Caring for New Tattoo

Calebros

So I got new tattoos on my wrists:



That pic is from the day of or the day after I got them.

Does anyone have any experience with tattoos in that spot or a similar one? Any advice or techniques you used to make sure it healed correctly, or what to expect. I've had them for about a week now and scabs have formed and fallen off in some places and now they're at the itchy stage.

Wrench N Rockets

Shouldn't the place you got them at have given you this information?

Calebros

they told me general care but every single place and website i've looked at have different care instructions.

it seems like the amount of care and attention needed for a tattoo would depend on the location and size, which is why i came here; to get advice from people who have first-hand experience with a tattoo around the same size and location.

Sharp101

I have a medium size shoulder piece.

All I did/told to do was use moisturizer twice a day and it turned out fine.

KingSpike

Just get some lotion with vitamin E and gently rub that on every 3 hours. Be ever so gentle, especially because it's in the scabbing stage. I have a cross on each of my wrists and they turned out perfectly. I really didn't need to do much with them other than make sure I put lotion on and not touch them or bump them against anything until the scabs were all gone.

The scabs were probably the hardest thing for me, because I tend to pick at any scabs I have on my body.

april__29

use coconut butter my mate reckons it works well, but then again of my 6 tattoos, i pretty much left tham as is and made sure not to pick the scab off and they healed perfectly fine, they should be ok if you dont pick or scratch which can be a bit of a task considering how itchy they can get at times

Re: nholder

Just don't itch at the scabs and it will be fine...I started to pick at the tattoo I have on my arm and now the color is all sorts of fucked....it looks like marble when it 's supposed to be a solid color. Now I have to get it redone.

Calebros

well i'm not picking the scabs but the lotion makes them kinda soft and then the shower pushes them off. i suppose they wouldn't come off if they weren't ready, though

cuntstarrunner

Yea then it's fine if they come off. Thats basicly how all of my scabs came off when I got my back done.

Calebros

ok good. thats what i was worried about the most. i know that if they come off too soon that it damages the tattoo and makes what happened to Renholder happen, but it didn't seem like i could avoid it.

april__29

yeah them coming off can screw them up if its too early happened to my bro. i have some weird bits on mine buts its cos i have a lack of pigment in some of my skin, gets annoying cos my friend is a tattooist and he constantly wants to correct it and i have to keep telling him he's wasting his time cos it wont take at all

reddog

I have 3 tattoos now and i've taken care of them all the same way and they've all come out perfect. For the first week, I use bacitracin on the tat, then soon after, I use a fragrance free mosturizer for a few more weeks. If it itches, do not scratch it. You are allowed to slap the shit outta your tat though which will relieve the itching sensation, but you'll look like an idiot doing it. If the tattoo begins to peel, do not pick at it and just let it come off.

Once your tattoo has healed, if you feel that your tat needs to be retouched, your tattoo artist normally will do it for you for free.

Now a question for you. My next tat will be on my wrist. I've heard that it's really painful and i've heard that it doesn't hurt. What's your take?

april__29

reddog wrote: »

Now a question for you. My next tat will be on my wrist. I've heard that it's really painful and i've heard that it doesn't hurt. What's your take?

i think it depends really, knowing alot of tattooists and people with them on their wrist, from my gatherings it varies from person to person. my bro said getting his done didnt hurt but the tinside of his elbow was terrible. others have said that getting their wrist done was really pasinful.

just try not tom think about the pain cos then you set yourself up for making it hurt cos you convinve yoursaelf it will. if you have 3 you kinda know what to expect so i doubt it will be that bad. where are your 3?

Calebros

reddog wrote: »

Now a question for you. My next tat will be on my wrist. I've heard that it's really painful and i've heard that it doesn't hurt. What's your take?

It didn't hurt that bad. I've never had one anywhere else so I don't know how it feels compared to other spots but it wasn't too painful. It helped that I was talking to the artist the whole time, so I was distracted and didn't have to think about it.

Mr_Rose

Not having a tattoo on my wrist, I can't help you there, but I can tell you caffeine makes you more sensitive to pain, as well as more nervous. No coffee before tats, 'kay?

april__29

Mr_Rose wrote: »

Not having a tattoo on my wrist, I can't help you there, but I can tell you caffeine makes you more sensitive to pain, as well as more nervous. No coffee before tats, 'kay?

yeah and always eat something an hour or so before you get start as an emplty stomach will increase the chances of you passing out, oh and dont go out drinking the night before either cos you will bleed a hell of a lot more than normal

LondonBridge

First off getting a tattoo near the wrist or feet is a bad idea. The skin from those areas slowly move to your finger nails that means the tattoo will fade quicker than elsewhere on your body.

Second, keep it our of chlorinated pools and the sun.

Bouncing_Soul

My experience with wrist tattoos is that it's a bit more sensitive closer to the hand if that makes sense. Kind of like the one on my forearm hurt just a little more the closer it got to the inside of my elbow.

Sounds like you're taking care of yours just fine. My first tattoo I used bacitracin, then I used something called Tattoo Goo for my second tattoo. It came in a little tin like lip gloss, it was kinda like a wax. My third tattoo I used some sort of ointment called Vitamins A+D or something that the artist gave me, then just used moisturizer after a week or so.

Everyone will probably tell you what they think is better than the other, but clearly it doesn't matter too much since several people in this thread have used different things and they all turned out fine.

Mr_Rose

Just another little thing; your best bet to avoid infection is to make sure the area is properly clean before the needle goes anywhere near it; You are naturally outnumbered cell for cell by the bacteria on your skin; clean 'em off before you go punching them through it with sharp things. Soap and water followed by alcohol gel (most hospitals have this stuff now and you might be able to blag some if you ask nice) will do the most good. And make sure the artist is competent/clean...