Bigboy67

Healed many many tattoos now over the last few years with tegaderm. The only time I've had the red irritation issue on the edge of the tegaderm was when it was applied too stretched in the first place, or at a weird angle on a spot that moves a lot. (This is yet another unfinished piece, more coming shortly to finish in a last session for background, etc.)

Damn, have t been here in a long time, glad my thread has kept itself going. Still using tegaderm on any and all tattoos.... A few reminders/bullshit I've picked up along the way. Definitely out extra pieces on if the edges start to curl, or instead of wasting tegaderm you can just use a few strips of medical tape to hold on... Do not take off and reapply , REALLY bad decision... If you aren't super sketched out by trying this, don't! You'll drive the price of tegaderm up for the rest of us ... Do NOT use bactine or anything similar as a topical prior to putting on the tegaderm, the ingredients in bactine reduce the effectiveness of the glue on the sheets... Have fun, happy healing! - - - Updated - - - Oh another tip.... Stop putting this shit on RIGHT after your appointment!!!! I don't know who started this horrible advice, but that's what it is, shit advice. Wait until you're done with the initial plasma push, then shower, clean, apply tegaderm. My plasma push usually is all done within about 6 hours... I get a clean and wrap from artist, San and rewrP for bed short after, then do tegaderm in the AM - - - Updated - - - And I've got about 60 hours needle time that's been covered using this method, this isn't just guessing

Healed.... Sorry for the shitty lighting

Just popping in... Got another 7 hours on my owl coverup piece yesterday. Fresh and clean next morning Wrapped up Ended up using two 8x12 Tegaderm sheets to cover. For all the cost nazis out there, yes that means I spent a whole 8 dollars to heal my (to this point... in progress) 2500 dollar tattoo. Will leave on 3-4 days and then resume lotioning after I remove. Will post healed pics as well

It's not you man, just overall get a big downer vibe from guys when I mention it. Even at other tattoo shops. Everybody tends to act like it's some gimmick, when in reality it's a super common method for healing all sorts of injuries. Hopefully someone else who is looking for info will find this thread anyhow, it's got good info on timing, application, etc. Later fellas

I've used it right up to my knee ditch, worked great. Just gotta bend your limb to its natural resting position before applying and should be all good

Definitely don't change anything if your methods work well already, this is just for folks who may need a little extra help, or maybe need a little extra protection for comfortability... My main focus is always on my tattooer. I spend thousands on tattoos, I make sure they're good ones (now, haha) and because of that reason I look towards making sure they heal properly. Tegaderm has worked really well for me, just wanted other people's thoughts on how they use it and their experience. for some reason this thread has elicited a negative response just talking about it. Wasn't the intention. Feel free to post anything you want here guys, I'm unsubbing from my own thread, haha. Happy healing everyone, no matter how you do it !

Ya.... I criticize people that haven't used it and then come to a thread dedicated I the method of healing and downplay it's effectiveness without trying, or give "my buddy said" advice... Bottom line is there isn't a single person that used it and said their tattoos didn't heal equal to or better than any other way they've tried... So now that I found a rad aftercare product, I have to be a company rep? Hilarious. Not shilling for a company, just a regular guy trying to spread the word on a product that revolutionized my own personal healing process. Nobody has to be here in this thread, it wasn't meant to spring discussion about whether or not you like something that you've never even used

@scubaron Yes except it's not a theory, it's science. Some folks around the industry like to poo poo anything "new", forgetting that this has had real world application for DECADES and directly translates to healing a tattoo.

No hard feelings... And ya I totally get the owner reaction of "you want me to pay for what?" Haha. I think a bunch of "high end" custom type studios are moving towards -Derm products, but I bet it's another decade before we see it in random street shops

Dude, I'm an accountant covered in tattoos.... I lobby for no company

I'm not shitting on old school healing methods, I've used them my whole life up until now and have only had maybe 4 rough heals out of maybe 30 sessions. But I am saying 100% that if you don't heal perfectly 100% of the time then it's batshit crazy to not try something new. As far as the cost goes? It's so negligible that it's silly to even discuss cost, but if a tattooer doesn't want to fork over the couple bucks why couldn't he or she just pass on the cost?

Sure, vinyl works great, but most people have moved on due to advancements. I love how a product which has not a single complaint, costs 4 bucks for an enormous sheet, and has had every user praise it for one reason or another.... Is called an "expensive" "gimmick"... Give me a break. Will some people heal fine and not notice improvement using it? Maybe.... But why are we spending thousands and thousands on tattoos and all the other care items, just to scoff at something that genuinely works? Just because something is considered a standard doesn't mean all people have to use it (rotary vs. cool anyone?), but lets not pretend like the majority of people wouldn't benefit, it's horseshit

@Diehardonvhs ... It's like 4 bucks for an 8" x 12" sheet. Expensive? Smaller sheets even cheaper. If I were an artist I would want to take the idiot factor out of the healing process... I mean, how many great tattoos have probably been ruined by dirtball clients that don't heal them correctly?

Keep it plastic wrapped for 12 or so hours, then wrap it for 3-4 days @IndieSould

Has ANYBODY noticed a single drawback of using -derm products? I am really starting to wonder how this isn't industry standard at this point...

@bobo9175 I don't think you have anything to worry about. You may have stretched the Tegaderm a little too much causing it to bunch up the skin a little, or maybe it's swollen a bit still. Let that baby set for a while, reserve real judgment for another few weeks plus.

@Cork don't you have a medical supply store nearby? Or a nurse friend? Tegaderm should be available pretty easily locally if you can't wait for the convenient shipment method

I've used multiple strips on multiple occasions now, with no leakage except for leaking out if the bottom bandage which would happen even if you used on sheet. But I'm sure it is MUCH more of an issue when it's your rump

My fault. Thought Tylenol had anti inflammatory effects. Please, always feel free to correct any bro science I present, haha. Thanks for the info @KegRN

@HettyKet... Ah I see. I'm already at the snakeskin/sunburn stage, so maybe I'll pass for this round anyways. Appreciate the info though. I do recall wearing Tegaderm for a full week after a back surgery and it worked great, guess I should've known it should be fine for tattoo application.... Duh!

@HettyKet , good idea! Unfortunately I'm on reorder for my supplies and don't have easy access. But I'll definitely consider that in the future. Do you do that often, peel and reapply? I've actually heard some guys say they've left Tegaderm on for 5 days instead of 3. If anything I may move to a longer application period if it just means the skin is two days further along in healing.... I wonder if there are any unforeseen negative potential consequences to leaving the Tegaderm on as long as 5 days

Had to pull my Tegaderm off about 8 hours too early due to a scheduling conflict... Bad idea. Take it from me, let it stay on a little longer rather than too early. Still healed great though. Here's a first thing AM dry as a bone pic from today That sucker hurt to peel. Also, though I don't have any big chunky scabs there is still a bit more of that thicker skin feel to some of this rounds work. I should point out though that this session was A LOT of color pack and that likely has led to a bit harder heal too Worst part of this heal though had nothing to do with the early Tegaderm heal. I woke up this morning and snapped off my shirt like normal, not realizing parts of the owl face was glued to the shirt. Ouch! Made it bleed actually a bit, as you can see in this real up close pic

Here's my latest round of work... First is a fresh pic, and second is a pic after 12 hour post tattoo waiting period and another 48 hours under Tegaderm, looking gooey and juicy and disgusting, haha. Even getting some leakage as you can see from second pic even though I overlapped tattooed skin by a full two inches easily, so just gonna have my wife slap on another piece of Tegaderm on that corner

Little sneak peek of my in progress cover up piece