I’ve got some pretty significant amount of ink done recently, and being the good ‘patient’ (customer), I followed what seems to be standard advice, which is to use a moisturizing lotion or tattoo balm a few times a day. Even the odorless ones have a scent, so I smell nice ‘n’ purty – but I digress.
I spent four hours just getting the outlines done, so I can only imagine the coloring that comes this Friday and the care it will all require and related healing.
The process of getting inked injures the skin, and it gets wounded, irritated and forms a small scab. This is the gist of what I was told; I sort of knew it going in; and research confirms it.
But I don’t add lotions and cremes to any skin injuries, and if I were to select one, it’d be an antibiotic ointment (although I am much more apt to keep injured skin clean. Not a fan of applying antibiotics unless they are called for).
So, what is the difference here? I’ve got a skin injury (which goes hand in hand with getting inked), so why the lotions and balms? Don’t they just create moist/sealed environs that could help bacteria grow?
Right, A&D is just an enriched lotion. I don’t reach for A&D or Vitamin E enriched Lubriderm when I get a cut/injury to my skin. Tattooing creates open wounds that scab from the trauma, so why am I being told to apply such ointments?
I was told to use neosporin for a couple of days to promote healing, and prevent irritation that could’ve screwed up the think, and then switch to a lotion. I forget the reasoning for that part. It might’ve been just to help reduce the itching. In any case I may have overdone it, since some of the ink didn’t stick and I had to get a little retouching done later.
The idea is to keep the tattoo slightly moist as it heals because allowing a big gnarly dry scab to form will absolutely destroy your new tattoo’s appearance. An antibiotic ointment can cause other problems while healing; if you have a reaction to it or your skin otherwise doesn’t like it, your tattoo will look like ass (unless your tattoo is of an ass, in which case it’ll look like crap). You’re trying to heal skin, true, but you’re also trying to preserve the appearance of the ink.
From what I remember, you want to wash the area with mild antibiotic soap, and cover it with ointment such as A&D, which promotes healing but won’t leave the skin dry or prone to scabbing. The soap is sufficient to stave off bacteria. Plus, as I remember the stuff, A&D is a very thick, petroleum-jelly-like goop, and probably provides a good seal against new bacteria getting in.
I could be mistaken, but I think the idea is to keep the skin moist to discourage it from forming a scab; or rather, discourage a dry flaky scab that will pull out the ink if it is ripped off.
My tattoos never scabbed over in the same way that a cut or scrape will scab. I used vitamin e lotion on all of my fresh tattoos and I have had almost no loss of color or need for touch ups. My tattoo artist was very impressed with how well my skin held ink. Most of my friends with tattoos have had to go back for touch ups within a week or two. Most artists will offer free touch ups for this reason, but I have never had to take advantage of it. I don’t know how much of that is aftercare and how much is just the difference in my skin vs. my friends.
From the experience of friends: if you allow the tatto to scab over, then when the scab peels off, it may take some of the ink with it, leaving behind an uneven, faded tattoo.
I’m not sure exactly what the mechanism behind this is, but I have seen it. Keeping it wet for a while prevents a scab allowing the tattoo area to heal enough not to fade once you allow it to dry out.
AFAIK a key function of antibiotic ointments such as Polysporin (other than the antibiotic function) is to keep the wound moist in order to reduce eventual scarring due to a big dry scab ripping off.
Clearly the solution here is to get a tattoo that looks like crap.
ETA:
FWIW, my ex got a tattoo and was also instructed to use an antibacterial ointment followed by lotion. The artist said it was to prevent scabbing and scarring, which makes sense to me.
Yep. Supervenusfreak has a yin-yang with bear pawprints in place of the small circles on his shoulder, and it’s sort of mottled because he scratched it and the scab pulled off before it should have.
I haven’t been tattooed, but I’ve had plastic surgery on my face*, and the doctor advised me to apply cocoa butter every day. I did, and my surgery scars are non-existent. Even the doctor had trouble telling which side, when I went back for a follow-up months later (and I’m pretty certain that wasn’t an act). So, among other things, such ttreatment prevents scars.
*It didn’t help – I still look like me. Or, put another way, it DID help, because I don’t look any worse than before the accident.
I have a tat on my back that was a bitch to reach and when it scabbed up the scab cracked and my tat ended up with little cracks where the scab cracked.
for long term tat care I cannot recommend enough Lubriderm spf15 lotion every day. I have tats that are 12 years old and the guy who did the work was amazed, he figured it was past time for a touch up until he saw it. after I shower I use a bit of lotion on the tats and it helps them hold colors really really well. you could probably get the same effect with sun block but sun block tends to be tacky and sticky and stinky.
Have asked the former tattoo artist sitting next to me. He says: clean it, moisturize it. Don’t use neosporin or anything petroleum based. Keep it clean, keep it moist, keep it pretty. For all the scab-avoidance logic already mentioned. Bacitracin seems to have been working well for the inked for decades, even though it is an ointment. He says to avoid all other “ointment” type stuff, but lotions are good. IMO, I’d probably lean toward a “clean” lotion, like shea or cocoa butter.
