In this thread, we commiserate about healing our fresh tattoos.

[sendas]

perfect !

I love it,

very nice tattoo.   

Thanks !

[AtomicMagpye]

The legend of the bruised dragon 😀

[jnin]

Ok, stupid question. Does anyone know if altitude can play into the healing process? I’ve gotten heavily tattooed the last several years and recently moved to Colorado. I still fly to San Francisco but strangely my tattoos just aren’t healing the way they normally have. Scott Sylvia is the one applying it so it’s obviously not an issue of poor saturation. Most recently I got flames and my Fudo colored in. I have three scars in the ditch that almost look like razor scratches as well as some areas that ink has essentially just fallen out of. If that sounds confusing I just mean that the color looks somewhat patchy as you can see open skin amidst the flames. Not large gaps but almost like several little marks of open skin. I thought maybe diabetes but those results came up negative. Sorry for the long post but some help would be great! Thanks guys! 

[PinkUnicorn]

1 hour ago, jnin said:

Ok, stupid question. Does anyone know if altitude can play into the healing process? 

Well, FWIW, from googling...

http://www.altitudemedicine.org/altitude-and-pre-existing-conditions/

Quote

Individuals who travel to altitude may have noticed that even the smallest cut or wound takes longer to heal the higher the altitude. Reasons for this are increasing stress hormones and lower overall oxygen delivery to the tissues. Wounds tend to get infected more easily as well. Keeping your wounds clean and covered will prevent infection. Often applying a triple antibiotic ointment regularly will keep the wound from overly drying and aid in healing. Wound healing becomes an issue only at very high altitudes, over 14,000 ft or so.

 

[SStu]

12 hours ago, jnin said:

I have three scars in the ditch that almost look like razor scratches as well as some areas that ink has essentially just fallen out of. If that sounds confusing I just mean that the color looks somewhat patchy as you can see open skin amidst the flames. Not large gaps but almost like several little marks of open skin. 

perfectly normal for ditches

[jnin]

On 11/29/2018 at 8:57 PM, PinkUnicorn said:

Well, FWIW, from googling...

http://www.altitudemedicine.org/altitude-and-pre-existing-conditions/

 

Thank you. I read a few things after seeing that. My intention wasn’t to be annoying but I figured if anyone is going to be educated on a topic like that it’s going to be on this forum. 

[jnin]

On 11/30/2018 at 8:34 AM, SStu said:

perfectly normal for ditches

Agreed. My other ditch has light scaring. However, shoulder, middle of the arm etc have several issues as well. Thank you for the response. 

[tcgjake]

Healing my upper arm and elbow ditch tattoo I got done yesterday. The ditch is about as fun as advertised (during and after). Feeling really thankful for Saniderm right now but still incredibly uncomfortable to straighten or bend my arm (particularly after typing with my arms bent for a couple hours). 

[oboogie]

On 12/27/2018 at 7:57 PM, tcgjake said:

Healing my upper arm and elbow ditch tattoo I got done yesterday. The ditch is about as fun as advertised (during and after). Feeling really thankful for Saniderm right now but still incredibly uncomfortable to straighten or bend my arm (particularly after typing with my arms bent for a couple hours). 

That is very painful indeed. My elbow/ditch was swollen for a good few days. Hang in there.

[Torsie24]

My healing woe is this flaky crust fest. 😢

All the black parts I'm 100% happy with, drying off nicely, looking terrible today of course as we're in peak flake off territory (5 days) but can see the ink under the skin nicely so know that'll all heal perfect. 

But all the white (including light green) is my concern. Who knows what it'll be like under there.........just seems like me and white ink maybe aren't friends. 

[ughanxiousppl]

Healing my upper arm and elbow ditch tattoo I got done yesterday. The ditch is about as fun as advertised (during and after). Feeling really thankful for Saniderm right now but still incredibly uncomfortable to straighten or bend my arm (particularly after typing with my arms bent for a couple hours). 

Probably my least favorite area to heal thus far. The constant dampness in the area doesn’t help. Seems like my ditch took twice as long to heal.


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[JessieBlue]

Knee ditch healing is the worst I have encountered so far. I'm chubby and had both of my calves tattooed at the Niagra tattoo convention in back to back 8 hour sessions (end of summer/ hot and sweaty ditches/salty burning hell) 

[barryallenspeed]

healing a lower leg is painful

Edited April 6, 2019 by barryallenspeed
mistake

[Ricky2]

Hiya, I just couldnt seem to write a newthread as it wouldnt let me select a topic so i decided to write here.

I got my first tattoo yesterday, and i know there are many ways of healing a tattoo and we should follow what our tattoo artist says.

For me he wrapped my arm in cling film and asked if i was going to home and told me to remove it once i got there, i asked if i should wait at least 30mins as from what i read a new tattoo should be wrapped for an hour at least and he told me that there was no need to wait,he told me to remove the wrap,wash it with cold water and body soap, i had a ph neutral shower gel at home but because i went to my nans i just removed the wrap and washed with cold water, and didnt apply any lotion, i washed it again after a while and applied the aftercare lotion to it(it´s vegan).

He told me to apply the lotion/cream at least 4x daily and i just needed to wash it once or twice,because i had already washed twice i just applied once more lotion. Maybe im just being paranoid but some ink seems to have come out and kinda spread(?)

Today i woke up,washed it with cold water and soap,patted it dry and after 5mins applied the lotion... im thinking of applying more lotion throughtout the day, and then wash it once more before going to bed...but from what i also read i should only apply lotion every time i wash it..but if im only washing the tattoo 1/2x a day and applying the lotion 4x how should i do it?

He also told me in case i ran out of  lotion to apply vaseline but i read that that causes ink to come out...

yesterday:

today:

As you can see there are still dots of dried blood on the coloured part, dont know if i ruined it or if its already scabbing..maybe im being too paranoid and worrying too much and it looks the same..i dont know just seems like the ink has come out in some parts.

 

Edited April 13, 2019 by Ricky2

[SStu]

It's going to take a month's worth of healing to see what you're really going to end up with. Just relax. 

[pidjones]

With lotion, less is more.

[Gingerninja]

GAH! I have a giant blister on my fresh tattoo. It popped. It's ugly and I am so pissed. 

[SStu]

2 hours ago, Gingerninja said:

GAH! I have a giant blister on my fresh tattoo. It popped. It's ugly and I am so pissed. 

How'd you get that?!

[Gingerninja]

I think that the tegaderm was loose on the side of my knee and the friction from my LOOSE jeans rubbed it. FUDGE. @SStu

It's the size of a dime, too. All I can do it get it to heal and have Mike touch it up. If you want to see my the tattoo (and my very swollen knee) check out the Kings Ave IG page.

Edited May 16, 2019 by Gingerninja

[SStu]

Great collection and honorable display, too @Gingerninja

[Gingerninja]

Mike was like "Hey, why don't we do a video?". And there I was 5 minutes later with my shorts hiked up standing on the main street in Massapequa letting Sonic video my leg. @SStu

[AtomicMagpye]

@Gingerninja  I feel your pain, and hope it's healing better for you now - Ive just had something very similar happen on my 2 headed snek beast :-/...  Ive so rarely had a problem healing that I had forgotten what a pain it can be..... I came down with flu (or at least a nasty cold) on the Wednesday after the tattoo - and that appears to have had an impact on how well I'm healing - which is bollocks as we say in the UK.

[Gingerninja]

On 5/19/2019 at 6:21 AM, AtomicMagpye said:

@Gingerninja  I feel your pain, and hope it's healing better for you now - Ive just had something very similar happen on my 2 headed snek beast :-/...  Ive so rarely had a problem healing that I had forgotten what a pain it can be..... I came down with flu (or at least a nasty cold) on the Wednesday after the tattoo - and that appears to have had an impact on how well I'm healing - which is bollocks as we say in the UK.

Yeah, it's crazy! Hope that you are healing better, too. My knee is crazy jacked up. I am sure that I will need a touch up eventually!

[kcola]

Thoughts on healing this elbow ditch? Day 6, the rest of the tattoo is peeling/healing, this still seems like an open wound. Can't straighten my arm or it'll feel like I'd pull the skin open and damage healing. I did do this this afternoon and it started bleeding. In the mornings I wake up with leaked ink and fluid from this area.

Currently I wash tatt twice a day, and apply unscented, chemical free lotion.

[SStu]

Normal stuff for a ditch. Very common re-touch area, just try to keep it clean.