So, you’re planning to join the world of tattoos. You’ve got your tattoo ready, prepared it yourself, did all the research and the design strongly represents what you want to express. Before going to your tattoo artist, do you know what is the most important process of getting a tattoo?
It’s tattoo aftercare and if you don’t know this, then you better hold back and do your homework, because tattoo aftercare is probably the most critical part of getting a tattoo.
Imagine you’ve got your design already etched on you by your tattoo artist, but you don’t know anything about tattoo aftercare. So, you will most likely get your tattoo infected. Nothing can mess up a perfectly made tattoo than getting it infected, it will smudge the design due to scar formation, worst case is getting the whole design infected, which literally a tattoo nightmare. So the best solution here is be prepared and be well informed to prevent all of this tattoo disaster. Below is a guide on proper tattoo after care.
You will need cotton towels or lint free paper towels, antibacterial soap (liquid preferred) and your favorite tattoo aftercare lotion. It is important to buy all of these before going to the tattoo studio, afterwards, go straight home after you’ve got your tattoo prevent contamination and skipping the grocery store is a good way to do this.
Upon reaching home, you can remove the bandage. If the bandage somehow sticks to the tattoo, you can moisten the sticky part until you can gently pull the bandage out. Now wash of any excess ink and body fluids using the antibacterial soap. Expect to find clear amber coloured body fluids from time to time, this is called plasma and is a normal part of wound healing. When plasma dries up it turns into a thick hard scab. We don’t want this tattoo healing, so this plasma should be washed off from time to time. After washing pat dry, never rub your fresh tattoo.
After drying your fresh tattoo, apply a thin film of your favorite tattoo aftercare lotion. You will find that a lot of tattoo parlors still use nappy/diaper rash lotions for tattoo aftercare. In the past, tattoo artist don’t have any choice but to use these lotions but today there are products specifically made to aid in tattoo healing.
Repeat the steps above. For the first few days, wash more often because we don’t want the plasma drying up. If there is no more oozing plasma, then you can wash less often. Expect your tattoo to form a thin scab, keep the scab moist using the tattoo aftercare lotion. After two to three weeks the scab will fall off. Congratulations you got yourself a new tattoo.
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