What do I have to do to care for my new tattoo?
Your artist should have given you aftercare instructions, as each of us knows the intricacies of how our work heals and what’s best for the piece during that time.Here are a few general guidelines that most artists tell their clients:Keep your tattoo clean. Between 2hours-24hours (artist’s preference) after your tattoo was finished and wrapped in a bandage, you should wash your hands, unwrap your tattoo, wash it with Unscented Liquid Antibacterial soap and hot water, then rinse with cold water. DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO TOUCH YOUR NEW TATTOO, AND YOU DONT EITHER UNLESS YOUVE WASHED YOUR HANDS.Do NOT use ANYTHING to wash your tattoo with other than your CLEAN HANDS.Pat your tattoo dry with a paper towel. Do NOT use ANY MATERIAL to dry your tattoo with other than CLEAN PAPER TOWELS. Bath towels, kitchen towels, wash cloths, etc all leave fibers behind that can get your new tattoo infected.Let your tattoo AIR DRY for a minimum 20min, you want to wait however long it takes for your skin to completely dry before applying lotion. Your tattoo will feel “tight” when it’s dry, kinda like how your skin feels when you get a sunburn.Apply a SMALL amount of Aquaphor to your tattoo, rubbing it gently into your tattoo plus the area directly around it. A good rule of thumb here is that for every palm-sized area of skin that’s been tattooed, you should apply a pea-sized amount of lotion.DO NOT RECOVER YOUR TATTOO. Obviously, you can wear normal clothes and socks and shoes. You want to lean more towards natural, loose fitting fabrics as the #1 thing your tattoo needs to heal the quickest and the best is OXYGEN.DO NOT SCRATCH OR PICK AT YOUR NEW TATTOO. It’s gonna itch. Deal with that now so you don’t waste the artist’s time and your money by ruining what you just put yourself through pain for. Best solution: pat your tattoo like it’s a weave to stop the itching.
Tattoo care? Neck tattoo?
You want to only wash the tattoo with cool water. You actually don't want to have a lot of scabbing. The less scabbing the better. Applying a thin layer of ointment and washing the tattoo every 4-7 hours for at least 10 days is a must. In between washings the tattoo is usually dry, you'll want to apply more ointment. If your tattoo begins to scab you will want to use luke warm water on a paper towel and blot the tattoo to reduce the scabbing and remove any dead skin. I've found Aquaphor from Eucerin to be the best. Other ointments, soaps and lotions used on the tattoo before it's healed tends to pull out more color. I, myself don't have a neck tattoo but I think washing your hair either way would be fine as long as your not letting the shampoo or conditioner sit on the tattoo for long. If you prefer, you can certainly wash your hair upside down so your tattoo doesn't have any contact with the hair products.
Tattoo on the palm of hand?
I am wanting to get the palm of my left hand tattoo'd and I can already guess how it will feel. But thats not the problem for me I have about 90 hours worth already and want to try this spot. The problem is, I hear it can get infected and that it takes a while to heal. Any advise on this would help.... Thanks alot
How should I take care of my chest tattoo?
I got my tattoo on the 8th of August, I've been using A&D Ointment on it since the night I got it. I've read on a couple of websites to avoid long, hot, steamy showers; is that completely true? My tattoo artist told me to wear saran wrap for the first 2-3 days to avoid scratching it on seatbelts, t-shirts and so I won't mess it up while I'm sleeping. Sleeping with and wearing saran wrap and tape is getting pretty annoying, how much longer should I use it? Last question; about how much longer do I have to keep using the A&D ointment? I know I have to start using lotion once it starts flaking, but about how much longer is that gonna be? PS: I want people WITH tattoos to answer this question, not people that have friends with tattoos or family members with tattoos..
How to handle a palm tattoo?
I don't have one on the palm of my hand but My cousin who I am very close with does and she has had to touch hers up about 3 times. The more active the area the more it is going to fade obviously its like shoes of where your wear pattern is. same kind of thing. Just know that the palm of your hand is most likely going to hurt like hell. Have you ever burned your fingers or anything on the inside part of your hand. You have a lot of nerve endings with the inside part of your hand. My cousin damn near blacks out each time she gets hers touched up because of the pain. An artist at my tattoo shop got one done on the palm of his hands and is covered in tattoos they posted a video of him getting the palm done and he was screaming and couldn't sit still. Think wise about they place because your hand could swell and if you use your hands for work, probably not the best place to get it because it will be sore for a few days to weeks after its done. Hope this helps
Hand/palm tattoo peeling off?
I got a tattoo last week and I started noticing it cracking/peeling about 4 days in. It's literally peeling off now and I'm not sure if I did something. Just checking out what other people think before seeing my artist. Here is a pic: http://media.tumblr.com/2b1af74519e44d74416f3a10b318e4af/tumblr_inline_mun00dnCCL1rxiuu4.jpg
What can you tell me about getting a tattoo on the palm of my hand?
I've read that the color can bleed on palm tattoos and that they tend to fade faster. Does that mean fade away to nothing? How long would that take for that to happen (weeks, months, years)? Is one place on the palm better than another, to get a good solid bright tattoo that stays? Maybe the base of the thumb? Or, right below the fingers? And, would this be more or less painful than a tattoo on other body parts?
What is the most sensitive/painful body part to get a tattoo?
I have had a few tattoos and two of them stand out as the most painful. Probably the most painful spot for me was the top of my foot, it was given by a beginner and it took an extremely long time to finish. Every time the needle touched my skin I almost jumped up and stopped the work in progress. It is one of my favorites though so I guess it was worth the effort.The next most painful place was on my wrist. This one was bad, but nowhere as bad as on the foot. It was quickly done and in public so I had to suck it up and act lil it was no thing, not easy but doable.Any place that the skin is close to the bone will be painful. Places with plenty of fat or muscle will be less painful. The back of my calf was not bad at all go instance, I played a game of chess while receiving it and at times almost forgot it was even happening.I hope this helps!
What's the proper way to care / wash for a shoulder blade tattoo???
Current tattoo aftercare is basically: 1) wash with antibacterial soap with clean hands, beginning 2 hrs. after getting tattoo (leave bandage on until then), and then clean and care 3-5 Xs every day, or more as needed. 2) pat dry with clean paper towels (no cloth towels or wash cloths.. no rubbing) 3) air dry a bit, and pat off any seepage/ink transfer every time that you see it to avoid scabbing (which can pull out color 4) apply a light coating (do not smother) of white unscented no dye lotion, I prefer Lubriderm, but Curel is good 5) If you do use an ointment, use it sparingly, and discontinue after 3 days and switch to lotion 6) do not bandage or cover if possible ... if you must cover with clothing, keep things loose, and during the 1st few days when it seeps/ink transfers, tape a clean peice of paper towel at the top to hang over the tattoo to protect it from cloth fibers, and your clothes from seepage (moisten paper towel when removing so that it does not stick to tattoo, and then wash and care for tattoo. 7) No sun, no petroleum products, nothing with scents, dyes, or lanolin. No soaking, swimming, or direct streams of water (splash rinse only). No bandages. No plastic or saran wrap. Do not put sunblock on until it is completely healed (2-4 wks or more = feels like reg. skin and does not hurt to bump it). 8) After it heals, sunblock for life 9) If you need a touch up, do excellent aftercare again for as long as it takes 10) enjoy your ink Here's a great video on current aftercare methods: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXS9t1Ec7... As far as reaching it, you just may need some help from someone else. Or you can do what I did, which was gently use a rubber spatula to put soap on and lotion... remember to have it clean with antibacterial soap 1st and to be gentle. I am talking about a kitchen spatula like for icing a cake. And you just are going to have to adjust your sleeping and setting and leaning and be very mindful of your clothing, especially for the 1st 3 days to a wk. You just do what you need to do that is best for the tattoo. It must be given every advantage while healing to end up looking it's best when healed. luck~