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Tattoo Care Guide: How to Take Care of a Tattoo?

Tattoo Healing Process: How Does a Tattoo Heal?

After having gotten your tattoo, it is incredibly important that you follow the steps set out to correctly care for it and ensure that it heals properly. Each tattoo may heal differently and it largely depends on the individual themselves, where the tattoo is located on the body and whether proper tattoo care processes have been followed. The studio will provide you with a list of tattoo care tips that you should follow after getting a tattoo as this will help to ensure that the area heals properly!

As the skin on and around the tattoo would bleed and be considered an open wound, caring for the area as you would with any other open sore on your body is incredibly important. The following blog will look at what to do after getting a tattoo and the proper care steps to be sure you follow for your tattoo to heal properly!

What are the Symptoms Associated with Tattoo Healing?

As a tattoo is technically an open wound on your skin, you may have a few symptoms associated with the healing process. It is important to remember that the area may be quite red and the tattoo itself may be oozing a bit, but this should only last for about a week, though others may find that this subsides in a few days.

The next symptom you may feel is that the area where you have been tattooed may become quite itchy. This itching is a completely normal response from your body though it is important that you avoid scratching as much as possible. Using moisturising cream suitable for tattoo care can help to reduce the itchiness of the area, so be sure to coat the region if you start to get the urge to scratch.

How Long Does It Take for Tattoos to Heal?

The amount of time that it takes for a tattoo to heal will largely depend on the person, where the tattoo is located and whether or not tattoo care processes have been followed to ensure the area heals properly.

While immediate symptoms, like redness and swelling, will generally lessen after a few days, continuing to abide by the proper tattoo care steps after these symptoms have subsided is incredibly important! Following proper tattoo care guidelines will ensure that your tattoo heals properly and does not fade!

Why Is Tattoo Care Necessary?

As a tattoo is an open wound on your skin, if it is not taken care of properly, you run the risk of the area scarring or even becoming infected. If you have an open wound on your skin and it is not properly cleaned, bacteria and germs may enter your wound and it will become infected. This infection is not only painful, but you can actually get quite sick.

Cleaning your tattoo with a proper antibacterial solution will ensure that no germs or bacteria infect the area. This is another reason why keeping the tattoo covered for the first few days is very important.

Another reason why tattoo care is so important is due to the potential for scarring that comes from not keeping the area clean and moisturised. As with any wound, the skin around and under the tattoo will need to be looked after in order to avoid a scar forming. Scars can affect the tattoo itself so keeping it clean and using fragrance-free and alcohol-free moisturiser to keep it from drying out or getting dirty is vital to tattoo care.

After Tattoo: How to Take Care of a New Tattoo?

There are both short-term and long-term tattoo healing stages, and within each stage, you need to use different care processes. The following is a look at how you can take care of a tattoo booth in the short term and in the longer term.

Tattoo Care For The Short Term

When thinking about new tattoo care, it is important to separate the processes done in the first week compared to the second week. The following is a look at the best processes to follow in these first two weeks after having gotten your tattoo.

Week 1

The first week of tattoo care involves keeping the area clean from any potential contaminants. This means regularly cleaning, disinfecting and moisturising the area as best you can. Tattoo care on day 1 will usually be taken care of by the tattoo artist who will clean and moisturise the area before covering it up with a bandage. For the remainder of the week, you should follow the instructions set out to properly clean the region over and around the tattoo while also ensuring that you keep it moisturised. Having the proper tattoo cleaning and moisturising care products to do this will ensure that the area is properly cleaned.

Week 2

During the second week, you may notice that the skin around the tattoo is beginning to peel and the tattoo itself may be starting to get a bit itchy. Though this can be annoying and a bit disconcerting, this is actually a good sign as it means your tattoo is healing! One of the best ways to stop the itching is to either gently apply alcohol-free and fragrance-free lotion over the tattoo and the surrounding area. If this is not working to take away the itchiness, another method you can use is to apply an ice pack or cool compress over your clothing onto the area. The coldness of this compress should help to mitigate the itchiness and stop you from scratching the area.

Tattoo Care For The Long Term

Tattoo care after the area has healed is also important and it can help to ensure that the ink on the tattoo itself does not fade. When it comes to long-term tattoo care, avoiding sunlight is important. Sunlight leads to the ink fading quite quickly and should be avoided at all costs. If you are going out into the sunlight and cannot cover it up, using a sunscreen with a high factor of protection is necessary. When it comes to long-term tattoo care, keeping the area moisturised and applying lotion daily is also an important thing to keep in mind!

Things to Consider When Choosing Tattoo Care Products

The type of tattoo care products that you use both during the initial healing phase as well as for maintenance of the area over time is extremely important. It is important to use high-quality products that have been specifically designed for tattoo care as these kinds of solutions ensure the best long-term results.

The tattoo studio you go to should give you basic tattoo care products for the initial treatment of the area. It is vital to use these products properly and ensure that you follow the directions for application. After your tattoo has healed, it is important to keep the area out of the sun or use sunscreen over the tattoo. This will help to ensure that the ink does not fade.

What Should We Avoid During the Tattoo Aftercare Process?

There are a number of things to avoid after you have gotten your tattoo and knowing what not to do while your tattoo is healing will help to ensure that it heals properly! The following are just a few things to avoid during the tattoo aftercare process.

Scratching: While the skin under and around the tattoo heals, ensuring that you are not scratching the area or pulling at the skin that is peeling off is incredibly important. Avoiding doing this not only preserves the ink on the tattoo but it also ensures that no scars form around the scabs. After a week or two of having gotten your tattoo, you will notice that scabs will begin to form. These scabs will naturally fall off over time, but if you pick and scratch at them, there is a chance they can leave behind scars.

Wearing Tight Clothing: After having gotten your tattoo it is important to let the air around the skin breathe, this helps it to heal properly. You should avoid wearing any sort of tight clothing over this area as this may irritate the skin and cause the healing process to slow down.

Avoid Direct Sunlight: Exposing your new tattoo to sunlight can cause the ink to start to fade. During the tattoo aftercare process, be sure to use a bandage or wear clothing that covers the area to avoid this happening. After the tattoo has healed completely, you will be able to apply sunscreen, but before it has healed it is best to avoid using anything other than disinfectant and moisturiser.

Use Alcohol-based or Fragrance Moisturisers or Disinfectants: Keeping your tattoo clean and moisturise while it heals is incredibly important. Using the correct types of moisturising and cleaning products will help to ensure that the healing process happens as quickly as possible. Alcohol-based sanitisers and moisturisers with a fragrance can slow down the healing process as these kinds of products can irritate the skin and dry it out faster compared to non-alcohol non-fragrance-based moisturisers and disinfectants.