TATTOO HEALING GUIDE
This is a guide for helping clients heal their tattoos. If you are seasoned-tattooed veteran and know how your body heals, go with what you know. I would appreciate it if clients will follow my guidelines. Bookmark this page please.
SANIDERM
I will place an adhesive plastic wrap called “Saniderm” over the tattoo. The wrap protects the tattoo from outside infections (Dust, Dirt, Pet-hair, Dead skin cells, etc..). You can go about your normal activities with the wrap on. Some clients go to the gym, others go hunting. It’s a tattoo you paid for and endured to make sure it looks the best. Take it low and slow with your activities to ensure your tattoo heals in a good way. Keep the wrap on for 2-3 days. If the blood/plasma builds up underneath the wrap looking like an ink sack, you may take it off early.
WARNING- If the wrap is burning or uncomfortable take it off right away. According to the Saniderm warning, 40% of tattoo clients using the wrap are allergic to the adhesive (band-aids/tape). A few clients of mine toughed out the pain because they thought it was normal would end up with a burn scar or bruise at the edge of the wrap. Don’t chance the pain, take it off ASAP.
When 2-3 days have gone by, take the wrap off under running water or in the shower. Peel the wrap slowly while close to the skin. It is very sticky so take your time. The tattoo may look like it's healed but still give it the max 2 weeks to properly heal. You try to find shortcuts or loopholes the tattoo may not heal properly
THREE PROTECTIVE STEPS TO REMEMBER
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ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE AND AFTER YOU TOUCH YOUR TATTOO. You touch everything from pens, doorhandles, cellphones in your daily activities that are not always clean.
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BE CAREFUL OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT. Change your bedsheets and bath towels. You want to be careful of dead skin cells that may carry Staph. If clients share a bed with their partner, even though they are healthy, their dead skin cells may infect the tattoo. Be careful of pet hair and don’t play too rough with them. Your pet may accidentally scratch and infect your tattoo design. Don’t let nobody slap your tattoo. Assume they never washed their hands. Friends or family think it’s a rite of passage, but they didn’t pay for the design or endure the pain to get a tattoo.
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GIVE YOUR TATTOO 2 WEEKS TO PROPERLY SETTLE AND HEAL. Some clients find loopholes or shortcuts to be active. Don’t go in hot springs or tubing down the river. Dead skin cells float on top the water and bacteria may be present in the water. Don’t chance it. Some clients want to go to the gym right away yet some humans in the gym don’t clean the sweat off benches or equipment. Athletes get staph infections or MRSA because have a cut on their body and someone else’s sweat enters the wound.
Take it low and slow with your daily activities. Wear loose fitting clothing so the tattoo is not irritated.
CLEANING YOUR TATTOO
Wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap but don’t wash your tattoo with soap. Technically you can wash your tattoo with soap, but I don’t want excess soap that wasn’t properly rinsed off to dry your skin. Rinse your tattoo with lukewarm water, warmish/hot, and carefully clean off the blood and plasma. Lightly pat dry your tattoo with a clean paper towel. Do not use your bath towel. Ointment I approve clients may use is Aquaphor, Coconut-Oil, or non-scented lotion. You may use a tattoo brand ointment that you trust. If your family or friends let you use their ointment, make sure they didn’t use dirty fingers and cross-contaminate. Its best you buy your own bottles of ointment. Apply enough ointment the skin absorbs it but don’t apply too much on that makes it wet. It’s a balance so clean your tattoo 3-4 times a day (wake-up, lunch, diner, before you go to sleep). Do not clean your tattoo in an unfamiliar or dirty environment. You can wait until you get home.
TOUCH-UP
Life happens and the tattoo may lose a line, or a patch of black/color might’ve fallen out during the healing. There are many factors why it didn’t heal properly. A couple examples are,
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Your pet jumped on your tattoo.
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Applied too much ointment, the tattoo build-up/scab got wet, then peeled off prematurely.
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A family member or friend slapped your tattoo.
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You forgot the tattoo and hit it against a wall.
I am not trying to place blame on anyone because life happens, we all have different lifestyles. Let me know how the tattoo heals two weeks after it heals. If the tattoo needs a touch up because a line fell out or a patch of black/color didn’t settle well, I want to touch it up ASAP. I need my clients to reflect our work in a good way and not feel insecure.
DISCLAIMER- A touch-up is a few areas. Not the whole tattoo design. There are clients that enjoy the pain or are bored on their days off. I won’t waste my tattoo supplies if the tattoo doesn’t need a touch-up.
Overall, tattoos reflect and empower the individual. I like my clients to show off their tattoo designs. If they’re happy with the results, they will show everyone in their circle. Word-of-mouth is powerful. Family and friends will trust honest opinions which will lead them to scheduling a tattoo appointment. My type of clients is Return, Referral, and Reputation. I will work hard to make sure my clients are satisfied so they keep coming back to get tattoos. Thank you.