Itchy fine rash possibly from Saniderm/aquaphor

[Toilandtrouble]

Hello! I’ve found this site helpful with information but I’m having a new healing situation. Saturday night (Aug 31st) I got a new tattoo on my forearm and had a small tattoo on my upper back heavily touched up/fixed. The artist covered both with Saniderm and told me to leave it for 5 days. The saniderm was a new one for me and didn’t work at all for my forearm. It was leaking fairly quickly and I tried to just leave it alone but eventually the Saniderm just kind of fell off the next day. I was told I could try to rebandage it and I did but it just wouldn’t stick. I’ve been using aquaphor on it. My back tattoo was washed and recovered with Tegaderm because it was about to pop with fluid. Other than that my back has been no issue. Normal healing and the wet healing seemed to advance healing. I just removed that bandage even though I haven’t had any issues back there because I developed a fine, light square shaped rash around the arm tattoo . It seemed fairly obvious to me that it was the bandage, right? But I haven’t had any bandage on this tattoo in 2 days. I read online it could be from over doing the aquaphor so I just washed it and will get some lubriderm tomorrow. I normally use hustle butter on healing tattoos and I’ve never had any reaction. So maybe this is just my sensitive skin telling me it doesn’t like aquaphor. I guess I’m just looking for any insight or experiences similar to mine. The tattoo is already in the peeling stage and itself doesn’t itch anymore than usual, no pain. It’s the area around that’s driving me mad at 3:45 am. I will say that while desperately writing this the itching has subsided some since I washed it. So maybe the aquaphor and my forearm just don’t mix? Could it have been me attempting to rebandage it with the Tegaderm and that coming off so quickly? Ultimately, bandaging seemed to work great for the small tattoo on my back and worked horribly for the far more mobile forearm. I took a Benadryl because the itching has been very annoying trying to sleep. I’ve also felt a little more itchy all over than normal. The rash itself doesn’t look especially bad and actually seems to be improving it’s just very annoying. Sorry for the long rambling post but just wondering if anyone else has ever gotten a literal box shaped, fine, rash a day or 2 after a saniderm/Tegaderm bandage last touched it? Or even from aquaphor? Thanks if you made it this far and for any advice! 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Toilandtrouble
Clarity

[Samth]

The exact same thing happened to a friend of mine. They used one of those sterile patches for his neck tattoo and it left a little rash in the exact same shape and size. All in all, it took about 2 weeks to fully go away. He also said that it was annoying even as it improved. It should go away, for him it was just the skins reaction to that covering. 

As far as advice goes, he noted that using as little lotion as possible really helped it feel better.

[oboogie]

It does that to me, too. It's the adhesive.

[Dan]

saniderm is a great product,I like it and use it all the time,

but it can leave bruising,redness,and rash,that's all normal and will go away.

overuse of aquafor will cause bumps too.

[Toilandtrouble]

7 hours ago, Samth said:

The exact same thing happened to a friend of mine. They used one of those sterile patches for his neck tattoo and it left a little rash in the exact same shape and size. All in all, it took about 2 weeks to fully go away. He also said that it was annoying even as it improved. It should go away, for him it was just the skins reaction to that covering. 

As far as advice goes, he noted that using as little lotion as possible really helped it feel better.

Thank you! It is very, very itchy but I’ve discontinued the aquaphor and slept most of the day. Finally feeling a bit better. Still itchy but definitely not as bad.  That Benadryl knocked me out thankfully 😅 

[Toilandtrouble]

7 hours ago, oboogie said:

It does that to me, too. It's the adhesive.

What’s weird is the reaction is localized to my forearm. My shoulder has no redness, and more importantly no itch and it was wrapped for 4/5 days.  

[Dan]

1 hour ago, Toilandtrouble said:

What’s weird is the reaction is localized to my forearm. My shoulder has no redness, and more importantly no itch and it was wrapped for 4/5 days.  

our skin varies a whole lot on different parts of our bodies,a shoulder will heal totally different than a inner thigh will,etc,etc

[Toilandtrouble]

4 minutes ago, Dan said:

our skin varies a whole lot on different parts of our bodies,a shoulder will heal totally different than a inner thigh will,etc,etc

Oh for sure. It’s just interesting that I had seemingly a mild allergic reaction to the saniderm on one part of my body but not on another. My forearms tend to be sensitive in general so I don’t think I’ll use Saniderm on that area again or my thighs for that matter. Worked great for the back of my shoulder where he was going over/ fixing a badly done tattoo I got last year. That area being contained while it was seeping so much fluid was great. would've been a mess otherwise. 

[t76turbo]

@oboogie said it above and I would agree. It is probably an adhesive allergy. 

My tattoo on my leg I just got a week and a half ago was my first experience with saniderm/tegaderm like products. Long story short I have the red spots or rash now and it is a pain. 

 

You are probably allergic to bandaids as well as they apparently use the same adhesive. I knew my body was mildly allergic to bandaid adhesive but thought saniderm would use another kind of adhesive since it is applied over wounds with the adhesive touching the damaged areas. But I guess not. 

 

And to your point, I have the reaction on part of the skin where saniderm was applied but not all of area.  So maybe different areas of the same persons skin react differently.

 

Just for reference, I can wear a bandaid for a day maybe but much more and the rash shows up. My Mom and Brother can only have adhesive on their skin for an hour or so before the reaction. The reaction can be very severe with blisters etc.   

[Toilandtrouble]

3 minutes ago, t76turbo said:

@oboogie said it above and I would agree. It is probably an adhesive allergy. 

My tattoo on my leg I just got a week and a half ago was my first experience with saniderm/tegaderm like products. Long story short I have the red spots or rash now and it is a pain. 

 

You are probably allergic to bandaids as well as they apparently use the same adhesive. I knew my body was mildly allergic to bandaid adhesive but thought saniderm would use another kind of adhesive since it is applied over wounds with the adhesive touching the damaged areas. But I guess not. 

 

And to your point, I have the reaction on part of the skin where saniderm was applied but not all of area.  So maybe different areas of the same persons skin react differently.

 

Just for reference, I can wear a bandaid for a day maybe but much more and the rash shows up. My Mom and Brother can only have adhesive on their skin for an hour or so before the reaction. The reaction can be very severe with blisters etc.   

It was probably the most annoying, itchy and persistent rash I have ever had. I used to have very sensitive skin where anything with fragrance, etc would give me trouble. As I’ve aged though my skin has lost most of that sensitivity. I maybe get a fine rash once or twice a year that cortisone clears up usually within an hour and there isn’t any clear indication of what causes it. Maybe laundry detergent? That used to be my biggest trigger. Spend the night at someone else’s home and spend the next day covered in a rash. 

I’m actually not allergic to bandaids and have never had any issue with adhesive in the past. However, I will say my forearms are just about the only place I get rashes now. So they’re probably the most sensitive area of my body and that’s where my itchy tattoo is. My artist told me to leave the Saniderm for 5 days but the forearm piece just wasn’t sticking thankfully because I imagine the rash would’ve been way worse after days of contact instead of 12-15 hours. 

It worked great on my shoulder and that healing process was far easier. Now a couple weeks out both look great and aren’t giving me any issues. I hate that you’re experiencing that rash because it really was awful trying to sleep and being insanely itchy. I will say cutting out the aquaphor in favor of lubriderm & really backing off putting product on it was what helped the most. The rash cleared up in about 4 days. I used cortisone on the rash around the tattoo as per my artist’s advice keeping it off the tattoo itself and only used the lubriderm in the morning and at night. I hope yours clears up fast! 

*Also: after all of this I would use the Saniderm again but only on certain places. No forearms or inner thigh probably. But back, lower leg, outer/upper arm I’d try again. I also will stick to my hustle butter in the future. I’ve always found healing to be pretty easy until now and that was the only change I made beyond the artist using the Saniderm.*

[Noss]

I’m going through this right now and it’s driving me nuts! I got a piece on the back of my right shoulder and received a Saniderm bandage for the first time ever. The first one seemed okay, and I removed it after 48 hours.
 

I think my mistake was deciding to replace the first with a 2nd new Saniderm bandage. After another 48 hours, I removed it and revealed a perfectly bandage-shaped, bumpy, itchy rash covering the entire area. The tattoo itself seems to be doing okay, but the skin in between is driving me nuts! :( How has your skin been recovering so far?

[Etron9]

On 9/5/2019 at 10:10 AM, Dan said:

saniderm is a great product,I like it and use it all the time,

but it can leave bruising,redness,and rash,that's all normal and will go away.

overuse of aquafor will cause bumps too.

 

On 9/5/2019 at 10:10 AM, Dan said:

saniderm is a great product,I like it and use it all the time,

but it can leave bruising,redness,and rash,that's all normal and will go away.

overuse of aquafor will cause bumps too.

saniderm is great but all tattoo artists should ask if clients have an adhesive allergy first before applying. I had a reaction as well and it wasnt fun. There are alot of people out there with adhesive sensitivities and a rash and bruising is NOT normal for the saniderm to leave. 

[MPM]

Hey guys pls help 
I got a tattoo one and half week ago. They put a saniderm wrap on it and told to keep it for 5 days. After removing it there has been some discolouration of skin on some parts of skin around the tattoo. I have been applying A & D ointment as adviced by the artist. Will the discolouration will go away?

[SStu]

I'm guessing you mean under where the saniderm was? Some people have a temporary reaction to the glue used on that.