Advice for Getting Tattoos on Your Feet

[Texkota]

So if you are thinking about getting tattoos on your feet, he's some friendly advice:

1) Most important, only do one foot at a time. Your foot is going to swell and hurt like hell for a couple of days, you want at least one good foot to hobble around on.

2) Starting the day before hydrate as much as you can, drink tons of water and cut out the salt, continue this for a couple of days after your tattoo. Good hydration reduces swelling and swelling seems to be the biggest issue with the foot.

3) Make sure you have a minimum of two days off after your tattoo. You do not want to wear shoes until the swelling goes down.

4) When you get home elevate your foot, lie down on the couch, turn on the TV and get your foot as high up as you can. Once again helps prevent/lessen swelling.

5) Fill a ziplock bag with ice and keep it on your foot for as long as you can stand it, continue this every few hours for the first two days. Yup, you guessed it....swelling.

6) Motrin is your friend eases the pain and reduces swelling.

If you haven't figured it out, swelling with feet tattoos is a bitch!!!

Hopefully this advice will help you out.

Now, if you get a dime sized star tattoo, you can probably disregard everything I said.

Kevin

[MsRad]

my feet experience was the complete opposite of what you described, but then again, they're just outlines. my calf and shin on the other hand...

[irezumi]

I have decent size tattoos on both feet and I still had to wear socks & shoes and they healed up fine. No holidays or anything. I didnt do any ice or elevated feet or anything, but everybody's different.

[Texkota]

I had four hours of work done and my foot swelled up pretty good. Today is day three and all the swelling has gone away, now I get to deal with phase 2 - the itching, I love that part.

Hopefully my right foot is more in line with MsRad and irezumi. Should only be about two and a half hours of works so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[slayer9019]

Two questions if anyone cares to answer. I'm thinking of getting a foot done over a short break I have coming up in a week.

1. How well does it hold

2. In 3 days could I be back to commuting 3 miles by foot everyday?

[Shannon Shirley]

naproxen, its an anti swelling drug. presciption ,yes.works quite well. back aches ,etc.

[Texkota]

Two questions if anyone cares to answer. I'm thinking of getting a foot done over a short break I have coming up in a week.

1. How well does it hold

2. In 3 days could I be back to commuting 3 miles by foot everyday?

Mine held really well, I was very surprised, I thought that I would need to have a lot of touch up done, but it came out great.

Three days should be just about perfect, all of the swelling and pain should be gone by then. I would recommend that you were shoes with the laces as loose as you can get them for about a week.

Good luck, I'm getting my other foot done in a week.

[Liesel]

I've read that the feet are more likely to get infected when they are healing. Is this just because feet are harder to keep clean? Does anyone know someone who's had a problem with it? Just curious.

[Valerie Vargas]

Dont wear shoes? As far as i know most of my customers don't have the luxury of time off post tattoo. And if anything I find wearing snug fitting shoes (NOT tight) help stop the swelling out of control

First foot tattoo I got I wore open shoes and it swelled up like you've not seen before so for the second attempt I wore cotton socks with converse chuck tailors and I had next to no swelling

The way I've seen my customers come back and agree that the shoe thing helped makes me feel like by not wearing proper shoes you're essentially letting the swelling get out of control

And this isfrom customers who've also had both their feet tattooed

Hydration good diet and keeping your new tattoos clean is so very important. There's no real need for long lists of aftercare.

Here in the uk we don't have a great selection of over the counter antiinflamatories so we just got to work around that. But even then I'd say that should be a last resort really

[posterboy7596]

I don't want to clutter things up, and have a rather random(but foot related) question so I thought I'd just stick it here. What's the opinion of a proper amount of overall body coverage before having your feet tattooed? I believe in having a considerable amount of coverage(and also a steady job that doesn't mind) before tattooing things like hands and neck. I'm not sure about the feet though.

[ThaliaCamille]

I don't want to clutter things up, and have a rather random(but foot related) question so I thought I'd just stick it here. What's the opinion of a proper amount of overall body coverage before having your feet tattooed? I believe in having a considerable amount of coverage(and also a steady job that doesn't mind) before tattooing things like hands and neck. I'm not sure about the feet though.

Feet aren't really in the same league as hands and neck though, are they? You don't go to job interviews with no shoes on. Even for women who might wear open shoes, dark stockings usually do the trick.

My foot was my second tattoo. I don't know, I think any rules for how much coverage you should have before doing xyz are mostly bullshit. Just go for it.

[samanthahay]

I don't want to clutter things up, and have a rather random(but foot related) question so I thought I'd just stick it here. What's the opinion of a proper amount of overall body coverage before having your feet tattooed? I believe in having a considerable amount of coverage(and also a steady job that doesn't mind) before tattooing things like hands and neck. I'm not sure about the feet though.

I think they are differently entirely. My foot was the first thing I got tattooed. Even if I was wearing open toed shoes I could wear panty hose if it came down to it. Actually a big part of why I got my foot tattooed first was because I wasn't sure what line of work I wanted to go into and I knew it would be easy to hide.

[Bunny Switchblade]

I don't know, I think any rules for how much coverage you should have before doing xyz are mostly bullshit. Just go for it.

"Rules" might be the wrong term.....but I would need to respectfully disagree with your "Just go for it" statement!

Although the views on tattoos have definitely changed over the last 7-10 years we are not out of the woods yet! Trust me I have been tattooed for almost 30 years and those of us who have been tattooed that long know how a tattoo can keep you out of certain jobs and in my case stopped me from getting a promotion into management!

Some cities in the U.S. (all I can speak too) are more "tattoo friendly" but there are still people who will not hire people with visible tattoos!

I also grew up in a time where you had to "earn" those spaces (hands and neck) by being pretty heavily covered! I know it is an artists job to put on what the client wants but i guess i am just a little "old school" maybe when it comes to those spots!

I think it's silly to see someone with their hands done and just about nothing else on their forearms (same with necks but no sleeves).

People definitely looked at me differently after getting my hands and especially my neck done and although after you have been stared at for so long you tend not to notice it BUT they still stare....LOL

It's sad......but there is still prejudice out there and if you aren't a tattoo artist or work in the craft then it is a bit more difficult to climb the corporate ladder with visible tattoos. I hope that does become a thing of the past.....but we aren't there quite yet!

While I do understand it is an artists job to do what the client asks....I tend to respect more the artists who in the back of their minds at least think twice before they tattoo someones hands or neck!

Just my humble opinion and stating it as respectfully as I can! :)

[ThaliaCamille]

Just my humble opinion and stating it as respectfully as I can! :)

Well put, I totally get what you mean. The work thing is a given: I didn't mean "go put scribbles all over your face, no one will mind." Like I said, a foot is kind of inconsequential there (in that it wont stop anyone getting work, unless it's a job that involves not wearing shoes), and I'd never thought of it as being the same as hands or neck.

I do agree that hands done and nothing else on the arms looks stupid. However for me, that's just an aesthetic preference: I'm not that bothered if someone does it.

The "go for it" was for the foot tattoo. I think it's agreed upon that it's not really one of those "earned" spots, it's a placement I really like, and I encourage people to do it if that's what they want :)

[Bunny Switchblade]

Oh....i especially love ladies that have their feet tattooed....i think it's sexy if it is done right!

Mine did swell but i lived through it and took care of them and they healed in perfect!

I just am very old school i guess about people doing their hands and necks! :)

[missStark]

I don't have my feet tattooed yet but it is definitely one of my favorite spots to tattoo and I can't recall having to touch up many or any of them. They seem to hold up well. One of my clients went hiking two days later and didn't really seem to have problems (probably not something I would have done though). I think as far swelling goes, everybody is different. I tend to swell A LOT no matter where I get tattooed. It sucks, but that being said I also heal relatively quickly. Usually fully healed in less than 1 week. Everybody's body handles it differently. You know how your body responds to being tattooed so just take that into consideration.

Also in terms of wearing shoes to reduce swelling. I tend to wear tight pants and when ever I have my legs tattooed, especially upper thigh area, I have noticed significantly less swelling so I'd say it works.

[posterboy7596]

I appreciate all the response. What I was getting at was more like what Bunny addressed. While I would not deny anyone their human right to do as they please to their own bodies, I try to be aware of how things are viewed. I don't want to be "that asshole", and I am always looking for input from the community about what is considered "acceptable".

[Shannon Shirley]

It is so common, at least to me, to tattoo womens feet,especially first tattoos. yet rather uncommon to tattoo men's feet. I did a shark the other day on a man's foot, and it was a big ass foot.hehehe .But no ,nobody seems to place moral judgement about a foot tattoo. you know,shoes.....and yeah, @Bunny Switchblade everybody thinks women's feet are hot, but men's feet , yuck...I have never seen a man's foot in fetish photography..hehehe

[David Flores]

everybody thinks women's feet are hot, but men's feet , yuck...I have never seen a man's foot in fetish photography..hehehe

Maybe you just discovered an untapped market.

[Shannon Shirley]

@David Flores......yeeaaahhh........not my market..hehehehe

[Scott R]

@Shannon Shirley nice shark foot on the other hand looks like something heavy fell on it and then he played in a sandbox.( I am sure thats just ink and whatnots)

[David Flores]

I have one of my feet tattooed. So many people talk about how bad it hurts but it seems like the popular first tattoo for young girls so I had to find out. Yeah that shit does hurt, but now that I have one foot done, I kind of have to do the other. Shark is a good idea. My friend has a tattoo of a shark that says mom below it on his foot, because his mom got attacked by a shark when she was a teenager. They always come in and get tattooed together.

[CaptCanada]

I recently got my foot tattooed. And like a few people have said before, no the area is not a off limits area. The healing sucked worse then the actual tattoo for me. But after an hour and a half or so the nerves in my foot had had enough and kept shaking.... just remember to keep your foot firmly planted down and you'd be alright.

[Shannon Shirley]

actually, the dude had some of the largest feet Ive ever seen, huge....with weird swelling....anyways ,yeah I make everybody play in the sandbox when I'm done...hehehehe

@Shannon Shirley nice shark foot on the other hand looks like something heavy fell on it and then he played in a sandbox.( I am sure thats just ink and whatnots)

[slayer9019]

I was also going to tattoo my feet soon. I have never heard of it being off-limits and have heard advice all over in regards to healing. Some say it was very easy some said that you cant walk for a few days. I just like the idea of exending my leg tattoos a bit further. Hell if hands are off limits might as well go for the leg equivalent!

On a side note...anyone ever hear of toe knuckle tattoos?