Your healing tattoo needs 2–3 weeks before exposure to chlorinated water. Ocean and saltwater: The salt and minerals can irritate healing skin that hasn't fully settled.
Wait 2-4 weeks before taking the plunge and enjoy your beautiful new tattoo, understand the healing process to have the best outcome! Protect your fresh ink from water exposure, use waterproof dressings and bandages, & consult a professional for safe swimming with a freshly tattooed skin!
It's generally recommended to wait at least 2 to 4 weeks before swimming after getting a tattoo. This allows the tattoo to heal properly and reduces the risk of infection. Here are some additional tips: Avoid submerging in water: This includes pools, hot tubs, lakes, and oceans.
You should keep a new tattoo completely protected from the sun for at least three to four weeks. If your new tattoo has not completely healed yet, exposing the tattoo area to sunlight could result in blistering. One should apply sunscreen everytime they step out in the sun to avoid tattoo fading.
Healing Time: It's generally recommended to wait at least 2-4 weeks after getting a tattoo before considering another one. This allows the initial tattoo to heal properly and reduces the risk of infection. Size and Location: Larger tattoos or those in more sensitive areas may require longer healing times.
Tattoo Care After 2 Weeks (Days 15 to 30):
This is the last stage of the healing process. Most, if not all, of the scabs will have fallen off by this point. If your tattoo looks dry and dull, continue to moisturize to rehydrate the skin.
Use the Aquaphor for the first 2-3 days then switch to a regular FRAGRANCE-FREE lotion such as Lubriderm, or any other fragrance-free brand. 5. Fresh tattoos sometimes “weep” during the first couple of days, meaning that plasma and ink form a thin moist coating on the skin. This can be DABBED with a clean paper towel.
Apply a quality sunscreen to protect your sensitive skin from UV damage, a waterproof dressing, and ensure your tattoo does not come in contact with sand. Chlorine is drying for the skin, but applying barrier creams or ointments and a waterproof bandage can help divert chlorine from affecting your new tattoo.
Here's the key takeaway on using tattoo lotion during the healing phase: timing matters. Only use a lightweight hydrating gel to support your new ink in the first two weeks until the area is healed over with new skin.
Avoid abrasive soaps or loofahs and hot showers, and allow your tattoo to fully heal for 3-4 weeks before swimming or taking a bath. If you make sure to gently clean and rinse your tattoo and avoid submerging it in the bath, pool or ocean, you'll keep your tattoo vibrant for years to come and avoid bacterial infection.
Exposure to water can negatively impact the appearance of your tattoo: Ink Leaching: Prolonged water exposure can cause the ink to leach out. Fading: Chemicals in pool water, like chlorine, can cause the tattoo to fade.
Tattoo touch-ups can only take place once your tattoo is fully healed (anywhere between 4 weeks to 6 months). Touching up a tattoo before it has had the chance to heal will only aggravate and further implicate the artwork. Touch-ups have the same healing protocol as initial tattoos.
While surfing with a fresh tattoo may seem tempting, it's important to allow your body enough time to heal before heading back to the waves. Generally, waiting at least 2 to 4 weeks is recommended to ensure that your tattoo heals properly and is protected from infection or damage.
Avoid hot tubs for the first two to four weeks to allow your tattoo the time it needs to heal properly. And after this period, use caution by limiting your exposure and ensuring that your hot tub water is clean and balanced.
"Sunburns and chronic UV exposure can damage the appearance of tattoos over time and lead to fading, wrinkles, and dullness/dryness." Nussbaum also says it's safe to put sunscreen on a healed tattoo, but fresh ink will need to heal first (instead, cover it with a bandage or loose clothing).
According to dermatologist, Hadley King, MD, you should wait until your tattoo is fully healed before swimming. "The amount of time will vary depending on the body location of the tattoo and size and how diligent the aftercare is," she explains. "Most tattoos heal within two to six weeks, but some may take longer.
Dr. Shirazi echoes this. “Water in a pool, lake, or the ocean has bacteria that can potentially get into the newly tattooed skin,” she adds, adding that salt or chlorinated water can be irritating and delay the healing of your new tattoo.
Sun Protection for New Tattoos
New tattoos fade very quickly when exposed to sunlight. In addition, if your tattoo has not completely healed yet, exposing the area to sunlight could result in blistering. In general, you should keep a new tattoo completely protected from the sun for at least three to four weeks.
There hasn't been an official study on how much ink (if any) Aquaphor can remove or fade from a tattoo. In the interest of fairness, plenty of tattoo artists claim that they've never experienced ink loss in their clients that use Aquaphor.
It's recommended to wait at least 2–4 weeks before taking a bath, or until your tattoo is fully healed. By this time, the scabs should have fallen off naturally, and the skin should no longer appear raw or irritated. However, healing times can vary depending on the size, placement, and individual skin type.
After you leave the studio you will have been cleaned and bandaged; remove the bandage after 3-4 hours. Don't remove the bandage until you can properly clean the tattoo with mild soap and warm water.