Are Cover-Up Healings Different?

[littlefox1970]

I'd love some feedback from experienced collectors who have had a cover-up done...

I had my first cover up experience tuesday night and it has been burning since.  The cover up itself (simply an outline right now) was no more painful than any other tattoo I've had, but the healing experience has been different.  The areas where I've gone over the old (10 years) tattoo is super sensitive and burning.  Is this a normal thing where cover-ups are concerned?

If this is normal, then I can stop worrying that I've done something wrong.  

If it's not typical then I will have to investigate everything I've done to figure out why I'm having a different reaction. 

Thanks for your input~

[Dan]

I have had a large and one small cover up done,and IMO no,the pain/healing is no different than the original or any other tattoo.here is the large one I had done,I have even had tattoos on large scars and it didn't feel or heal any different.maybe because you're 10 years older ? I have been getting tattooed since I was 25,and I know that now at 57 getting tattoos seems to hurt a lot more ! LOL

I think the only other concern is if it's infected ? or is it just that normal "sun burned" after tattoo feel ?

Edited February 17, 2017 by Dan

[littlefox1970]

2 hours ago, Dan said:

I have had a large and one small cover up done,and IMO no,the pain/healing is no different than the original or any other tattoo.here is the large one I had done,I have even had tattoos on large scars and it didn't feel or heal any different.maybe because you're 10 years older ? I have been getting tattooed since I was 25,and I know that now at 57 getting tattoos seem to hurt a lot more ! LOL

I think the only other concern is if it's infected ? 

Nice cover up Dan, and thanks for sharing your experience. :)  

Yes ... I certainly do feel 'em more now, lol.  The problem with that theory though, is that I did one in my palm friday night, and another one on my forearm just below the cover up on saturday night, and they are both healing beautifully ... neither one burned like this one does.

I don't think it's infected perse ... because the burning comes and goes, there's no major swelling or lumps or bumps etc.

Have you ever heard of incompatibility of inks?  Is it possible this present ink is reacting with the old ink somehow?  Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

... Maybe it was just too much trauma for this old girl, lol.

Edited February 17, 2017 by littlefox1970

[littlefox1970]

Well, good news... The crazy worrisome burn is finally gone.  You may have been right about infection ...I got worried enough myself that I went to the pharmacy earlier and bought some purell antibacterial gel with staph killer and aloe...a few liberal dousings with that this evening fixed the problem right away.  The sting, the swelling and redness are all gone... it was miraculous. :)

I dry healed all my other tattoos before this one, and never had a problem before ... never even really got that sunburned feel before.  I'm definitely curious to see if I get the same reaction in a couple weeks when I start shading that area.  Unusual reaction for me ... still curious to know if inks can be incompatible.   

[littlefox1970]

Well, I've done some poking around online and discovered that although quite rare, bad reactions between different brands of ink can indeed occur when doing a cover up.  Apparently Mario Barth made mention of this in one of his seminars.
 
Must say I'm now more than a little apprehensive about continuing my cover up. 

Wish I could find out what ink was used for the original ... but that shop is long gone and I don't recall the name of the tattoo artist. :(   

Although much better now ... I'm still battling with a 1"x1" area that keeps flaring up.

I will give it extra healing time then I will shade a small area and see how it heals before doing a full shading and coloring over the area.

Here's hoping it was just a fluke ...

Edited February 19, 2017 by littlefox1970

[pidjones]

Had one on my forearm lasered three times to lighten and then a cover-up of the same design, but executed very well this time. Pain, healing, etc. were easier if anything. Now, she did try to stay away from the raised (keloid, I guess) scar from the first artist's over-work (that had caused blowout that he in turn just darkened worse). I go back next week for adding color (not much, but to make it pop more).

[byzantine]

Really hope you're not trying to do this cover up yourself. 

[Michaelshane]

Still scratching on yourself.Good luck with that.

[littlefox1970]

Michael,  this thread was created a couple weeks before the dissension in "tattoo lowdown"... I had already done the outlines on the whole top of my forearm when that difference of opinions broke out.  But yeah, I have decided to continue and try my hand at adding color to it.

Pidjones, I'm sorry to hear of your bad experience. :(  That same type of bad experience with paid professional artists is what led me to trying tattoo myself.  Sounds like you paid a shop to get a blowout and keloid scarring?  The one I'm covering up actually looked like a scratcher's work ... with faint, scratchy lines, yet came from a "reputable" shop artist.  Full top of forearm and full palm later I have not caused one scar, or one blowout.  I'm going to do the color in layers (several sessions of light applications with healing time in between) to play it safe and give myself a little room for error.  Fun project for sure. :)  


  

Edited March 5, 2017 by littlefox1970

[lape]

I don't have any coverups, but I have a tattoo that has been reworked. In terms of being tattooed I could feel the difference between areas that had lost a bunch of color (slightly scar tissue) and areas that didn't really loose any. It did feel slightly more stingy after it was done and during the first day, but it went away fairly quick so I didn't think anything of it. I got 2 tattoos (1 new) that day and they healed just the same.