Recovery
Tattoo Aftercare
Congratulations on your new tattoo! To ensure proper healing you need to be sure to take good care of it. From this point on, your artist is not responsible for any infection or problems you may have with your tattoo if you don’t take proper care of it. It is very important that you follow these guidelines. A beautiful tattoo can turn into a disaster if the proper aftercare is not taken.
Leave That Bandage Alone!
Your artist took the care to cover up your new tattoo for a very good reason – to keep air-born bacteria from invading your wound. Yes, as pretty as your new tattoo is, it is still a wound. Open flesh is a breeding ground for bacteria and infection. Leave the bandage on for a minimum of two hours. The excitement of having a new tattoo will make you want to remove the bandage so you can show your friends, but your friends will have to wait until later.
Wash and Treat
After you remove the bandage, you will want to wash your tattoo. Use lukewarm water and mild, liquid antibacterial or antimicrobial soap (unscented and non-lotion is preferred) to gently wash away any ointment, blood and/or plasma and to completely clean the area. Do not use a washcloth or anything abrasive. Your hand is your best tool in this case. (If your tattoo feels slimy and slippery, you have probably been oozing plasma. Try to gently remove as much of this as possible – when the plasma dries on the skin surface, it creates scabs.)
Then pat (do not rub) the area firmly with a CLEAN towel or paper towel to get it completely dry. Follow with a very light application of your choice of ointment. A&D vitamin enriched ointment should have been given to you by your artist for this purpose.
**Do not use Neosporin. This is a wonderful product for cuts and scrapes, but not for tattoos.**
Specialty Products and Lotions
If you prefer, you can also use a specialty product such as Tattoo Goo or H2Ocean. It’s not necessary, as many over the counter products work just as well, but it’s your choice. Use the products as directed and continue for at least 3-5 days.
After that, continue to keep it clean, but lotion can be used when needed instead of ointment, to keep the skin soft. Whatever lotion you use, it should be dye and fragrance free. Curel and Aquaphor are both decent choices.
Bathing, Showering, Hot Tubs, and Swimming
Yes, you can (and should!) shower with a new tattoo. It’s OK to get your tattoo wet – just don’t soak it. Submerging your tattoo in a bath or hot tub can cause serious damage, so you’ll want to avoid those for two to three weeks, but showering is perfectly fine as long as you don’t saturate your tattoo. If you get soap or shampoo on your tattoo, just remove it quickly with water. Swimming – whether it be a pool, fresh water or salt water – should be avoided for at least two to three weeks.
Scabbing and Peeling
After a few days, you will notice some peeling and possibly a little scabbing. You will also start to itch, just like a sunburn when it begins to heal. The advice here is, don’t pick, and don’t scratch! If the skin itches, lightly slap it. If it is peeling, put lotion on it. Your tattoo is almost healed, and now is not the time to ruin it!
Protection from the Sun
After your tattoo is healed, from now on, you will always want to protect it from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. These can fade and damage a brilliant tattoo very fast. Before spending a lot of time in excessive heat, protect your tattoo with a minimum 30SPF sunblock. This will keep your tattoo vibrant for many years.
Piercing Aftercare
This information is meant to help you heal and care for your piercing(s), however, it is not magic. Each human body is unique and may react differently to specific treatments. Neither Artfully Insane nor any of the contributors to the suggested aftercare & healing guidelines are responsible for the healing of your piercing(s) or infections, or the application of this information. Many uncontrollable factors may inhibit the proper healing of your body piercing(s). Consequently, if you feel as though these suggestions are not benefiting the progress of your healing, or you feel that your body piercing(s) are getting infected, please consult your physician.
Primary Suggestions
The optimal way to care for your piercing is to clean it three times daily with Band-Aid Brand Antiseptic Wash (If you are physically active, try to schedule your cleanings after you exercise). The easiest and most comfortable way to clean your piercing is either during or immediately following a hot shower. The hot water and steam will help soften your skin and loosen the crust at the base of your jewelry (making it easier to remove). First always be sure to wash your hands thoroughly with anti-bacterial soap.
Next, gently remove the crust from your jewelry by soaking a disposable, one-use product such as a tissue, cotton-ball, swab, or square with Band-Aid Brand Antiseptic. Do not use a hand towel because bacteria can lie dormant in the cloth. Gently clean the exposed jewelry and your piercing, being careful not to scratch or irritate the area, then spin the jewelry so that the ball on the jewelry rests on one hole of your piercing and clean the newly exposed jewelry; then, spin it so that the ball rests on the opposite hole and repeat the process. This will help run some antiseptic into the wound, helping to ward off bacteria. If your starter jewelry is not a captive bead ring or circular barbell, try your best to perform the above process without overworking and irritating the area. Be sure to repeat these steps three times daily until your piercing is fully healed.
Each time you shower, make sure that the last thing you do is to wash the piercing with antibacterial soap. Turn the jewelry back and forth; work it into the area, and then rinse all the soap out. After spinning the jewelry back and forth several times, rinse the area and jewelry thoroughly while continuing to spin the jewelry back and forth.
Ibuprofen
For those who are extremely sensitive, an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen (Motrin IB, Advil, etc.) can help reduce swelling and pain.
Additional Tips
One of the best ways to care for and heal a piercing is to “promote healthy lifestyle habits.” Some additional tips for this include:
- Remember: A piercing is a wound. Consequently, you should expect tenderness, swelling, discoloration, and possibly bruising, bleeding, and itching. Also, a natural part of the process for healing any wound includes the secretion of a white-yellow fluid (containing dead cells and blood plasma). This fluid will dry and form crust on your jewelry. To properly remove this crust, refer to the Primary Suggestions for healing your piercing.
- Never touch your piercing without first washing your hands with anti-bacterial soap. This is a great way to avoid infections even after your piercing is healed.
- Do not use petroleum-based ointments (e.g., Neosporin, Bacitracin, etc.), peroxide, alcohol, Betadine, or iodine!! These substances can hinder and prolong the healing process.
- Avoid going into a pool, hot tub, lake, etc until fully healed. These types of water can be unclean and may induce infection.
- Check the accessories (e.g., balls, gem-ends, dice, etc.) on your jewelry for tightness at least once a day. Make sure your hands are first cleaned with anti-bacterial soap!! Checking your accessories is something that you should make habitual throughout the life of your piercing. Remember: tighten all threaded accessories by turning them to the right—righty, tighty.
- During the entire healing period, the jewelry should remain in place to act as a drain. If the jewelry is too large to allow adequate drainage, it could be replaced with a smaller size by a piercing professional. Removing your jewelry prematurely can cause an infected hole to close up, trapping an infection and leading to complications requiring a medical professional. If you feel that the normal secretion is turning into a thicker and darker discharge, please do not hesitate to contact your physician for more advanced treatment (e.g., antibiotics)
- Do not expose your fresh piercing to oral contact or other bodily fluids. Use protective barriers such as condoms, dental dams, and finger cots.
- Do not expose your piercing to cosmetics such as make-up, hair styling products, lotion, etc. Cosmetics contain many different ingredients and can cause irritation and infection.
- Try not to sleep on your new piercing. This can cause irritation and prolong the healing process.
- Do not leave jewelry out of a piercing for too long! If you must remove your jewelry, either put in a retainer or replace it ASAP. For example, a tongue piercing can close-up in a matter of hours.
Please remember that these are ONLY the Primary suggestions…each individual piercing has its own unique variables. As always, it is a good idea to pay attention to the directions that you have been given at the time of your piercing by one of our trained professional.