# A textured tattoo? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 16, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161 "2008-06-16T22:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/1 "2008-06-16T22:42:13Z")
I got a very simple kanji design done on my upper right arm in September of '07. It barely bled at all and healed quickly. However, in the nine months since I got the tattoo, the texture that I initially attributed to normal swelling has never left. I don’t mean that you can actually see the tattooed area raised above the rest of my arm, but you can certainly _feel_ it if you run your hand there. It doesn’t hurt, nor is it sensitive to the touch in any way. But it’s not my imagination, as my wife can attest to. Of the other folks I know who have tattoos, including my wife, no one else can so easily feel where their tattoo is, especially after so much time passing. So I’m just wondering if anyone else out there has this issue, or has any ideas of why I might be different in that regard. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/2 "2008-06-16T23:07:17Z")
Mine’s a little bit raised. Not much, but you can feel it, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/3 "2008-06-16T23:20:24Z")
Not really relevant. I got an email last week showing a guy getting breast implants on his cheesecake girlie tattoo. That’d be a textured tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![Capcha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Capcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capcha)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/4 "2008-06-16T23:24:13Z")
A friend of mine has many tattoos; most are smooth to the touch. If your eyes are closed you can barely tell by touch. Some are a little textured, it depends on where you have them. I only have one (on my ribcage) that is textured: skin layer over them is thin. There’s also a difference in the end result of a ‘filled’ tattoo to an outline. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/5 "2008-06-16T23:24:25Z")
Which kanji did you get? I hope you didn’t get it from [this website.](http://www.hanzismatter.com/)😃 ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/6 "2008-06-16T23:27:04Z")
My WAG from afar is that you’ve got a tattoo-shaped scar under the ink. Do you tend to form or keep noticeable scars from other injuries? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/7 "2008-06-17T00:03:04Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] Which kanji did you get? I hope you didn’t get it from [this website.](http://www.hanzismatter.com/)😃 [/QUOTE] Hahahah! I like the “Guzen da zo!” one. 😃 - Can’t type Japanese on this computer… ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/8 "2008-06-17T00:19:49Z")
My tattoo is slightly raised, and I got it two or three years ago. It’s not bulging out or anything, but if you ran your hand over my shoulder with your eyes closed you’d probably think something was amiss. ---
**Author:** ![Elysium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@Elysium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysium)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/9 "2008-06-17T00:47:40Z")
Mine is somewhat raised and I have noticed when my allergies are really bad it will swell up a bit more and get itchy. I have very sensitive skin. I’ve heard this attributed to the tattoo artist having a heavy hand. From what I have heard it’s really a sign of an inexperienced artist. I don’t mind it, because I’m sure a good part of it is my sensitive skin. And I do scar very easily. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/10 "2008-06-17T02:09:22Z")
The one on my back is still raised to this day, and I’ve had it for almost nine years now. The one on my leg raises up for a few hours after I shave. The one on my wrist never raised after the initial swelling went down. _shrug_ I think it’s kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/11 "2008-06-17T04:09:57Z")
I started a thread about something similar a few years back. I have three tattoos, all of them are compleatly smooth. I got a misquitto bite on one of them once and scratched only that one area of the tattoo for a while. The whole thing raised up just like the day I got it. It was kinda neat. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/12 "2008-06-17T04:14:54Z")
I triple-checked the kanji before getting it, so I’m good. 😃 Glad to know this is fairly normal, even if it does mean there’s a scar there. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/13 "2008-06-17T04:18:23Z")
Answer the _other_ question! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/14 "2008-06-17T04:30:16Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] Answer the _other_ question! 😛 [/QUOTE] You’re destroying my reputation for being darkly mysterious, I hope you know. Anyway, I have the symbols for sun and moon. My wife got the same tattoo years earlier, and I thought it would be a nice surprise for her for me to get the same (although not in the same place). She just added to hers a couple of weekends ago, embellishing it with very pretty flowers. I will NOT be trying to keep pace with her on that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/15 "2008-06-17T14:59:07Z")
What, no flowers for you? Oh, c’mon. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/16 "2008-06-17T15:11:16Z")
[QUOTE=TroubleAgain] What, no flowers for you? Oh, c’mon. 😃 [/QUOTE] Maybe if they were, like, zombie Venus Flytraps with a pile of skulls beneath them or something – yeah, that could work… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/17 "2008-06-17T15:14:42Z")
I’ve got two tattoos, one on each arm, and they seem to rise up and die down with the weather. Sometimes one side comes up, sometimes the other. The one done with a machine definitely raises more often than the bamboo tattoo though. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/18 "2008-06-17T16:40:54Z")
My tattoos are usually pretty smooth. But, if the area gets sunburned, they raise up noticabley. It’s more the outline than the fill. ---
**Author:** ![PharmBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@PharmBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PharmBoy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/19 "2008-06-18T23:33:27Z")
You may have a mild allergy to the ink. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-textured-tattoo/453161/20 "2008-06-19T01:20:53Z")
Mine’s a tiny bit raised, yes. I got it about 18 months ago, so I’d chalk that up to normal scarring.