your heart=blood poisoning
and, no, you’re not paranoid; when you’ve had other tats that didn’t act like that, including one that you got at the same time( different leg), of course you would be concerned because you want the end results to be great!
This is tattoo 6 and 7, but the first time I can see them. It is as been a week today, and one is healing great, no soreness, scabs are coming off on there own. The other one is much different. The scabs are raised and puffy there has been some the sticky white fluid leaking out but that looks like it might have stopped. It is really sore and there is a dark pink/reddish area around part of the tattoo. It is on the inside of my ankle, when I stand after sitting or lieing down, I get a very sharp pain up my shin. It will hurt for awhile but if I keep moving it goes away. No fever!
Should I go follow up with the artist? or should I wait til day 10?
FYI – Everyday it seems to be getting better, but I am worried about infection.
this sounds SOOO Much like what i went thru! my tat is on my ankle also, and i can TOTALLY relate to that feeling when you first stand up.
the redness and pain say to me, based on what everyone here told me, GET TO THE DR and GET ON ANTIBIOTICS! the pain and redness began to subside in a few days. then, go see your artist and see what he says happened.
mine told me i washed it too much ( 2X/day rather than 1); i really don’t think that’s what went wrong:(
finally done w/ my 10 days of antibiotics. no more ‘leaking’; those areas have all scabbed over and a few of the smaller scabs have fallen off, leaving a tiny ‘dent’ in the surface, BUT….TATTOO COLOR IS THERE!:D fingers crossed that this will be the case beneath every scab.
i still have a waxy, cloudy ‘film’ over the entire surface; when i push on it, it wrinkles; it doesn’t even feel like my skin! i’ve been told this will go away–but, how? will it just absorb into my skin, or peel off ? has anybody had that ‘film’ and found a gorgeous, vivid colored tattoo underneath it?
day 6: some redness around my tattoo still remains, but no pain at all. after washing, patting dry, when i was applying aquaphor ( should i be switiching over to curel yet?), all of the ‘divoted’ areas are rough, like they have some type of a crust. as i was rubbing in the aquaphor, some small bits of ‘something’ rubbed off. :confused: i’ve been waiting about 10 minutes after towel-drying the area to apply the aquaphor, so as not to trap moisture in there. what happens to this crust? a few of the ‘divots’ are now just small indentations in the tat surface, color present ( i hope this is what happens w/ all of the divots) entire tat surface still very cloudy–i have 4 days left on antibiotics…
thanks again 🙂
^^you didn’t panic me; i was paniced about a week ago before i found this forum and the really helpful ppl here!
so, you sound like you think your problems were caused by the artist going too deep? my in-town artist didn’t think that was the case; he thinks that a fresh tat on an ankle and a 14 hour flight w/ 3 ‘legs’ was the problem. i wish the maui artist had mentioned possible complications.:( i loved the way he did smooth shaded areas–i hope this local guy can match the spots (if necessary)
sounds crazy, but i’m glad the tat is FINALLY itching!
I would say first of all don’t panic – sometimes you get scar tissue that is difficult for ink to take it is called keloid.
From what you are saying the healing process is kicking in now – once they stop leaking it will all likley scab over.
The milky grey surface will either flake or wash away as new skin forms underneath – this will still have ink in it.
It is most likely taht you will need a touch up on the tattoo once it is healed.
As for the ‘divots’ these sound like inflamed pores or scar tissue points – I have known many where ink has taken and many where it has not – all i can say is see how it looks after the healing is finished.
Take Care
Matthew
thanks, matthew!
it’s really hard NOT to worry about the end result! you know how excited you are when you find a design ( or in my case, design a tat) you love and then get your ink ( i waited 10 days so that i could get it on my last afternoon); then, you try to take very good care of it to avoid problems and…
you end up w/ ’em anyway:(
but, i’m an optimistic person, so i’m trying to stay postive
And I had the same problem with “Gossamer” (check my album) as far as “divots” go…those areas scabbed like hell and you can totally see them even years latee…although I am going to try to have it recolored (for the fourth time) and see what happens.
But it is beautiful…
are you SERIOUS? those areas STILL won’t take color? what has the tat artist said? do you keep going back to the same person?
has anyone out there ever had a good tat result after experiencing similar problems?
day 4 of antibiotics: i don’t see any color on the paper towel when i’m patting the tat dry; the enitre tat is still very cloudy and the surface very waxy–is that whole top layer gonna peal off when i’m washing it?
while the ‘divot’ areas are still crusty, they don’t appear to be oozing any more liquid of any kind…YAY:)
the surrounding redness is pink, and when i stand up first thing in the AM, the pain is gone.
question: should i wash the area again after coming back from the gym and a cycling class ( my legs are covered w/ sweat, but, surely there is some!)
hey, y’all. my tat is 2 wks old today!
day 2 of antibiotics; the soreness is gone, but the redness surrounding the tat remains as does the clear liquid ( plasma) leaks, which kind of surprise me cuz it has to ooze up past the aquaphor!
may have had a bit of a set back since i stood for 3+ hours @ a concert last nite, but followed sherav’s advice to put a loose covering over the tat/wound. thankfully, it didn’t stick, but, when i got home, my foot and lower leg were a bit swollen. it’s back to normal today.
when i washed the tat, patted it dry, i noticed very few possible ‘blood’ spots.
sooooooo looking forward to the AM when i can start seeing what’s under there!:)
this is actually my 3rd tat, and 3 times is either a ‘charm’ or a curse; unfortuneately, for me, it’s been a CURSE!
i’d like to post pix of my tats somewhere, but, i’m not sure how to do it.
**i just added pix in my tat album. take a peek if ya like
Love. Peace. Metallica.
aerosmith, rhcp AND buckcherry!:D
day 1 on meds:
the antibiotics seem to be working already; redness and swelling down; pain almost gone EXCEPT for the seemingly ‘raw’ areas –the divots are still there, and last nite as i was patting the tat dry, i noticed some small pieces of something appearing to be ‘detaching’ from my skin onto the paper towl, leaving red areas behind 😮 no blood actually ‘flowing’…thank God!
i read the aquaphor and the curel pkgs, and both advised NOT applying to open wounds.
so, i applied some polysporin to the ‘raw’ areas; just talked to another pharmicist ( as my dr told me to use vaseline!! apparently didn’t take the ‘tattoo class”!) who said the polysporin, being an antibiotic cream, was the right thing to use. correct?
the entire surface of the tat is very cloudy…the black areas are grey, but, i’ve been assured that that stuff will lift off, wash away, or something!
it’s gonna be interesting to see what’s under there!
i hope this thread isn’t boring y’all! it’s kinda like a mini-series 😀
