forearm tattoo healing questions...

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magnolia_girl
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Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:30 pm

Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:41 pm

hey everyone, I am new to the forum and just have a few questions. 6 days ago I got a tattoo on the upper part of my forearm, goes on areas of my elbow ditch and then wraps a bit onto my lower bicep. I expected tons of pain since some of my other tattoos have been really painful (none that are known to be bad and the ones that should be bad have never been bad for me). The elbow ditch obviously wasn't fun but not as bad as I feared.

Anyhow, what has shocked me is the amount of pain since I got the tattoo. It throbs, aches, hurts like hell to bend my arm and really just sucks. I typically heal really fast, start itching and flaking on day 3 then looks good about a week out but this time I got a good sized thin scabbing going on, which pretty much flaked off the past 2 days, now it is shiny and flaking/peeling again, which has never happened to me (never peeled 2x).

The biggest issue is how bad it still hurts. I can barely touch it when washing it or putting lotion on. It really hurts when I wake up, probably bc I am bending my arm in the night and then it throbs whenever I put my arm down to my side.

It doesn't look infected or anything, just ugly and hurts. Is the forearm a hard place to heal just bc you use it alot? I know the elbow ditch is a PITA, but my real pain in the upper forearm area. The ditch was just splitting every time I bend/opened my arm but that seems scabbed now.

Anyhow, so my question is if you guys have had similar pain with healing in this area? And since the first layer came off, it is SO bright, way brighter than I want and more so than the first day I got. I hope it chills out. This is the first tattoo I have that I stare at all day, so I am obsessing a bit, I feel, haha.

Image
Last edited by magnolia_girl on Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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peterpoose
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Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:45 pm

magnolia_girl wrote:hey everyone, I am new to the forum and just have a few questions. 6 days ago I got a tattoo on the upper part of my forearm, goes on areas of my elbow ditch and then wraps a bit onto my lower bicep. I expected tons of pain since some of my other tattoos have been really painful (none that are known to be bad and the ones that should be bad have never been bad for me). The elbow ditch obviously wasn't fun but not as bad as I feared.

Anyhow, what has shocked me is the amount of pain since I got the tattoo. It throbs, aches, hurts like hell to bend my arm and really just sucks. I typically heal really fast, start itching and flaking on day 3 then looks good about a week out but this time I got a good sized thin scabbing going on, which pretty much flaked off the past 2 days, now it is shiny and flaking/peeling again, which has never happened to me (never peeled 2x).

The biggest issue is how bad it still hurts. I can barely touch it when washing it or putting lotion on. It really hurts when I wake up, probably bc I am bending my arm in the night and then it throbs whenever I put my arm down to my side.

It doesn't look infected or anything, just ugly and hurts. Is the forearm a hard place to heal just bc you use it alot? I know the elbow ditch is a PITA, but my real pain in the upper forearm area. The ditch was just splitting every time I bend/opened my arm but that seems scabbed now.

Anyhow, so my question is if you guys have had similar pain with healing in this area? And since the first layer came off, it is SO bright, way brighter than I want and more so than the first day I got. I hope it chills out. This is the first tattoo I have that I stare at all day, so I am obsessing a bit, I feel, haha.
Hey mate welcome to forums :)

My sleeve healed just fine, I had the same experience as you on my ankle.

Id say make sure its not infected, it may not be and you just heal different there. We are all different but get it checked out.

Pictures would be useful also :)
magnolia_girl
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Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:30 pm

Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:51 pm

haha, sorry...I forgot to add the picture. I added it to my original post. But yeah, it definitely isn't infected. It isn't swollen, hot, angry looking or anything. Just hurts like hell.
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EvilJay
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Sun Apr 07, 2013 7:21 pm

I had my inner bicep swell up and hurt pretty bad when it was done.. Depends how hard the artist was grabbing and twisting,
magnolia_girl
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:30 pm

Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:20 pm

Yeah, my tattoo is very fine lined with delicate detailing...she was very gentle and worked quickly, least painful tattoo I've ever got. Maybe it was all the tiny detailing and she is super good at shading/coloring, so maybe the multiple shades in such small areas? Either way I've been shocked at the how sore I am. Not swollen since day 2 but just very sensitive and tender, something I haven't experienced with my other tattoos.
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buttwheat
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Sun Apr 07, 2013 11:20 pm

It looks good.. you should consider going to the doctor it has been a week and you're sill experiencing pain something may be healing wrong.
MourningWood
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Mon Apr 08, 2013 8:17 am

Going to the doctor is always a good option, but I would see the artist first. Also, I would use Aleve twice a day and a cold pack on the tender area several times a day for a few days. I'm really lucky; I've always been a quick healer.
tondraj
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Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 6:16 pm

Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:20 pm

magnolia_girl wrote: Anyhow, what has shocked me is the amount of pain since I got the tattoo. It throbs, aches, hurts like hell to bend my arm and really just sucks. I typically heal really fast, start itching and flaking on day 3 then looks good about a week out but this time I got a good sized thin scabbing going on, which pretty much flaked off the past 2 days, now it is shiny and flaking/peeling again, which has never happened to me (never peeled 2x).
This happened to me on the last tattoo I got. For the first time ever I actually peeled twice. The same thing happened to my wife who was tattooed the day before. The common denominator was that both artists used Eternal Ink. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it or not, but it was strange that we both had that experience and had never had that happen before. Eventually it healed but it took a good 4 weeks.
maniacthw
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Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:09 pm

The last tattoo that was put on me, the artist used Eternal. It actually healed really quickly for me, but I'm not going to say it's normal. However, I do love how the ink looks after it's healed.

Image
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EvilJay
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Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:27 pm

A shit ton of great artists use Eternal. I doubt it heals different or harder than any other ink.
magnolia_girl
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Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:30 pm

Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:34 pm

I have NO idea what ink she used but it feels much better now. Thanks for all the comments! I have one area that is healing weird, which I'm bummed about but the pain is gone.
OICUR4692
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Thu Apr 11, 2013 1:05 am

EvilJay wrote:A shit ton of great artists use Eternal. I doubt it heals different or harder than any other ink.
+1
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kalash
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Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:42 am

That is a really nice tattoo btw.
magnolia_girl
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Thu Apr 11, 2013 11:55 am

kalash wrote:That is a really nice tattoo btw.
Thank you so much...I am super happy with it!
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iagotheinsane
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Thu Apr 11, 2013 1:02 pm

That's normal. You will get areas to scab or hurt more than others.

What I do is put some aloe vera type lotion twice a day. Don't wash it too much because it slows the healing process.
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