Heavy Reddish Looking Scab (Adivce)

[Faust]

Hi I have a fresh tattoo thats about 8 days old, most of it has healed nicely, my elbow is also almost done healing. But there is one part of the tattoo, the part where my arm bends, it is scabbing pretty bad. One of the lines completely fell off and took the ink with it, I'll attach a photo. Just interested in what your thoughts on this one are, thanks.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Faust

[SStu]

have you shown it to your artist (who we hope is a professional . . . )?

[Faust]

Yes I went back and he said everything is fine and I believe him, theres a reason I've chosen to be tattooed by him, he does very clean very good looking custome tattoos. 

Honestly I'm not worried if certain lines heal faded he would darken them up. My concern is the formation of fresh scar tissue.

Just wanted too see if others have had these type of scarring.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Faust

[marley mission]

i mean first off let it heal 

put it out of your mind for a month

see what you have then

sometimes its a tough part of the body to heal

how well you were tattooed of course is another factor

you can have a great artist do a great job tattooing you

and still have a rough heal - it happens

do you need to fix a dropped line?

up to you - sometimes i think the tattoo is the tattoo

imperfections be damned

love it dig it

if you dont love the final outcome that is your healed tattoo

well - theres always another tattooer you could check out

research though buddy - research 

will most often have a great impact on having a positive tattoo outcome

Edited May 7, 2016 by marley mission

[oboogie]

I have weird skin. Sometimes mine do that same thing. I got a Prince tattoo the day he died, and it healed much like yours. Give it some time. It'll be fine. Just don't pick or scratch.

[mtlsam]

Redness and thick scabbing tend to be signs of infection. This doesn't mean that you have to worry, as your body appears to be healing on it's own. Minor infection of that sort would probably go unnoticed on a scraped knee, but because we are so invested in our tattoos we scrutinize them more closely. I'm guilty of this as well.

Keep the affected area clean and as free from friction as possible and things should turn out fine in a few weeks. A few spots healing less well on a tattoo are common. Just learn from the experience and try to adjust your aftercare accordingly next time.

[Faust]

I also have a very thick scab on my elbow, this is not red just very thick. My hole elbow has scabbed off except for this one thick scab.

Thanks for all you replies, I will report back when healed.

Like I said I only fear it creating new scar tissue fading is fine.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Faust

[Faust]

My tattoo artist is great, if anything is too blame its how I dealt with the tattoo in the first 48 hours. This is my first large tattoo.

[oboogie]

I've had an infection in one of my tattoos. That doesn't look anything like an infection. You have nothing to worry about, @Faust. If it becomes pustulent, oozy, and hot, that's when you need to worry.

[Devious6]

Less is definitely better when it come to lotion of any kind. Your skin needs air to breath and to heal so drowning it with cream or lotion is counterproductive. I'm about a week and a half into the healing of my touch up and shading on my tattoo and used much less lotion this time - just enough to cover it lightly, gently rubbed in and then I use a clean paper towel to blot any excess off. 

[Naiemh]

I agree, I had heavy scabs before and they healed nice and no ink was missed, it just healed the same than normal scabs!

So just don't worry and don't pick it, follow your regular tattoo aftercare the same as before :D

[Faust]

Here's a photo from just now. Looks horrendous, scared of scarring. This is day 10.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Faust

[Naiemh]

Maybe it's infected, it seems to be.

Go again to your tattooist and ask him!

[Faust]

The thing is its not tender to the touch and I don't have a tempture, I would of gotten sick by now, I think.

[SStu]

You said this is in the ditch, right? Any joint on your body, where the skin is repetitively being pulled and contracted, will heal slower and rougher than a flat part of your skin. It's not uncommon.

[oboogie]

Again, I've had to have a script of antibiotics and an antibiotics shot when my tattoo was infected.  It looks sore, but it isn't infected (in my opinion).

My infected tattoo didn't scar, but I did lose a lot of color and had to get it touched up. Just hang in there, and don't pick or scratch! The fact that it is in your ditch means it will take a much longer time to heal.

Edited May 9, 2016 by oboogie

[Gear_Head]

I am day 17 post tattoo on my inner forearm and despite my best practices got a infection in a few spots. I actively kept the skin dry and went to my primary. I was given a oral dose of Rx of a antibiotic. Although you can do your best to avoid infections, you can still have it happen. To easy your state of mind consult both your artist and your Dr.

Lastly, sometimes ink doesn't take to well for some or it doesn't heal well for you. Each person is different and I'm sure every single tattoo artist out there has retouched their customers at least once.

Oboogie, how extensive was your infection and where was it located? Lastly how many days did it take for you to recover from your infection once you started treatment?

[oboogie]

@Gear_Head, it was on my right calf. The improvement wasn't immediate, although he was concerned enough to give me an antibiotic shot as well as a script. Things started turning around after four or five days. I had a severe reaction to particular brand and color of ink. My friend/tattoo artist said he lost sleep over it because he was so worried (he asked me to send him photos so he could check on it regularly). It was very bad. He actually stopped using that ink because of it. He used another color and brand, and it was totally fine.

Edited May 9, 2016 by oboogie

[Gear_Head]

@oboogie Bummer it got infected but I'm really happy to know the outcome turned out great for you. Sadly I have a small infection on mine but I'm currently on a Rx. I was just curious on how you're journey was with the problem and how you're tattoo finished up. It seems to me the folks I talk to say the inner forearm and the calf can be pretty tough spots to heal from.

Thanks for informing me and I'm stoked for the finial outcome on my latest tattoo.

[oboogie]

It was the bottom one. The blue one. Looks fine now. But that was after three touch-ups.

[DJDeepFried]

Looks okay to me. Let it heal. If it starts leaking pus you have an infection. Trust your tattoo artist but if you're really that concerned go see a doctor rather than asking strangers on the Internet what they think based on a tiny photo on their phones.

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[Gear_Head]

@oboogie it looks great! Thanks for sharing that with me. I appreciate it much. I'll keep you posted how I'm coming along with mine.

Thanks Tattoo Nation!

[Faust]

OK well this this has a bit of puss now, doctor time tomorrow.

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[Faust]

Why me... Summer is on it way and my arm looks like it has gangrene,

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[DJDeepFried]

Hey it's not like it's life-threatening. And I've heard of plenty of tattoos that ended up just fine even after they were infected.

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