Let’s go over the best ways to help your new tattoo heal beautifully!
These tips are based on both experience and skin science.
Every body is different, but following these steps will give your tattoo the best chance to heal clean, crisp, and vibrant.
Do
Do
Monitor your skin
Keep an eye out for any excessive or persisting redness, swelling/raised skin, oozing, excessive itchiness. Those are signs of infection, and you should consult a medical professional as soon as they appear. They can also be signs of an allergic reaction to ink. The latter is relatively uncommon, but red and white ink are the colours that most often cause allergic reactions.
Redness and a bit of swelling around the tattoo is normal at first. Your skin just went through significant trauma. The redness should progressively be going down in the next few days with proper aftercare. On the contrary, any redness that spreads or amplifies, along with the skin being hotter around the tattoo are signs of infection.
Weeping is also normal. Your skin reacts to trauma by secreting lymphatic fluid (that is clear, sometimes with a pink-ish hue because of the plasma), to help it heal. Pus (thicker white/yellow-ish fluid), on the other hand, is a clear sign of infection.
In the latter days of the healing process, generally right before the scabs are ready to fall off, your skin will be itchy. That is a normal part of the healing process. It is only concerning when accompanied by one of the symptoms mentioned above.
Stay hydrated!
It’s an underrated step in the healing process. Drinking water supports skin regeneration and boosts your immune system—hydrated skin heals better!
Moisturize
Some let it “dry heal” (meaning they don’t moisturize it), and it can be good in the sense that your tattoo can fully breathe, which is something that it does need to heal well. But when the tattoo starts scabbing over, excessive dryness could cause it to crack or peel prematurely, taking a part of the ink with it and resulting in missing spots and/or raised scar tissue.
The tattoo should be moisturized daily, but not excessively. Read more about that in the related Don’t below.
Keep it clean
As soon as you get home, gently remove any wrap and clean the area with unscented antibacterial soap. You can then wrap it again and keep the wrap up to 5 days, provided the wrap stays completely in place.
Accumulation of plasma and lymphatic fluid is to be expected and totally normal - it actually helps your skin heal faster.If there are any signs of water infiltration, remove the wrap, clean the tattoo, and put a new one. It’s important to not wrap it after 5 days so that your tattoo can breathe and finish its healing process.
Don't
Friction
Friction is the most common and obvious irritant.
Clothes that are too tight or too loose, depending on the tattoo’s location, should be avoided. “Second-skin” wraps are perfect to avoid that.
Alcohol
Alcohol thins out the blood and dehydrates, thus making it harder for your immune system to focus on healing your tattoo. Excessive amounts of alcool should be avoided during the healing process, but especially during the first few days.
Excessive or innefective moisturizing
Somewhere during the first few days (or once you remove the wrap), your tattoo will start drying up and scabbing over. This is when you should start moisturizing it very lightly.
It is suggested to moisturize at most twice a day using a cream that doesn’t contain petroleum/mineral oils or fragrance.
Petroleum-based creams and ointments are comedogenic, which means it clogs the pores, and they prevent your tattoo from drying, which is a necessary part of the healing process. Since it acts as a barrier, it can also trap contaminants onto your skin, and its sticky consistence encourages them to flock to it.
Creams that don’t leave residue, or don’t feel oily on the skin after application are what’s recommended for tattoo healing.
Sun exposure
The sun can be damaging to the skin in general, but your fresh tattoo is considered an open wound. Direct sunlight should be avoided during your tattoo’s healing process, as it can add trauma and irritation to the skin, making that process longer and more difficult. In addition, it can affect how your tattoo heals, possibly creating scabs and scar tissue that would in turn affect how your tattoo looks once it’s healed.
When your tattoo is done healing, it’s important to keep protecting it with sunscreen, but before that, sunscreen must be avoided entirely.
Picking at the scabs/scratching it
It can be very tempting to pick at or peel off the scabs. Don’t do it!
Your tattoo will most likely be itchy towards the end of the healing process, as mentioned above. Do not scratch it, as it would cause the scabs to fall off prematurely, taking the ink with them and creating scar tissue. Keeping it moisturized, according to the practices mentioned earlier, will reduce itchiness in the long run. Instead of scratching your tattoo, you can gently tap it for relief.
Overexposure to water
Your tattoo should be gently cleaned using lukewarm water and preferably an unscented antibacterial soap, but not exposed for too long in the shower.
What is recommended is taking a very short shower or keeping your tattoo out of the water after washing it. Baths, pools - soaking your tattoo in general - and especially lakes (because of the incredible amount of bacteria and contaminants) should be avoided entirely.
