Can blows/hits damage a tattoo?

[Haarup]

Hi guys

So, something I have been wondering about for some time;

Ive got two fulls sleeves on both of my arms. People are always talking about how cuts, scraps etc can damage a tatto but can tattooes be damaged by blows, hits smacks etc? So not talking about cuts and scars but physical damages.

Can the ink fade, disperse, get dislocated somehow? Last night my girlfriend hit me with her elbow really really hard because she fell onto our couch. She hit me right on my bicep and it is really sore today.

Another time i walked into a frame with my arm first, hitting an edge of a door, stopping my whole body weight on such a small place on my arm. No skin breaking but a really hard blow to a tattoed area.

Hope someone will chip in :-)

Have a pleasant day

[Dominiccjs]

No it can't. 

[Haarup]

4 hours ago, Dominiccjs said:

No it can't. 

But bruising is the fracturing of blood capillaries, Is it not possible tracers of ink could be dislodged and "washed" out?

[mtlsam]

I would recomend a scientific approach to finding out if this happens.

The first step is to have a professional topographical survey done of the two full sleeves on both your arms.

After that you will have to keep close track of any impacts that your arm's sustain. The g-force measuring equipment is heavy and hot, but in the name of science I feel you should person-up and wear it for the cause.

Finally after each impact above the small bump level (impact force in kilonewtons as yet to be defined) you will need to re-survey both your two full sleeves on both your arms daily, perhaps twice, to look for fading. External variables, such as light exposure and aging will be hard to account for, but hopefully the measuring equipment will provide some sun protection.

Best of luck in this scientific endeavor! I salute your bravery and willingness to devote your life to the furthering of our tattoo longevity factor knowledge.

[Haarup]

22 minutes ago, mtlsam said:

I would recomend a scientific approach to finding out if this happens.

The first step is to have a professional topographical survey done of the two full sleeves on both your arms.

After that you will have to keep close track of any impacts that your arm's sustain. The g-force measuring equipment is heavy and hot, but in the name of science I feel you should person-up and wear it for the cause.

Finally after each impact above the small bump level (impact force in kilonewtons as yet to be defined) you will need to re-survey both your two full sleeves on both your arms daily, perhaps twice, to look for fading. External variables, such as light exposure and aging will be hard to account for, but hopefully the measuring equipment will provide some sun protection.

Best of luck in this scientific endeavor! I salute your bravery and willingness to devote your life to the furthering of our tattoo longevity factor knowledge.

Hehe :o))

But in all seriousness, i just dont understand that a hit/blow so hard, that hurt so much, even two days after, cant damage the ink in the skin.

[marley mission]

your tattoo is alive brotha - its not art hanging on your skin - it is your skin - anything and everything that can and will damage you - like living - can also have the same impact on your tattoo - stop thinking so hard - live your life and enjoy this shit

Edited September 20, 2016 by marley mission

[Haarup]

2 hours ago, marley mission said:

your tattoo is alive brotha - its not art hanging on your skin - it is your skin - anything and everything that can and will damage you - like living - can also have the same impact on your tattoo - stop thinking so hard - live your life and enjoy this shit

Im not quite sure what you mean, just wondering if anyone can explain why it cant damage a tattoo? A blunt hit with sufficent force just seems like it can do some damage somehow

[marley mission]

i mean why are you going through your day being worried about getting hit on the tattoo

[mtlsam]

Your tattoo will probably fall off. Really though, we are not scientists here. I have hit my tattoos hard and even scraped them and they are still there. You're not going to get much more information on this subject.

Edited September 20, 2016 by mtlsam

[Transplant]

i don't think you have too much to worry about. I have been in car crashes, bike crashes, i spar with martial artists much better than me every week. People always comment on how fresh and new my tattoos look.

 

You need to live life my friend!

[Dan]

10 hours ago, Haarup said:

Hi guys

So, something I have been wondering about for some time;

Ive got two fulls sleeves on both of my arms. People are always talking about how cuts, scraps etc can damage a tatto but can tattooes be damaged by blows, hits smacks etc? So not talking about cuts and scars but physical damages.

Can the ink fade, disperse, get dislocated somehow? Last night my girlfriend hit me with her elbow really really hard because she fell onto our couch. She hit me right on my bicep and it is really sore today.

Another time i walked into a frame with my arm first, hitting an edge of a door, stopping my whole body weight on such a small place on my arm. No skin breaking but a really hard blow to a tattoed area.

Hope someone will chip in :-)

Have a pleasant day

cuts,deep scrapes,surgery,yes,can possibly damage tattoos,

but getting slugged with a fist or running into a door,no,it will not affect a tattoo IMO,it's just gonna hurt.

 

.

I had broke my wrist a several years ago and had surgery and the scar fucked up a little part of my tattoo,but a little touch-up and it was fine.(see below)

Edited September 20, 2016 by Dan

[otisc]

If punches could damage tattoos, the UFC would be out of business.

[Haarup]

Thanks for the reply guys and Dan hope you are OK! That looks rough!

By the sound of it, hit/blows cant damage a tattoo, i just still cant wrap my head around it. How so much brute force cant, in some ways, affect a tattoo.  
 

[Transplant]

5 minutes ago, Haarup said:

Thanks for the reply guys and Dan hope you are OK! That looks rough!

By the sound of it, hit/blows cant damage a tattoo, i just still cant wrap my head around it. How so much brute force cant, in some ways, affect a tattoo.  
 

i think to summarise, if it would scar untattooed skin it would probably fuck up your tattoo.

[Devious6]

If tattooing just worked by placing a pool of ink under the skin, then the force of impacts could force it to move like squashing a blood-filled tick. But it doesn't. The ink placed in the epidermis during the process is mostly consumed by macrophages which are sent by the body's immune system to deal with the intruding ink or absorbed by skin cells - fibroblasts. The majority of the macrophages and fibroblasts remain in the epidermis and retain the ink which is why the tattoo remains visible. Over time, some ink does break down and gets carried away which is why they fade over time. But, the cells don't get moved about when you get hit. You may have bruising as the body reacts to the trauma...much like when you got tattooed, but the cells don't get rearranged and pushed out into other areas on the epidermis.

I learned this by watching a TED video.

[Haarup]

5 hours ago, Devious6 said:

If tattooing just worked by placing a pool of ink under the skin, then the force of impacts could force it to move like squashing a blood-filled tick. But it doesn't. The ink placed in the epidermis during the process is mostly consumed by macrophages which are sent by the body's immune system to deal with the intruding ink or absorbed by skin cells - fibroblasts. The majority of the macrophages and fibroblasts remain in the epidermis and retain the ink which is why the tattoo remains visible. Over time, some ink does break down and gets carried away which is why they fade over time. But, the cells don't get moved about when you get hit. You may have bruising as the body reacts to the trauma...much like when you got tattooed, but the cells don't get rearranged and pushed out into other areas on the epidermis.

I learned this by watching a TED video.

Thanks for the reply man, didnt know that. 

The spot where she hit is still sore, here 4 days after but then again, she fell onto me elbow first in full force. But i guess i shouldnt worry then :-)

[oboogie]

I'm very clumsy. Said clumsiness and propensity to run into things and get bruises has never affected any of my tattoos. Quit worrying.

[tertia]

On a somewhat related note, I do gymnastics and aerial silks, and I'm worried about how the intense friction/frequent bruising/silk burns that come with these sports (especially the latter) might affect the integrity of my tattoos long-term, even after they've healed. For example, my new tattoo is on the back of my calf, and when we climb the silks for warm up, we descend back to the ground by wrapping the fabric tightly around one leg and sliding to the ground, which causes a lot of friction where the silk is wrapped, including against the back of my leg where the tattoo is.  I have two questions:

1) Could this kind of repetitive friction damage (e.g. cause accelerated fading) the work over time?  What about repetitive bruising?

2) This is a little moot now that I'm three weeks healed, but for future work, how long should I wait to subject new pieces to this kind of friction?  To foam block gymnastics pits?  There's plenty of info here and elsewhere online about the potential risks of going to a germy gym/sweating on a new tattoo, but I'm specifically concerned with exposing it to abrasive surfaces like gymnastics floor carpet, beam suede, pit foam, and aerial silks.

For the record, I am aware that I worry too much.  This forum has already done wonders in easing my mind about many other tattoo-related worries, so I figured I throw this out there.  Thanks!  :)