nothanx

33 minutes ago, Hogrider said:

Like everything in tattooing - it depends. I've got well over 200 hours of being tattooed and rarely have any scabbing. I don't think I have any scarring, at least none that I can see or feel. I don't know if it's my artist, my skin, or my aftercare - probably a little bit of all three.

As to your artist, well known, tattooing for years, best in the shop don't mean anything. The only thing that counts is the final outcome.

I think you're probably stuck with just getting through this. If you aren't happy, don't go back. Realistically, what do you think is going to happen; you'll accuse him of being heavy handed and causing scarring and he'll say, "You're right, I'm sorry, I'll be more careful."

Most likely wouldn’t go that way. He’d probably look at me like I’m a crazy bitch. I love my tattoo and want my arm finished and I really like him as a person. All of my color has healed perfectly no scarring no scabbing it’s just the black shading that both times have been really bad. I do think after this is done I will try a different artist for something else. The healing process has been extremely frustrating for me. I just wonder if I could be like hey can we take it easy on the shading and add more next time? I want to avoid these scabs because they are extremely painful! 

Last piece that scabbed has been touched up twice and looks good now but I definitely have scarring. I  don’t believe I should not be scarred. I follow the same aftercare every time and I say overworked because the area gets really puffy with a lot of plasma coming up and is soft/yellow while it’s healing and then as it scabs will bleed. It’s not the whole tattoo though only where the area has been gone over multiple times. Also, my ditch came out totally fine! 

So I made a previous post in here a few month back about a tattoo I had that was healing poorly with pretty thick scabs. I’m in the process of working on a full sleeve and I’m nearing the end of a years worth of work. I thought at the time it might have been my immune system because the previous 3 times and the following time I went in and had more work done my arm healed fine. However, last week we did a large bird with some pretty dark shading and he was going over the same area 3-5+ times and I could feel my skin burning. My scabs are bad again this time around and it’s near my elbow so every time I move my arm they crack and bleed. I reached out to him and he said scabbing is normal (I disagree). He is a very well established artist who has been tattooing for years and has worked on many other people I know and is the best at his shop. I don’t know what the F*** is going on. I’m not trying to tell him how to do his job but he has turned parts of my arm into hamburger meat 2 times . Do I attempt to say something to him? How would I even approach that? I’m nearing the end of my sleeve but for the amount of money I’m paying I feel like I should not have to deal with this many rough heals and get a ton of touch ups. 

I’m happy to report I am no longer freaking out and my arm is healing. Most parts are already peeling but the trouble area is really thick and scabby. Gotta get though this next week without them getting too dry and cracking or keeping them overly moist. I’ve never had a tattoo scab like this before so it’s been a good learning experience for me. I have another session in a month and fingers crossed this doesn’t happen again.

6 hours ago, Gingerninja said:

I'm not a doctor and always err on the side of caution when folks say things like "red", "sore" and "pus".  I don't see what looks like infection but if you are concerned, go to the doctor. Meanwhile, take your vitamins, probiotics and eat right. Your body just isn't handling this session well. It happens. 

Maybe it’s age? Such a strange thing. I used to heal very quick and easily. I can’t believe my skin is still red almost a week later. I had my artist look at it it’s definitely not infected I’m just a sensitive little flower this time around I guess. 

2 hours ago, SStu said:

Agreed. I don't see anything that looks like an infection or is even abnormal. 

Scabs are just like road rash. They get hard and you have to leave them alone and fall of by themselves. Avoid over moisturizing. 

That’s the difficult thing for me because they have now started to crack and bleed a little bit unless I keep them moisturized! 

And here’s a photo of this beauty before it started looking like crap! 

Well I’m probably being a touch dramatic but I’ve never had an issue with healing any of my 15+ tattoos until this last session. Part of my color looks like road rash. This is my third session with the same artist. It had so much plasma coming out I was unable to stop it from building up and now I have thick tender scars and the skin still feels warm to the touch and is still visibly red in some parts 5 days later. I’m worried I have an infection after googling shit but I know the internet is not a good place to look up symptoms! I’m trying to leave the damn thing along but I don’t know how often I should be washing/lotioning it. Should the scabs be hard or soft? The first photo is after I gently washed it this morning and it’s all mushy (can’t tell if those are wet scabs or puss that is what scares me) second photo is once it’s dried and damn it feels tight!!! My artist said it looks fine but I am still freaked out. 

hi there! new to this forum but not new to tattoos. i started when I was 18 (currently 33) took a break probably from 25-32 and am now in the middle of finishing up a sleeve. i am going to an extremely reputable artist and this is my third session first was outline, this is my second round of shading and color and i have some new and scary stuff happening in the healing process that is giving me mad anxiety and i found this forum after googling and thinking I'm going to die from my current tattoo situation. will be posting in the "after care" section once it unblocks me from only posting here after 10 posts i guess!