Aftercare
A tattoo heals in your hands long after you leave. This is what to do, what to expect, and what to call about.
Fresh tattoo
The covering
Leave the initial film on for the time written on your sheet — usually a couple of hours. If it is a breathable second-skin dressing, it stays longer and is removed in the shower, not picked.
Wash
Lukewarm water and unscented soap, with clean hands, two or three times a day. Pat dry with paper towel. A flannel will drag scabs off.
Moisturise
A thin film, not a puddle, once or twice a day after the skin is dry. The piece should never look greasy and never look tight.
Leave it alone
Peeling looks like a bad sunburn and it will itch. Nothing gets picked, scratched or soaked. Peeling a scab takes pigment out with it.
Checklist
- 01No swimming, saunas, hot tubs or long baths — pools and lakes are the two that infect
- 02No direct sun; once healed, SPF on the piece whenever it is exposed
- 03No tight straps, belts or seams rubbing the area
- 04No gym pressure on a fresh piece until the skin has stopped weeping
- 05No new products, fake tan or exfoliants over it
- 06Loose clothing and clean bedding do more than any ointment
Checklist
The difference between a healing piece and a problem one.
- 01Normal — dull, raised, slightly warm, silvery skin for a week
- 02Normal — itching, tightness, and flaking that looks like a sunburn
- 03Normal — a small amount of weeping pigment on the film in the first hours
- 04Not normal — spreading redness, heat that increases, thick discharge, or a bad smell
- 05Not normal — fever, red streaks moving away from the piece, or swollen glands
- 06Not normal — raised, hardening scar tissue after the first month
Piercing aftercare, briefly
A piercing is a wound with a piece of metal through it, so it is cleaned rather than covered. Saline twice a day, left to dry, nothing rotated while crusted.
Do not remove the jewellery to clean it. Soft tissue settles in a few weeks, cartilage can take most of a year, and a piercing closed over the middle of that period is a new appointment.
Sleeping on a fresh cartilage piercing is the single most common cause of a crooked heal. If you cannot avoid that side, tell the studio before you book.
Next step
Send the studio a clear photo in daylight. A two-minute look is often enough to tell you to carry on, come in, or see a doctor.