AFTER TATTOOING: Care instructions and tips

After tattooing the fresh tattoo will be cleaned and disinfected by me, I will apply a wound ointment and a plastic-film. The film protects the Tattoo in the early hours, preventing contamination and sticking of the tattoo to clothing, due to leaking ichor or blood.

After about 1-3 hours you can remove the film dressing. Thereafter no longer cover.

!Before you remove the bandage! wash you hands please!!

Clean the tattoo gently with warm water and possibly with an antibacterial and pH-neutral soap or washing lotion (perfume free!). Carefully remove any residue like exudate, color and ointment, which was formed under the film. Dabs the tattoo off with a lint-free and clean cotton towel or paper towel and let it dry for at least 20 minutes.

Then apply a thin layer of a dexpanthenol-containing ointment (for example, Panthenol-ratiopharm, Bepanthen). Vaseline is for the care of a fresh tattoo just like milking fat etc. not suitable! These fatty creams just stop the irritated skin from breathing without a healing effect. Many people respond with pimples or mild inflammation.

Wash the tattoo in the morning and evening.
To complete the healing and maintain the elasticity of the crust, during the healing process,
apply wound healing ointment approximately three times a day (eventually wipe with a towel to remove excess cream).
Apply not too much cream! It can cause spotty and uneven healing of the tattoo.
Place the cold and clammy ointment in small dabs onto the skin and until the body's heat softens it, so that applying of the cream on the irritated skin gets a little less annoying.

Already on the same day or the next morning you will find scabs on the tattoo, which dissolve themself after 6-10 days. In no case tear or scratch them off! Use no alcohol to allay the itching, as some suggest, because alcohol dries out the skin. Never use scar creams, scented creams or disinfectant!

Wear quite wide and clean clothes from cotton, so that the encrustation is not damaged. Don't wear wool or other fluffy material.

For sleeping wear clothes (or a gauze bandage) over the tattoo, to avoid sticking to the sheets. Should it happen that a fresh tattoo sticks to textiles (or gauze): soften the crust of dried blood and ichor carefully with a (clean!) wet towel or wear your clothes in the shower and remove the textiles carefully. If the scab is damaged, there is a risk that color is taken out of the tattoo, which leads to bright colorless patches on tattoo.

Do not scratch or paw!
Touch tattoo only with clean hands!

Especially nicotine of smokers hands can lead to inflammation and scarring!

As long as the tattoo is still encrusted, protect the scabs from too long showers or baths and avoid long swimming, as this can soften the scab. (When shower, don't aim the shower stream directly on the tattoo) Also excessive sweating, eg a sauna or intensive sport, should be avoided for the same reason.

No direct sunlight and no tanning through the first two months, as the damaged skin is unpaired to it's potective function and burns faster than normal skin.
Tattoos can fade by intense sunlight. Therefore a high sun protection factor is advisable, for a long joy of colorful or even jet-black tattoo.

Until complete healing all sources of infection should be avoided, even the contact with foreign body secretions (saliva, semen, etc.).

The normal healing usually takes about 10 days. The healing phase is not quite finished with the fall of the slough. Even three to four weeks after the actual tattoo appointment is a wound ointments advisable to assist the skin in it's restructuring. Those who prematurely switch to normal body lotion, risk skin irritation. Who deals with care in the first two weeks with his new tattoo, should have no major problems with the healing. It is not a major drama, if a crumb color breakes out by incorrect treatment or mishap. After the skin has calmed down, the tattoo can be repaired at the problematic point.