Ok this is starting to worry me

[soderpopzzz]

Tattoo looking more like an injury than a tattoo. I got this on the 10th and it’s really small, usually it would be close to healed by now. None of my other ones have scabbed this way before. At first I thought it was infected but I guess that yellowy bit is dried plasma and dried blood? 
 

scab feels pretty stuck on there too, like it’s deep and thick. I’m using unscented lotion, which is my usual routine but, should I do anything more than usual? Is this going to look like shit when it’s finally healed? It was just supposed to be a little gap filler yet it’s having such a rough heal compared to bigger complicated ones I have

[soderpopzzz]

Here’s another angle. You can see it’s cracked in the middle where the dried plasma and blood is. 

 

Edited May 19, 2021 by soderpopzzz

[Hogrider]

It usually takes 4-6 weeks to heal, but that's a pretty big scab. Leave it alone, let it heal and in a couple of months you'll know what it will look like. DON'T MESS WITH IT!!!

[soderpopzzz]

1 hour ago, Hogrider said:

It usually takes 4-6 weeks to heal, but that's a pretty big scab. Leave it alone, let it heal and in a couple of months you'll know what it will look like. DON'T MESS WITH IT!!!

Thank you for your reply. So you think there’s nothing more going on other than just a heavy scab that will take longer than usual to flake off right?

ive never had a tattoo scab up this much before and was concerned and thought infection when I saw dried up yellow in bits of it in the scab, but someone told me it was dried plasma which makes sense there’d be that much since it’s scabbed so thick and heavy. 
 

I’ve just been doing the usual wash 1-2 a day with antibacterial soap and light unscented lotion, is there anything I should be doing more for a scab like this?

Also, have you ever had a thick scab like this? How did the tattoo turn out after it all healed?

thanks again 

[Hogrider]

I've never had one that bad. There just really is no way to tell. Be really careful with it and let it fall off naturally, no matter how long it takes. Worse case scenario, you have it touched up.

[soderpopzzz]

3 hours ago, Hogrider said:

I've never had one that bad. There just really is no way to tell. Be really careful with it and let it fall off naturally, no matter how long it takes. Worse case scenario, you have it touched up.

Ok, thank you. 
 

and to be clear, you don’t think it got infected right? With that cracked area with the yellowish scabbing. It is 9 days old. 

[Hogrider]

8 hours ago, soderpopzzz said:

Ok, thank you. 
 

and to be clear, you don’t think it got infected right? With that cracked area with the yellowish scabbing. It is 9 days old. 

Infection is usually indicated by redness, soreness, oozing and/or an odor. If you don't have any of those symptoms, it's probably not infected.

[SStu]

Just looks rougher than normal, but should be just fine eventually. 

Where on your body is this? Down by your ankle or something will take extra time, too. 

[soderpopzzz]

4 hours ago, Hogrider said:

Infection is usually indicated by redness, soreness, oozing and/or an odor. If you don't have any of those symptoms, it's probably not infected.

 

4 hours ago, SStu said:

Just looks rougher than normal, but should be just fine eventually. 

Where on your body is this? Down by your ankle or something will take extra time, too. 

It’s on my inner forearm. Here’s how it looks today when I woke up. I think it had a little crack overnight 😕 you can kinda see it in the weird discolored part. 
 

I don’t think it’s infection because as you can see the other smaller lighting bolts have the same kind of hard stubborn scabbing, just that the bigger one has the cracking and discoloration. 

unless maybe there was a minor infection in that bigger one but somehow healed itself from washing while it was still tiny and before it got a chance to grow into a bigger infection. Is that possible?
 

why do you guys think this one turned out so rough?

and what do you think caused the discoloration? 
 

im bummed such a tiny tattoo turned out so rough and problematic. 

[SStu]

Don't be so harsh on it. I've seen tattoos WAY worse than that - most of which came out just fine. I don't think you have a "problem" at all. 

[soderpopzzz]

Update so far, 13 days since I got it. The smallest one’s scab fell off first, looks ok. The second one fell off yesterday, it looks like the skin under a scab still, kinda raw and muddy looking, hopefully will get better. The big first one is looking better, but the nasty scab is still stuck on, I’m praying it won’t just be bare skin when it falls off, some of it is lifted and it’s very oniony milky wrinkly underneath and clouded, eager to see what it will look like when normal skin returns. The third one also had a deeper scab but it’s really small and I suspect that one will be ok. Overall, worst experience I’ve had with a tattoo but hopefully will be ok. My artist offered to use tegaderm but declined due to saniderm leaving a mark on another part of my arm but now I definitely regret not using it 😕 

[oboogie]

Just keep it clean and let it heal. And please quit staring at it. 😉 

[Hogrider]

1 hour ago, oboogie said:

Just keep it clean and let it heal. And please quit staring at it. 😉 

What he said. Staring at it won't make it heal faster.

[oboogie]

1 hour ago, Hogrider said:

What he said. Staring at it won't make it heal faster.

She. But I'm glad we agree. 🙂

[Hogrider]

17 hours ago, oboogie said:

She. But I'm glad we agree. 🙂

Oops. Sorry!

[soderpopzzz]

Update: after three weeks the scabs finally came off. It’s not too bad. Some scarring where the nastier looking scab occurred and the only real color loss/distortion is in the small left corner outline. What do you think? All of the smaller lightning bolts scabbed up pretty heavily (of course not as bad as the big one) and left little scars when their scabs came off but they’ve already kinda settled in and aren’t that noticeable anymore, maybe the big one will too.  It’s not GREAT but it’s also definitely not as bad as I thought it would be considering how nasty that scab was. I’ll let it settle down more but I’m thinking I’ll just leave it as it is

Edited May 29, 2021 by soderpopzzz

[Hogrider]

It’s not done healing. 4-6 weeks for normal tattoos. Given those scabs, I’d think AT LEAST two months.

[soderpopzzz]

 

2 hours ago, Hogrider said:

It’s not done healing. 4-6 weeks for normal tattoos. Given those scabs, I’d think AT LEAST two months.

Yeah you’re definitely right regarding those heavy scabs and long healing time, thanks. I’m just relieved it’s turning out not as bad as I thought it would so far. Here it is just now, 24 hours after the final scab came off. The day after all the scabs came off always looked better I noticed. I know you’re right tho, I’m keeping in mind to give it another month, thanks for your comment. 

[Hands On]

phew!

(nice fly tattoo, btw)

[soderpopzzz]

13 hours ago, Hands On said:

phew!

(nice fly tattoo, btw)

Hey thanks! Anytime I swat at an actual fly, my fly tattoo looks at me and makes me feel like a real asshole lol 

[soderpopzzz]

Btw, so since I’ve never had a tattoo heal with this much heavy scabbing and scarring (other than the typical slightly raised outlined scars), are there any issues long term with tattoos that healed with more scarring than usual?

like I know you’re supposed to keep the scar out of the sun for like the first year or so, but since this is on my arm, if it gets too much sunlight will the scarring grow bigger or feel harder or get darker or any other issue? Or will it remain the same or get flatter or lighter etc? Anyone have any advice or input at all regarding scarring in tattoos in general? 

[SStu]

no difference in mine either way, once healed. 

[Vlad]

How did it heal? Do you have a picture?

[AmandaaD]

I am having the exact same issue with mine. Dude went incredibly hard on my inner forearm and it's now starting to yellow after 6 days in certain spots. It is definitely scarred for the most part. I told him to stop but he didn't because he said he had to get it coloured in enough. I am thinking it is from me sweating under the second skin because I work outside. 

Edited August 15, 2023 by AmandaaD

[Hogrider]

7 minutes ago, AmandaaD said:

I am having the exact same issue with mine. Dude went incredibly hard on my inner forearm and it's now starting to yellow after 6 days in certain spots. It is definitely scarred for the most part. I told him to stop but he didn't because he said he had to get it coloured in enough. I am thinking it is from me sweating under the second skin because I work outside. 

It's not healed. 6 days is not long enough to judge how it's going to look. Given how heavy they went, you could be looking at 8 weeks or longer for it to really heal. I wouldn't go back there if they paid you.