Aftercare
When you get a tattoo, you should be aware that your bandage will have to be on for at least six hours. You will not be able to swim, hot tub, or otherwise submerge your tattoo until it is fully healed. Here's a brief description of the care for your new tattoo:
- Keep covered for 6-12 hours
- Wash off any blood residue with warm water and clean hands
- Rub a thin layer of Mecca ointment or Vitamin A&D into tattoo
- Do not re-cover, just apply a little oinment every few hours to avoid scabbing
- Do this until tattoo peels and skin is back to normal
Other helpful healing info
If you let your fresh tattoo dry out, it will scab. Do not pick at it. If you scratch off a scab, you are just pulling out ink. Dried skin will fall off on its own, slap lightly when it gets itchy. Some people heal faster if they rinse off their tattoo in a really hot shower or soak in a hot bath immediately after removing the bandage to draw the lymph out of the tattoo. ONE TIME ONLY. It hurts, but speeds up healing time considerably. No chlorinated swimming, lakes, or hot tubs otherwise until it's healed. When showering, put ointment on immediately after. Tanning eventually fades ink, cover your healed tattoo with sunblock to avoid this. Do not tan until your tattoo is fully healed. We recommend vitamin A&D or Mecca ointment to heal the first 4 or 5 days, and any hand ointment after that, you can buy them at most pharmacies. If you already have been tattooed, and have healed succesfully your own way, use whatever you heal best with. Some people use Tattoo Goo, Tattoo Salve, or unscented hand lotion. Perfumed hand lotion may react with a new tattoo. We generally discourage the use of polysporin, but if its either that or a scab, go with the polysporin.
If you do scab, there may be small areas of pockmarks that need to be re-touched in your tattoo when it is fully healed. There may be a small charge for this, as proper aftercare is your responsibility. There is very little chance however, of your tattoo being utterly destroyed from bad aftercare, despite what your last tattoo artist may have said. If you have any questions at all about how your tattoo is healing, come on in and ask us about it!