Aftercare
Tattoo Aftercare | Tips and instructions
TATTOO AFTERCARE
You did it! Now you got a tattoo! You made the inky leap and have something wonderful forever tattooed on your skin to show the world how awesome you are.
But how do you take care of a tattoo?
Leave bandage on till next morning
Sleep with the bandage your first night to prevent your tattoo from rubbing over the sheets. The bandage will be used to protect the raw area, and to stop any fluids that are still oozing, from sticking to bed sheets.
Do not sleep on your new tattoo
And if you wash the tattoo the first evening, it’s a good idea to put new plastic film, on till next morning. since you don’t know what you are doing while asleep.
If your tattoo sticks to the bed sheets, do NOT just pull the sheets away from your skin, this could rip ink out from your tattoo. Instead, you need to soak the sticking area with warm water until the sheets peel away easily. If you need to drag your sheets into the shower with you, then so-be-it.
Next morning GENTLY remove the wrap by undoing or carefully cutting through the tape used by your artist to stick the wrap to your skin.
If your wrap is plastic, gently peel the material away from your skin, it shouldn’t stick at all.
Tattoo Aftercare | removed Wrap
After you’ve removed your wrap, your tattoo is likely to be covered in a thick gooey layer of blood, plasma, and lymph fluid. The clear plasma is what you will want to clean off most thoroughly, as this is the fluid that will eventually start to set and harden in order to begin the scabbing process.
You need to wash the tattoo gently with warm water and soap 2-6 times a day, to prevent infection. Leave the tattoo to dry the first 2 days without applying lotion.
After 2 days the scabbing should begin. Then a thin layer of tattoo lotion, made for healing tattoos can be applied.
Also DO NOT put lotion on your tattoo too often, as this can make the tattoo ooze, and attract germs. Also it’s easier to scrape off the scab and destroying the tattoo if it has softened too much by lotion. Applying a thin layer 2 or 3 times a day should be fine.
After 10 -14 days your tattoo should have been healed and the scab fallen off by itself. The skin can still be dry, and feel scarred the first and second month during the healing process, this is perfectly normal.
After settling, your skin will be normal again.
Let it Heal…
Do not:
Pick the scabs
This is important. After a few days, your tattoo is going to begin to scab. This scabbing should be mostly light, but some thick scabs can appear over certain areas depending on how much the area was worked on.
These scabs should not be picked or pulled off under any circumstance. Scabs that are not ready to fall off are potentially still connected to deeper skin layers where the ink is still in the process of setting, meaning that pulling a scab off could cause ink to be pulled out of the skin along with the scab.
Do not:
Pick of peeling skin
– Once your tattoo
has finished the scabbing phase, the skin will begin the peel and flake away. This flaky skin, no-matter how inviting, should not be played with, picked, or peeled off.
This skin may look like it’s only literally hanging on by a thread, but it can still be connected to pigments of setting ink, meaning that by picking the skin, you could be removing bits of ink too.
Do not:
BATH IN SWIMMING POOL, OR SEA, to avoid germ exposure, and possible infection of the tattoo.
Your tattoo is Infected?
If the tattoo should get infected contact your doctor. Antibiotics will usually heal the infection.
DO NOT apply lotion if infection starts. or your tattoo starts oozing pus, instead wash the tattoo with warm water and soap, and let it dry out. It needs to breathe and dry out, to heal.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the shop.
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