Is my tattoo infected or scabing?

[Marie]

Hey all! 
so I have a total of 8 tattoos and I can honestly say I’ve never had any scabbing. I’ve peeled a lot and itched, but never had big scabs that others have had. Just got my forearm done a week ago. I usually use hustle butter as an aftercare lotion but it was out of stock online and wouldn’t get here on time. First time I have used Aquaphor. Also, on the third day I came in contact with fiberglass but took a shower immediately after. I lathered aquaphor on and wrapped my arm and went to bed. Woke up with an itchy rash that look like little pimples. Fast forward a couple days and now I have this “scab”, I quite using aquaphor about two days prior and started to dry heal which I have never done before. I freaked!!! After being on Google for 30 minutes I was convinced I have a flesh eating virus. The doctor and my tattooist both said it looked like a scab. But it’sa pretty thick and deep looking scab! The doctor gave me oral antibiotics as well as topical antibiotic ointment just to appease me. I wanted to know other people’s thoughts and your stories on if you have scabbed like this and if it’s normal. 
 

*side note: no pain, no smell, it’s not hot, no oozing or any liquid. It’s hard to tell if there is any redness though since the tattoo is black. It was a 5 hour session done in one setting.... my skin was pretty raw afterwards. 

[Hogrider]

“ I lathered aquaphor on and wrapped my arm...”

That’s probably your problem. You should use as little as possible. The goal is to keep ithe skin from drying out, not to drown it. To much can clog the pores and cause pimples, among other problems.

Taking antibiotics that you don’t need won’t help and putting more ointment on already over-moisturized skin will only make things worse.

Get a grip and calm down.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Hogrider

[Marie]

1 minute ago, Hogrider said:

“ I lathered aquaphor on and wrapped my arm...”

That’s probably your problem. You should use as little as possible. The goal is to keep ithe skin from drying out, not to drown it. To much can clog the pores and cause pimples, among other problems.

Taking antibiotics that you don’t need won’t help and putting more ointment on already over-moisturized skin will only make things worse.

Thanks for replying back!! And yes, you’re right, I totally stopped dipping my arm in aquaphor lol. I’m wondering if I had an allergic reaction to it, this is the first time I’ve used that stuff and didn’t really like it. For now, I’m keeping it clean and only applying a very very thin layer of hustle butter, mainly to the most itchiest of spots. That scab is getting better...but I got really nervous thinking it was an infection. I’m going to finish the antibiotics just in case, it can’t really hurt to do so. Just wanted to get other peoples opinions, thank you for your insight! 

[SStu]

I'd love to see a picture or two of the whole tattoo . . . 

[Marie]

Just now, SStu said:

I'd love to see a picture or two of the whole tattoo . . . 

Sure thing!! My bicep I got done about 8 months ago. My forearm is 9 days old. The first two pictures of just my forearm, it’s really red. My skin was really sensitive during this session. 

[Hogrider]

1 hour ago, Marie said:

Sure thing!! My bicep I got done about 8 months ago. My forearm is 9 days old. The first two pictures of just my forearm, it’s really red. My skin was really sensitive during this session. 

Nice. Every heal can be different. After a couple hundred hours of getting tattoos, I finally got my first real scab and it was a doozy! Then I was washing it gently with a wash cloth and it caught on the label and ripped off. It bled forever. Haven't had one since. Every heal can be different, but in general, they take 4-8 weeks and if there is not oozing, smell or real pain, you're probably fine.

 

Good luck, it's a nice tattoo.

[Marie]

1 minute ago, Hogrider said:

Nice. Every heal can be different. After a couple hundred hours of getting tattoos, I finally got my first real scab and it was a doozy! Then I was washing it gently with a wash cloth and it caught on the label and ripped off. It bled forever. Haven't had one since. Every heal can be different, but in general, they take 4-8 weeks and if there is not oozing, smell or real pain, you're probably fine.

 

Good luck, it's a nice tattoo.

Thank you!!!  Yep... that actually just happened this morning after my showing. The scab just came off and left a little hole. But since it’s such a small mark, I’m hoping it won’t ruin any ink. Worst case I can get it touched up... or just leave it since it’s so small. 

[oboogie]

I had places like that on my sleeves. It should be fine. No worries.

[Marie]

1 hour ago, oboogie said:

I had places like that on my sleeves. It should be fine. No worries.

Yeah, I’m not that worried anymore. The rest looks perfectly fine, it’s just that tiny spot. Thanks for letting me know! 

[SStu]

Nice work. Who is the artist?

[Marie]

12 minutes ago, SStu said:

Nice work. Who is the artist?

His name is Tony at Invoke Tattoos here in Wilmington NC. He’s done pretty much all my work, I only go to him... he does a fantastic job, he’s a really cool guy too. He has an Instagram, I think it’s called TonyTiger. You can see all his work on there that he uploads. 

[Skyy]

Hello I’m curious as to how this turned out? My forearm tattoo is doing the same exact thing and I’m terrified of an infection 

[Marie]

@Skyy It happen to be just a scab. It ended up healing fine the only thing is that the black ink did not stay and pulled out so I had to have that tiny little spot filled in. Out of all my tattoos I can honestly say I’ve never scammed before so that was something new and I got really nervous. It ended up going away about maybe 5 to 7 days later I just had to let it dry heal and stop putting so much lotion and ointment on it. It ended up flaking off eventually it just took some of the ink with it. 

[Skyy]

Thank you for responding! I feel the same way, I have been so worried about my scabs. I never scabbed on any of my other ones either. I also believe mine was cause by over moisturizing bc I had bubbling happen then when I let it dry out it started to scab. I’m only 7 days post tat so hopefully I will get the same results, I can definitely deal with a touch up rather than an infection