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I recently got my first tattoo on my foot 5 days ago. It is a tattoo of three stars (going from big to small) just above where a sandal strap usually is. I am using A&D ointment and Curel (I switch off every other day and apply twice a day). Do you think I should use both in the same day?
The littlest star is heavily scabbed. But could this be because it's small (it is literally a centimeter big)?
The medium star is lightly scabbed and that one doesn't seem to have a problem.
The bigger star is the one that I'm worried about the most. It is mediumly scabbed. But there are like three little spots where there is no scab and bleed when I put ointment. I'm assuming it's normal but I just want to be safe. And one more thing, there is something white showing on my scab. I don't know if it's because of the ointment or because the scab is dry. Could it possibly be an infection? Which I doubt because when I clench the tattoo it turns to the color and it doesn't sting or anything. I think it is possibly the scab.
I wear nothing but sandals and I walk an approximate hour to and hour and a half in the sun. I moisturize it at least twice a day (should I moisturize more?)
How long do you think the healing process will take? How long to you think the scabs will last? When do I know when to peel of my scabs?
And if you have any recommendations on how to take care of the tattoo, I would greatly appreciate them. Thanks!
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I know this will go against everything you were told, but I swear I'm not making this up.
The worst things you can put on a tattoo are heavy ointments like A&D, lanolin, vaseline, or neosporin. These clog the pores up, disrupt natural healing processes, and cause some fading to the tattoo.
So many tattoo artists are in this phase where they say, "Well, I did it and it didn't hurt me!" rather than saying, "You know, if I would have done this differently then maybe my art would have stayed bright longer and have been nicer..."
The truth is, you don't need to apply ANYTHING to your skin to get beautiful results. The skin is such a great organ that it heals very fast. Think about it this way:
If you had just fallen and scraped your knee, would you be smearing A&D ointment all over it?
Of course not. It would seal in dirt and oils. It would disrupt natural balances, even. It wouldn't let oxygen, which is healing to skin cells, to the damaged tissue.
So, what would you do?
You'd clean it off, bandage it with a clean cloth until it stopped weeping, and then remove the materials and let nature do it's healing thing.
If you, for some reason, have super, duper dry skin then you can apply lotion. Unscented, undyed--every once in awhile. And up your water intake. Seriously.
Your ink will likely be alright, but I beg you to let your skin do what it needs to do next time. Seriously, a scraped knee doesn't need you to be smearing lotions and ointments on it right off. You clean it, let it stop bleeding, and then let the tissue rebalance.
If the needle and inks were clean and you make sure to wash off the tattoo each day then there shouldn't be a problem in healing and there shouldn't be any crazy risk of infection. Seriously. It's like any other wound on you body. You don't go smearing A&D on every scrape, cut, knick, or bump you get.
The idea behind the A&D is that it treats rashes. It was created to heal diaper rash. But a tattoo isn't a rash. There is nothing wet against the skin that is causing the irritation.
A scab will naturally appear on the ink, just like with a skinned knee. It will naturally come off in time. Leave it alone and do what it wants to do. Your body knows how to heal. Letting your body do what it needs to do isn't going to cause your ink to discolor or fade. If it did then all of the Africans that imprint ink into their skin would be dead from the constant reapplication.
Everyone heals differently. Let the body heal for 4 weeks. By then the scab should be mostly off by itself. Within 6 weeks your skin should be back to normal, for the most part. Most people do notice the scab will fall off, naturally, in about 10 days after it's initial formation.
Use your lotion after the skin has healed if you can do it. If your skin isn't dry then it doesn't need the extra moisture you're applying from the outside source. Applying lotions all the time actually causes the skin to rely on it. It doesn't make sense to rely on lotions suddenly, right? The skin gets confused and says, "OH, wait, we're getting plenty of moisture from some where...cut down on the oil production!" And then, suddenly, when you stop using the lotion you wind up NEEDING it because the skin adjusted itself, thinking that the lotion was going to be a forever thing.
If you notice the area getting dry then apply the lotion and up your water intake. To be quite honest, it's pretty rare that the tattoo area becomes so dry that it leads to color fading. Honestly, this fear that the dry skin is going to pull the color out is a little over the top. Scabs aren't supposed to be wet anyway if you get to thinking of it.
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Rating: 5
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Thanks! That's what I've been telling people too but they kept on telling me to put lotion / A&D on it. I think I will take your advice instead and just leave it alone :)
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