Tattoo Outline Raised

[khubilai]

I seem to be hit or miss when healing tattoos. I've had some issues a few times, but not all the time. I've been working with the same artist for a few years now. He would definitely be known to many people on this forum. I just had some new work done 6 days ago, mostly line work with a little shading. The tattoo is raised on a lot of the line work, but not all. The tattoo is all around my forearm. It is also red in some areas, but again not all. I use a small amount of Bacitracin twice a day for 3 days, then unscented Aveeno twice a day. I've used this method before, and not had a problem. The other two times I had issues, I used Lubriderm once, and Curel the second time. I don't believe it is the lotion.

I basically am wondering what else it could be? Is there such a thing as overworking the area? Are some well regarded artists known to be more heavy handed than others? Could this just be part of"my" healing process, that my body wants to push out the ink? I'm really at a loss, because I have not heard of anyone else with these issues. I absolutely love this artists work, and feel very lucky to be able to work with them. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[MsRad]

i'm not an expert, but as someone with skin sensitivity, it just sounds like there may be something in the ink that your body is not agreeing with and it's causing some extra swelling. my outlines almost always raise, regardless of who's tattooed me and what healing method i've used (routine or otherwise). could be a certain area of the skin that is reacting differently too (maybe it's less accustomed to being exposed or injured?). i don't know, sounds pretty normal to me.

oh and every tattoo artist is going to have a different hand than others. some are more heavy handed, other's are less, regardless of quality. there's a few on here who i've been tattooed by and who i could tell you have created quality pieces, but who's work took a while to heal or the session was somewhat painful due to how they work. no biggie, just a part of the game.

[Julio Avila]

The tattoo is 6 days old. Give it some time to heal.

[Scott Sylvia]

perfect julio.

[khubilai]

Thanks everyone. I understand the tattoo is still healing, but it is nice to know that this is not unheard of.

[gougetheeyes]

khubilai -- are your other tattoos also raised once healed? I initially heal a full tattoo in about a week and a half, but then it usually takes a couple more weeks with that thin layer of skin that's got a bit of a shine to it.

Also, if you're like the rest of the world, you'll get weird spots that once healed will randomly decide to raise for half a day or something. This is something I know happens to a lot of people though I've never found a good reason why.

[khubilai]

gougetheeyes, 2 years ago, my work stayed raised for months. Saw a dermatologist, she prescribed some cream which brought it dowm 90%, but it raised back up within days of stopping its use. They will raise a little in some spots, if I get bit my a mosquito, bvut my entire left arm is now 100% healed with no raised areas whatsoever. I've healed some tat's in 2 weeks, others in 4-5 weeks, and that one time it took 2-3 months. It is also red in some areas, and not in others. It's not gradual either. It's red on some lines of the splashing water, but not on the outline of its head or whiskers which are milimeters away from it.

[gougetheeyes]

Could just be how you heal. A friend of mine has a strip of skin on her arm where color always falls out and it hurts about ten times more. Humans are weird.

[khubilai]

Something just occurred to me. The thing that I can't figure out is whi it is not raised everywhere. Being brand new work, the main piece was stencilled on, and the background elements were free handed with a sharpie. Most of the red raised parts are where it was freehanded. Perhaps a reaction to the sharpie pen getting in my skin?

[RockelMan]

Try drawing a line on your skin with a sharpie on your foot (somewhere hidden so you can leave it for a day) Watch your skin and see if you get itchy or and redness around the area, then as you wash it off over the period of a few days see if and how it reacts with your skin. If it gets all red (not from excessive scrubbing) and itchy then you might be allergic to one or some of the chemicals in the ink. Sure some of the markers say that they are non toxic but that means you wont die or receive much harm from ingesting the ink. If this is whats happening, You may have to ask your tattoo artist to use the ink pens instead of a sharpie due to your reaction to the sharpie

[Jake]

Try drawing a line on your skin with a sharpie on your foot (somewhere hidden so you can leave it for a day) Watch your skin and see if you get itchy or and redness around the area, then as you wash it off over the period of a few days see if and how it reacts with your skin. If it gets all red (not from excessive scrubbing) and itchy then you might be allergic to one or some of the chemicals in the ink. Sure some of the markers say that they are non toxic but that means you wont die or receive much harm from ingesting the ink. If this is whats happening, You may have to ask your tattoo artist to use the ink pens instead of a sharpie due to your reaction to the sharpie

Great idea!

Side note- I'm a little blown away you've had tattoos that took 4-5 weeks to heal.... Gotta be something unique to your body

[RockelMan]

Great idea!

Side note- I'm a little blown away you've had tattoos that took 4-5 weeks to heal.... Gotta be something unique to your body

Thanks Jake. I've done that before but with golden rod on my foot to see if I was allergic to it. The area stayed red for quite a while. I used the foot because the skin is thin in that area and when it is irritated the red shows up easily. Also if its itchy you will know too. Oh and Khubilai if it is itchy if you test the sharpie this way have some calamine lotion for bug bites handy to help relieve the itch.

Healing times of 1 to 2 weeks for scabby flakes and for the shiny skin to go away is the optimal for healing with all things happening just right sanitary and infectious control wise and how healthy your body is at the time you get tattooed. There are many factors that can lengthen your tattoo healing time and who knows just what may have happened with that particular incident that took 4-5 weeks to heal. It may have been something you did not even realize that you did that caused that to happen.

(For example, not saying you did this or that it happened, this is just an example, but say you just took off your bandage and washed it as normal, dried it just as normal, went to sleep. While you slept that night your cat decided it a good idea to sleep on your new tattoo and transferred some bacteria form the litter box to your tattoo and got it infected. Now your body has to work harder to remove the infection as well as heal the new tattoo, hence taking longer to heal).

[khubilai]

Will try that RockelMan, but I was thinking it was more about the sharpie ink getting pushed into the skin, rather than irritated from on top. The tattoo didn't raise until 3 days later.

Jake, one of my sessions stayed raised for a few months, otherwise it was healed for the most part in a few weeks.

Here are some pics to give an idea of what I mean. I hope the quality is OK, but I tried to show how some areas are red, and others right next to it are not. Maybe 1/3-1/2 of the whole tattoo.

[gougetheeyes]

Dude honestly it doesn't look abnormal and just looks like you need to heal. The red areas are probably more red because he went lighter (super light..) with the outline in those spots. Rule #1 to healing -- for the most part: Leave it the fuck alone.

[gougetheeyes]

Also, don't feel bad about being hyperaware of this stuff. On my first tattoos (I know this isn't your first) my collarbone was bruised to shit and I freaked out because I had no idea what it was. Then someone told me it was a bruise. And I felt a lot better!

[Julio Avila]

Woah dude. Relaaaaaax. Let it do it's thing.

When you think about it, tattoos are a fucking stupid thing!!!!!

Hey let's poke a million holes in your skin and push some pigment into said holes!!!!!

Of course your skin is pissed off!!!!! Baby it for a while and all will be well.

[khubilai]

I hear you Julio, and I'm not trying to be bitchy about it. I really wouldn't even think twice about this, except I've seen my body heal them nicely and more "normal".

PS: This is a great forum. I had been looking around for years for a quality discussion forum on tattoos.

[khubilai]

Also, don't feel bad about being hyperaware of this stuff. On my first tattoos (I know this isn't your first) my collarbone was bruised to shit and I freaked out because I had no idea what it was. Then someone told me it was a bruise. And I felt a lot better!

I probably am just looking for a little assurance from others who've been tattooed. Most of my friends and people I interact with do not have any, or the one they got for the hell of it a while ago. Thanks again.

[Deb Yarian]

What everybody else said ---- but sometimes it has taken months for me to completely heal.

It depends on where you get it, how it was done, health,medication, if you were leaning against something that irritated it, so many things could factor in to it - however 6 days is still so early.

Continue healing it the way you have your others.

See how it is then.

Many of my tattoos, on different areas of my body, at different times, occasionally only partially or in their entirety raise/ and or itch.

Take a little benadryl --see what happens.

[MsRad]

Great idea!

Side note- I'm a little blown away you've had tattoos that took 4-5 weeks to heal.... Gotta be something unique to your body

it usually takes me 6 weeks. seems to be pretty consistent. initial scabbing is off 2-3 weeks in, and then the second healing period takes the rest of the time. like i've said before, i've got wonky skin though. and just for the record, it doesn't have to do with my diet, it was the same when i got my earlier work done and wasn't even vegetarian.

[gougetheeyes]

Take a little benadryl --see what happens.

And also maybe a xanax.

[Perez]

HAH!

Nice Pat.

[unlikeyourown]

the redness may also be due to irritation from moving. you would be surprised how much your arm twists and turns during the day! i just got a forearm tattoo last sunday and part of it goes in the ditch of my elbow and i have a bit of soreness and redness from the constant moving and folding my arm.

dont stress too much hun, your body will take care of everything as needed :]

[khubilai]

Thanks unlikeyourown, I appreciate the reassurance.

Two and half weeks later, still raised, still red. Only reason I do stress about it, is because I've had bad allergic reactions to bee stings (tongue swelled up, couldn't breathe once, and another time when stung on the hand, my arm ended up twice the size as the other one when the swelling creeped up past my elbow) plus some bad bouts with poison ivy. So, obviously my body reacts differently to these thing than most people. Other times, I've been stung and I just get some localized swelling, just like other times I've been tattooed, and just lightly flake and heal up nice.

I put this out there to see if anyone else had any similar experiences, and if there is anything I could do to prevent this. Sorry if I've given the impression I am panicked about this, I am not.

Could anyone venture a guess as to why only the outline would be raised, and not the shaded areas? Does the ink go deeper? Is line work more traumatic to the skin? Shwing my ignorance here, but who better to ask than tattoers and peoplw with a lot of tattoos.

[gougetheeyes]

Ok that's weird. If after two weeks it still looks brand new something aint right.. Ask a dermatologist?