Hi from Florida

[OnyxRose]

Okay, okay, I'll quit lurking and actually join. Been hanging around reading for a couple weeks, might as well contribute, right?

Anyhow. I'm Rose. I'm 29 and new to the tattooed community. It took me half a decade to decide on the one and only tattoo I have, because I figure if I'm gonna put something in permanent ink on my skin for the rest of my life, I didn't want something I was going to hate or regret in a month or a year. Five years ago I had a general idea of what I wanted, but I didn't have the perfect design yet. I took my time drawing, coloring, revising, and once I had everythng right, I put the drawing where I could see it every day for several months. Once I was sure I wouldn't get sick of it, I researched a few different places in my area before settling on one at the recommendation of my aunt. I stopped in a little more than a month ago to get a consult done. I spoke with one of the five artists they have on staff and after a little discussion on size and placement, we set an appointment. On Saturday afternoon I went back to get it done. We talked a bit more about colors and shading options, filled out paperwork, and finally sat down to work. An hour and a half later, I had a perfect replica of my design on my skin.

Then I managed to get a surprise sinus infection. I went to bed early last night because I had a headache, and woke up this morning with my whole head stuffy and painful. My tattoo is only four days old and it's just getting to the dry scabby itchy phase. Apart from drinking a ton of water to stay hydrated and keeping up with lotion on the tattoo as needed, is there anything I can do to keep healing it on track while I'm sick? I'd just as soon not have to go back in for touch-up work as soon as it's healed because it didn't heal right the first time.

[Iwar]

Welcome. There is an entire section on this forum solely dedicated to aftercare and healing. Check it out here: Tattoo After Care | General Tattoo Forum | Last Sparrow Tattoo

[OnyxRose]

Thanks!

Apart from the sick thing, the most complicated part so far has been keeping my preschooler away frim it. "My sticker?" she says. I'm seriously considering getting some temporary tattoo paper and printing her some of her own "stickers."

[SeeSea]

Welcome! Yeah, just keep doing what you'd do to baby your body when you're sick - especially the hydration part.

Great story! Funny your dad is bent - does he know you got the recommendation from your aunt? :)

[OnyxRose]

Oops, forgot to thank you for the welcome! (Posting while distracted; normally I have better manners, I promise.)

He probably doesn't realize my aunt recommended the shop, because that aunt is my mom's sister and my parents are divorced. He's had as little to do with Mom's family as possible since the split.

Funny that I don't remember him getting all sore about Sister having tattoos. Maybe because hers are more easily covered than mine; she's got one on her ankle and one on the back of her shoulder, and mine is right in front just under my collarbone. It's an elephant (stuck on an iPad and can't upload, so here's an imgur link); in some shirts its head sticks out the collar and in others it's fully visible.

But it isn't as if she made a big secret about them either. She posted entire Facebook albums about them, even, and not a peep from Dad. But I'm the oldest, and he still holds me to a different standard even though all of us sisters (the other one has "normal" earlobe piercings and no tattoos) are grown now.

[SeeSea]

Well, you never can know what goes through people's heads, or what their assumptions are. Sometimes I think that parents often have a completely different view of the kids than the kids think they do. Amazing perspective when you get older, so you might have no idea what really affects what he thinks. And who can get upset at a cute little elephant? :)

[OnyxRose]

That is possible. My kids are still young, both under 10, so I don't have the same level of experience as he does yet. All I really have to go on are his reactions to my choices - which aren't always positive, especially where body modifications are concerned. I mean, the man had a conniption fit over a belly button piercing, which I got when I was 24 and no longer living in his house. The nose ring was a month after that, and he accused me of trying to ruin my appearance with all that metal stuff on my face. (To date, the only metal stuff on my face is a small nose stud, a little tiny 2mm gemstone. My other piercings are all in my ears, except for the navel ring, which is usually under a shirt, and I'm done with piercings. I have nine. Nine is a good multiple of three to stop at, I think, especially since there isn't anyplace else I'm willing to get pierced.)

To be fair, though, he did grow up in an ultra-conservative family in an ultra-conservative area, and has always tended to look down on tattoos and piercings, especially in a professional setting. He's a bigwig in his field, and he likes his employees to dress conservative. None of them have visible tattoos, none of them men have visible piercings, none of the women have more visible piercings than than two in each earlobe. I think he expected his kids to adhere to those same standards as we grew up and moved out on our own, and I was the first one to "break ranks," as it were, and do something less than conservative with my own body. I'm still the only one with piercings anywhere other than my ears, but I wasn't the first to get tattooed!