Tattoo care advice

It is becoming more and more a norm with tattoos. Whether it is big or small, black and white or really happy. You can take care of your own skin problems in the near future after the tattoo.

If you do not take care of it carefully, the ink may fade and your skin will be permanently damaged. For the first two weeks after getting the tattoo, proper and careful care is especially important. After two weeks, you should still pay attention to keeping the effect of the tattoo longer. There are various tips on how to care for a tattoo but there is no way that is scientifically proven.

Care guide best advice on tattooing

If you recently got a tattoo, take a look at our tips to learn how to take care of your tattoo in the short and long term.

Healing time
A new tattooed skin area can be compared to an abrasion. The healing time varies and usually takes 2-3 weeks, but it takes a few more weeks before the skin is completely restored.

Within the first 24-48 hours

1-Do not remove the tape within 2-24 hours.

  • Immediately after you finish the tattoo, you usually get some protection, such as plastic wrap, which can stay for a few hours or overnight.
  • Ask your tattoo artist for advice and see if they have any suggestions.
  • If the tattoo artist uses a thick, absorbent tape-free tape, you can usually leave the tape overnight or even for 24 hours. This type of tape has better air permeability than other tapes and is not easily saturated with sweat. While protecting the damaged skin, it can also ensure good air circulation and speed up wound healing.
  • If the tattoo artist used that type of thin mesh tape for you, you should tear it off after a few hours. Nets absorb too much water and plastic tape prevents the skin from breathing. So after you finish the tattoo, you just need to leave the tape on the skin for a few hours, after which the tape can be removed.

2-Wash your hands thoroughly before removing the tape

  • Carefully and gently remove the tape to prevent accidental damage or tearing of the healed soft skin.
  • It is important to keep your hands clean when taking care of your tattoo to avoid infections. Wash your hands with soap and feel free to use hand sanitizer.
  • Never let anyone else touch the tattoo during the healing period.
  • When the tape is removed, the tape may stick, especially when the tape has been on the skin for more than two hours and it is more difficult to remove. If this happens, first sprinkle some water on the gauze tape. It is easier to remove wet gauze. 
  • Let the tattooed skin breathe before proceeding.

3-Cleaning of newly made tattoo

  • Once the cover is removed, the tattoo is washed clean of blood and wound fluid. Use lukewarm water. You can use cleaning products if the tattoo artist has recommended it, such as mild unscented soap.
  • Gently pat dry with a clean towel and then allow to air dry. If wound fluid comes out of the tattoo, you can bathe gently with a clean soft towel until the tattoo is dry.
  • Try to avoid too high or too low a temperature. Room temperature is the most ideal temperature, or it can be a little higher or lower than room temperature.
  • Only use mild soap when washing tattoos. Colorless, odorless and non-irritating chemical soaps are ideal.
  • Do not use towels, bath brushes, bath sponges to scrub tattoos. These objects are too rough and can damage the tattooed skin.
  • Make sure all blood stains have been wiped off. The remaining dried blood stains tend to leave crusts.
  • After washing the tattoo, do not leave soap liquid on the tattoo.
  • Carefully clean the tattoo morning and evening.

4-Keep the skin dry with a paper towel. 

  • Wipe wet skin with a clean, soft paper towel until the skin is dry.
  • Or you can let the skin dry naturally, which takes about 10 minutes.
  • Do not rub the skin when the skin is air-dried, which may cause bleeding or discomfort in the skin.
  • Do not use bath towels to dry the skin. Compared to paper towels, bath towels are more likely to raise bacteria.
  • Try using soft paper towels.

5-Lubricate during healing time n

  • Use clean fingers or a clean paper towel to rub some ointment on the dry tattooed skin and then use a paper towel to wipe off excess ointment.
  • Lubricate the tattoo with a thin layer of ointment, such as Helosan or Bepanthen, after each cleansing or more often. The skin should never feel dry.
  • You may also need to continue to lubricate when the tattoo has healed if the skin feels dry. Then you can use regular skin cream.
  • Do not use too much lotion or ointment, just cover the tattoo, do not make the skin oily or wet.
  • Gently massage the area where the ointment or lotion is applied until the skin is completely absorbed. Do not allow the ointment to stick to the tattoo surface.
  • However, the ointment has a longer maintenance effect and can moisturize the skin better and prevent dry skin. 
  • Do not use products that contain aloe vera, alcohol or cortisone.

6-Do not put the tape back after removing the tape. 

  • Even if you feel that your skin is very sensitive, do not use a new tape or wrap the skin. You should allow your skin to come in contact with air for healing.

Care within two to three weeks after tattooing

1- Clean your tattoo every day. 

  • For the first two weeks, you should wash your tattoo with warm water and mild soap at least twice a day.
  • Wash your tattoo every morning after you get up and before you go to bed.
  • Follow the steps in the first step when cleaning the tattoo. Make sure your hands are clean. Just use your fingers to gently scrub the tattooed area. Wipe with a paper towel.

2-Apply ointment or lotion to the tattooed area several times a day, preferably 4-6 times. 

  • Apply a thin layer of lotion or ointment on the tattooed area to keep the skin moist and prevent dryness and itching
  • Just like washing a tattoo, do it like the first day when you moisturize the skin. Apply a small amount of ointment or lotion on the tattoo and massage gently until it is absorbed and there is no more residue on the surface.

3-Wear loose clothing. 

  • Wear clean and airy clothes, which do not rub against the tattoo. Wear clean bedding.
  • If your tattoo is covered with clothes, make sure that the clothes that cover the tattoo are loose and breathable.
  • Clothes that are too tight will rub the new tattoo and cause the skin to swell and become inflamed, which not only causes skin pain but can also cause infection.
  • Rubbing clothes on the tattoo can also cause the ink to fade.

4-Do not let direct sunlight hit the tattoo.

  • For the first few weeks, wear loose clothing or other loose protection to protect from the sun and do not allow the new ink to come into direct contact with the sun.
  • Skin that is already damaged can become drier and cause crusts or peeling. After repeated exposure to direct sunlight, the tattoo is more likely to fade or fade.
  • Do not expose the tattoo to the sun until the skin has fully recovered, about 4-6 weeks. When the tattoo is healed, it should be lubricated with a high sun protection factor when staying in the sun.

5-Do not soak the tattoo. 

  • For the first few weeks, do not take a bath or shower for too long. Absolutely do not swim. 
  • Soaking for too long causes the skin tissues to become too wet, the ink may disappear and fade.
  • If possible, try to keep the bath time within 10 minutes.
  • Do not go to the pool, the sea, the whirlpool or the sauna. Chlorine water is especially harmful for tattoos. It is good to exercise, but avoid hard training for a few days after the tattoo.

6-Let the scabs loosen by themselves

  • When the tattoo heals, the skin will naturally form a protective layer. Therefore, peeling and thin crusts are beneficial for skin healing and are normal phenomena.
  • If you do not pay attention to moisturizing or make the skin too moist, the scab can be too hard and thick. When you move that piece of skin, the crust will even split up a bit. Fortunately, the ink in the scab gradually melts into the skin and the skin gradually heals.
  • Do not poke away scabs as there is a great risk that color will come off the tattoo. All crusts must come off by themselves.

7-Avoid itching

  • No matter how itchy your skin is, avoid itching on the tattoo. If it itches, you can gently pat the skin.
  • If you scratch the scab, it will reopen and become infected. It can also scrape off the ink.
  • Similarly, rubbing the peeled skin can also cause discoloration.

8- Pay attention to the skin for signs of infection. 

  • If you take good care of your skin, the risk of infection is minimal. However, because the skin itself is damaged, there is still a risk of infection. If you have symptoms of a skin infection, seek medical attention immediately.
  • A tattooed area of ​​skin with increasing redness, tenderness, swelling, scarring or that starts to smell bad
  • A red streak in the skin from the tattoo area may be a sign of an inflammation of the lymph vessels (lymphangitis). You can also get swollen and sore lymph nodes.
  • Sometimes infection is accompanied by fever.
  • General malaise with local signs of infection in the skin area at the tattoo, may be a sign of Sepsis – blood poisoning. You often get a rapidly rising fever and chills. Undertemperature can also occur which you must seek immediately in the emergency room.

9-Drink plenty of water. 

  • You should drink 2 liters of fluid per 24 hours
  • Overall, hydration is very important. Well-hydrated skin also becomes more elastic. As a result, the damaged skin on the tattoo site heals faster.

Long-term care

1-Use sunscreen every day.

  • Sunlight is always the enemy of tattoos. After one month, you should apply sunscreen to the tattooed area every time you go out.
  • Ultraviolet rays can easily fade tattoos.
  • Sunscreen products you use should have a sunscreen effect to block both UVA and UVB rays. At the same time, the SPF index for sunscreen should be above 30 and contain waterproof ingredients.
  • If possible, use sunscreen 20 minutes before going out to allow enough time for sunscreen to be absorbed by the skin and take effect.

2-Try not to use the solarium. 

  • Tanning beds and sunglasses also use ultraviolet rays to tan the skin. Same as sunscreen, they should be avoided as much as possible.
  • UV rays make the tattoo fade. High-intensity tanning lamps and tanning beds can also affect the ink and cause pain.

3-Try not to sweat at the tattoo area. 

  • This is especially important if you often do physical work that makes you sweat or exercise regularly. 
  • Wear good absorbent clothing.
  • Change clothes immediately after sweating a lot. If there is no such condition, at least wipe the sweat from the tattoo site.
  • Sweating can also cause the tattoo to fade.

4-Pay attention to if there is redness and itching in the skin. 

  • At the end of the tattoo, redness and itching of the skin can sometimes occur.
  • Skin redness and itching often occur after prolonged exposure to the sun.
  • If you use new skin care products or cosmetics, if your skin is not adapted to the chemicals, blemishes or other ingredients contained in the skin care products, it will also easily make your skin red and itchy.
  • Skin rash with redness, swelling, blisters and itching may be a sign of contact allergy to any dye. The risk of allergy is greatest if you use red and yellow.

5-Continue using lotion or ointment.

  • After a month of care, you may no longer need to use a lot of moisturizing ointments, but at least you should use a lotion or cream with a good moisturizing effect every day to keep the skin moisturized.
  • Do not use lotions that contain Vaseline. Vaseline can fade the ink.

6-Always pay attention to changes in the tattoo site. 

  • Especially after using inferior ink for tattooing, the tattooed area can be allergic and even cause skin cancer.
  • Look closely for small bumps or large bumps on the tattoo site. And have your dermatologist examine the suspected area.

Tip!

  • The Medical Products Agency advises pregnant and breastfeeding women not to get a tattoo. As a pregnant woman, you have a changed immune system and tattooing carries a risk of infection.
  • Hire a tattoo artist who has verified that the tattoo colors meet the rules and who provides information about injected tattoo colors.
  • Keep in mind that tattoo paint that is injected into the skin stays in the body, perhaps for the rest of your life. Some color pigments fade over time, which means that the color is either transported away from the skin to other parts of the body or that it changes its chemical structure and loses its color. Research shows that tattoo inks injected into the skin have been transported to lymph nodes. More research is needed to determine if it is harmful.

If you regret your tattoo

There are no easy ways to remove a tattoo. Repeated laser treatments can be used to break down the tattoo colors in the skin so that the tattoo is no longer visible. However, just because a tattoo is no longer visible does not mean that the color has disappeared from the body.

Tattoo colors use different types of color pigments, organic pigments, inorganic pigments and soot

Not all color pigments are as easy to break down and some color pigments can also change color during laser treatment. White titanium dioxide, for example, can turn black.

When organic color pigments are decomposed by laser, harmful substances can be formed. The laser treatment itself can also cause burns.