Does my tattoo look like its healing ok to you?

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Beemdub
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:49 pm

I got tatted last tuesday and had the tribal on my shoulder added onto and "strength" in arabic on my chest area...For the tribal part almost 90% of the scabs fell off already...but for the arabic part there is still the majority of the scabbing left and it looks thick with like cracks and creases in it and kinda hurts when I move my arm and that area stretches....Its very slightly red underneath in one part ...I normally take one or two showers a day and hand wash my tattoo with some bar soap in my hand...I put lotion on about 4 times a day but I've been wondering if I should stop putting it on the arabic part?

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after one day of using antibacterial soap

flash on...i know eww:/
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fe
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:16 pm

to me it looks like you've let it get too dry, been there. there isn't much you can do about it now... try aquaphor next time. it's probably not going to look as good as you hoped when it heals.
Beemdub
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:22 pm

well should I continue putting lotion on it then? I had been lotioning it about 3-4 times a day until yesterday someone on another forum told me to stop..
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Stubarber
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:28 pm

Everybody reacts a little differently. I never use lotion - it depends on your skin.

Part of the problem is the location. Any time you've gotten ink in a place where the skin naturally stretches (like close to your pit), just the movement of your arm/shoulder will aggrevate it and make it take a little longer to heal. I wouldn't worry about it too much at this stage - as long as it doesn't get any redder underneath.
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reefdiver
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:30 pm

fe wrote: it's probably not going to look as good as you hoped when it heals.
why is that ???

do you mean that he did something that will make it not look as good when healed ?

or

that no matter what he did it was not going to look as good as he expected ?

i would not have thought that letting it dry out or keeping it wet would affect the final product ?
Beemdub
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:39 pm

reefdiver wrote:
fe wrote: it's probably not going to look as good as you hoped when it heals.
why is that ???

do you mean that he did something that will make it not look as good when healed ?

or

that no matter what he did it was not going to look as good as he expected ?

i would not have thought that letting it dry out or keeping it wet would affect the final product ?
Yea that statement kinda scared me lol...because I haven't been neglecting it at all ...
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imnotatfault
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:53 pm

Your tattoo will be fine. It's a bit dry. Apply a light layer of aquaphor to it for the next day or so then switch to unscented lotion.

You have to work really hard to mess up a properly done tattoo. Don't overthink it and you'll be fine.
Beemdub
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:54 pm

imnotatfault wrote:Your tattoo will be fine. It's a bit dry. Apply a light layer of aquaphor to it for the next day or so then switch to unscented lotion.

You have to work really hard to mess up a properly done tattoo. Don't overthink it and you'll be fine.
Alright cool thats good to hear I'm gonna get some of that today just one layer every day?
peter449
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:06 pm

Your tattoo is a bit dry now. Eventually it will be fine I hope. Anyway it was a nice post.
bobss396
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:57 pm

I go with what my artist tells me. I use bacitracin until it starts forming a scab. Regardless I'll wash it in the shower in the morning and once in the evening with a gentle soap.

As soon as it scabs up, I switch to an unscented moisturizer.

Bob
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imnotatfault
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:28 pm

bobss396 wrote:I go with what my artist tells me. I use bacitracin until it starts forming a scab. Regardless I'll wash it in the shower in the morning and once in the evening with a gentle soap.

As soon as it scabs up, I switch to an unscented moisturizer.
Scabbing is not a good thing.
Beemdub wrote:
imnotatfault wrote:Your tattoo will be fine. It's a bit dry. Apply a light layer of aquaphor to it for the next day or so then switch to unscented lotion.

You have to work really hard to mess up a properly done tattoo. Don't overthink it and you'll be fine.
Alright cool thats good to hear I'm gonna get some of that today just one layer every day?
1-3 times a day. Don't gob it on. I put on a light coat and then dab off all excess. If it's shiny, there's too much.
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fe
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:44 pm

we all know that how your tattoo turns out is half what your artist does, and half of it depends on you caring for it. i'm not saying its going to look like shit, but you are much more likely to lose some ink and need a touch up. sorry... i didn't mean it was going to be disasterous. my bad. :oops:

make sure that IF you do switch to aquaphor at this point, not to oversaturate it, otherwise it will be super goopie and disguisting, and you do not want that. a very light layer should definately help. i would definately keep moisturizing it... even if its still just with lotion. if it's too dried out, if you stop it will continue to further dry out.
also if you let it scab up that bad, you are more likely to have more scar tissue that way... which isn't a big deal, but scar tissue is much more likely to get irritated, or raised, etc. really it should look fine, didn't mean to scare you. :D
Beemdub
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:42 pm

fe wrote:we all know that how your tattoo turns out is half what your artist does, and half of it depends on you caring for it. i'm not saying its going to look like shit, but you are much more likely to lose some ink and need a touch up. sorry... i didn't mean it was going to be disasterous. my bad. :oops:

make sure that IF you do switch to aquaphor at this point, not to oversaturate it, otherwise it will be super goopie and disguisting, and you do not want that. a very light layer should definately help. i would definately keep moisturizing it... even if its still just with lotion. if it's too dried out, if you stop it will continue to further dry out.
also if you let it scab up that bad, you are more likely to have more scar tissue that way... which isn't a big deal, but scar tissue is much more likely to get irritated, or raised, etc. really it should look fine, didn't mean to scare you. :D
Yea the thing is I didn't think I was "letting" it do anything I moisturized it just as much as the rest of my tattoo on my shoulder which is larger and that only has about 2%-5% of the scabbing left..
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fe
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:47 pm

well, there are alot of variables... like maybe you couldn't reach it as well, so it didn't get rubbed in quite as well... ie it didn't get absorbed as well. maybe it gets rubbed more by your clothing, and the clothing irritated it or soaked up your lotion more. you never know. different parts of the body heal differently. it sucks though, healing out a tattoo once it has scabbed like that is never fun.
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fe
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:49 pm

and don't worry... i actually have a spot on a tattoo right now that is scabby like that... it happens.
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