can swimming in a chlorinated pool a week after getting a tatt hurt it?

[spyro]

I'm going to families next weekend (this weekend) and I just got a tattoo on saturday.. It is going to be really hot and I have a pool, bar, etc. there..

I know you're not supposed to swim for 2-3 weeks, but could it really hurt it? It barely begins scabbing for the first week, so I doubt it'll cause premature flaking.. I guess the concern is that chlorine might eat at the ink.. But pools do have low concentration.. could that really affect the tattoo? It is all underneath the skin anyway.. Chlorine wouldn't seep below the top layer of skin?

[Mark Bee]

I wouldn't do it. Why risk it?

[JAllen]

Do not swim if it is not done peeling/flaking. It's not chlorine that's the issue. No soaking a new tattoo in any water. Treat it like an open wound. Any trauma to a healing tattoo can prolong the healing and cause it to scab heavier and loose color.

[cltattooing]

Kinda sounds like you're gonna go swimming regardless of any advice given...

[Mick Weder]

Drink more alcoholic beverages to make up for the lack of swimming pool activities.

That would be my advice.

[SeeSea]

I just went to google swimming pools and contaminants to post a link here on why you shouldn't jump in, but I am eating my breakfast and I started to get nauseous at what I was reading.

[growltiger]

Bleurgh @SeeSea, but thank you for taking that hit so the rest of us don't have to.

I went swimming about 3 weeks after having my foot tattooed, the scab had all but finished flaking and I thought it would be ok as it was no longer an open wound. Half an hour later it was all raised and slimy and a bit grim. It dried out and went all scabby again for days afterwards. I don't think it did any damage, but it certainly gave me a scare. And that was 3 weeks in and almost entirely healed, not 1 week and still open.

Listen to the above posters, for they are wise.

[Colored Guy]

Watch it especially public pools, they chlorinate the crap (literally..) out of them and you are always sure to find a bandaid somewhere on the bottom. My pool at home is not that chlorinated I keep it at the recommended 1-2 parts per million. Public pools are probably at 4-6 PPM. Also the pH comes into play, if that's not where it should be it limits the ability of chlorine (even at high levels) to be effective as a sanitizer.

[Shaun1105]

Two weeks after my first tattoo I had to go to Vegas, and with two young kids with me I pretty much had to go swimming. My tattoo is high on my shoulder so while it did get wet, I never really let it soak (unlike a foot tattoo like @growltiger 's). It was also healed enough at that point that I put sunscreen on it and also stayed in the shade as much as I could. My tattoo suffered no ill effects.

But there's no way I would have done any of that after only a week. I would have been sitting in the shade, and I would have been mad at myself for not planning my tattoo date better - which I think should be the lesson that you learn here.

[Fala]

I thought this post was a joke - I won't even take a bath until I'm 4 weeks out and I LOVE baths... That's not to say I don't bathe, I just don't soak in the tub ;)

Saniderm?

[elcapitanosparros]

Drink more alcoholic beverages to make up for the lack of swimming pool activities.

That would be my advice.

Sound advice, your liver will process the alcohol and turn it into cardiovascular gold! Haha at least it make you forget why you wanted to go swimming in the first place! Speaking of which where's a good old coopers when you need one :)

[Mick Weder]

Haha! Now we're talkin' @elcapitanosparros!

Speaking of Coopers...it's 7.13pm EST...way past my sparkling ale time.

[rust1d]

I got a 4+ hour outline last month and went to the waterslides 3 days later. I didn't submerge it and was fine.throughout the whole progess it didn't scab. It's been 3 weeks.

[MadeIndelible]

Seriously, what is it about tattoos that turns people into idiots? Just because there's ink in your bleeding, scabbing, painful, open injury, now that suddenly makes it okay to go into a swimming pool.

[jacobyoung]

I quite often go swimming after getting tattooed. Just kind of happens when you get tattooed a few times a month. Ive never had any issues at all. Be it chlorinated pools or Schlitterbahn which is river fed. Is it smart? Nah probably not but I suppose neither is getting tattooed in the first place.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[seattleite]

dont do it!

[Radbeet]

@jacobyoung I just went swimming after getting my tattoo done yesterday. I was told not to, but I figured, why not? I'm hoping it doesn't affect the new tat, but what did you do to keep your tattoo from getting infected? The only way I know is to clean it with soap and water and to pat it dry, and if its dried out, I put a little lotion on it. But I'd like to know what you do after you swim with a new tattoo. 

[Amit Levy]

4 hours ago, Radbeet said:

@jacobyoung I just went swimming after getting my tattoo done yesterday. I was told not to, but I figured, why not? I'm hoping it doesn't affect the new tat, but what did you do to keep your tattoo from getting infected? The only way I know is to clean it with soap and water and to pat it dry, and if its dried out, I put a little lotion on it. But I'd like to know what you do after you swim with a new tattoo. 

It's simple, YOU DON'T

[JAC1961]

6 hours ago, Radbeet said:

@jacobyoung I just went swimming after getting my tattoo done yesterday. I was told not to, but I figured, why not? I'm hoping it doesn't affect the new tat, but what did you do to keep your tattoo from getting infected? The only way I know is to clean it with soap and water and to pat it dry, and if its dried out, I put a little lotion on it. But I'd like to know what you do after you swim with a new tattoo. 

Do you realize the person that you're replying to posted that in 2014? They also haven't visited the forum since then.

Every aftercare I've ever read or heard says not to swim for a certain length of time after being tattooed. If you can't follow the instructions given why bother getting it?

[AtomicMagpye]

Yeah - no.

Particularly the Gulf of Mexico or other coastal areas - Vibrio Vulnificus is no joke (although it does have a cool name).

 

 

Edited June 22, 2019 by AtomicMagpye

[Gingerninja]

@RadbeetSure, go swimming with that open wound. What's worst that could happen? 

This: https://www.livescience.com/59353-tattoo-flesh-eating-bacteria.html

Edited June 22, 2019 by Gingerninja

[Hands On]

@Gingerninja well... i'm never going swimming ever again. thanks! 😳