Tattoo Aftercare Advice
By following these aftercare instructions your tattoo will heal properly and be a beautiful work of art for years to come.
Tattoos have a tendency to have “ups and downs” during the healing period. Be patient and keep up the aftercare programme for the entire period, even if you think it’s healed sooner. Remember each body is unique and healing times and the way each body reacts can vary considerably. If you have any questions please contact us.
Tattoo a do’s and don’ts
•Do keep up you aftercare cleaning routine for the full healing period of 3 weeks
•Don’t let dirty hands, mud, grime, others bodily fluids, touch your healing tattoo. Remember it's an open wound!
•Do take a good quality multi vitamin, containing vitamin C and Zinc, to speed up the healing process.
•Don't rub or restrict your healing tattoo by wearing tight clothes or footwear
•Do make sure your clothes and bedding are clean.
•Don’t let anyone else use your Tattoo Aftercare products this stops cross infection.
•Do take regular showers
•Don’t direct the shower spray on your tattoo you may damage it
•Do be careful when drying after showering or washing your tattoo
•Don’t RUB your tattoo dry, let it air dry if possible.
•Don’t bathe, swim, sauna or use a hot tub until your tattoo is healed.
•Don’t expose your tattoo to Sunlight/UV rays/sunbeds, once healed you can keep your tattoos looking bright and fresh by avoiding the Sun, keeping them covered when in sunshine or use a clear high factor sun block even on cloudy days! If you don't your Tattoo will fade and blur
Materials you will need
Washing your hands– an anti bacterial hand wash
Washing your tattoo - Black Cat Tattoo Spray Cleanser
Drying hands and tattoo – clean good quality kitchen roll used only for your tattoo
Initial healing salve – Black Cat Tattoo Salve
Aftercare lotion – Black Cat Tattoo Aftercare Lotion
Only a small amount of aftercare product needs to be used as it is very concentrated. Keep all aftercare products away from your eyes and any other sensitive areas. If you experience a reaction to any of the aftercare products stop use immediately
Aftercare programme
•We spray your new tattoo with Cydrol protective skin spray, this acts like a second skin and seals and protects your new tattoo
•Do not touch your tattoo for 24hrs unless the seal is broken or if your tattoo becomes contaminated or unless you need to shower!
•Thereafter your healing tattoo should be cleaned a minimum of 3 times a day for the first 3 weeks, additional cleanings are needed to remove any sebum discharge and if your tattoo becomes accidently knocked or contaminated.
Cleaning Instructions
•Wash hands thoroughly with clean water and an anti bacterial hand wash
•Spray a small amount of Black Cat Tattoo Spray Cleanser on to your tattoo.
•Rinse gently with clean water.
•Place a clean dry sheet of kitchen roll over cleaned area, gently dab DO NOT RUB! Then remove and allow to air dry for 5mins.
•Apply a very thin layer of Black Cat Super Healing Salve after each wash. A little dab will do.
•After 3- 4 days you may notice a slight scabbing, itching or skin peeling, DO NOT PICK OR SCRATCH your tattoo, this will lead to infection and will also ruin your tattoo. It is now time to use Black Cat Unscented Lotion to help combat the itch and speed up the healing process
What is normal?
•Swelling of the tattoo area for 3-5 days. This can be greatly reduced elevating the tattooed area above your heart
•Slight redness to the surrounding area
•Bruising of the surrounding area
•Tenderness and aching pain, the level of pain is naturally linked to how much work you've had done. However, most of that initial pain should fade after the first 48 hours but this can extend to a week in the case of large pieces, foot, ankle and hand tattoos.
•Sebum discharge this is a liquid, yellowish secretion, this is made up of blood plasma, lymph and dead cells. All tattoos secrete this, it is normal and indicates a healing tattoo
•Swollen lymph nodes in the area nearest your tattoo.
•Scabbing of the area, this depends on the type of technique used and how successful you have been in cleaning off the sebum discharge, some tattoos will have lots of scabbing some will have none
•Towards the end of the healing process scabbing or upper skin layer will start to shed or peel, this is perfectly normal, this skin or scabbing will be the colour of the ink used. You are not losing ink from the tattoo but just removing the unneeded ink and dead skin cells from the tattoo area.
•Itching from day 4 to the end of the healing period, this itching is caused by skin shedding & new skin growth.
Trouble shooting
Tattoos have a tendency to have “ups and downs” during the healing period. Be patient and keep up the aftercare programme for the entire period, even if you think it’s healed sooner. Remember each body is unique and healing times and the way each body reacts can vary considerably. If you have any questions please contact us.
During the healing process your tattoo can become damaged accidentally or by carelessness. Touch ups are free, but spare yourself (and us!) the hassle by following your aftercare instructions carefully.
Occasionally a tattoo does not heal as rapidly as you would like, your body views a tattoo as a wound and the ink as a foreign object and tries to reject it, careful healing is required to give the body the chance to heal the ink in.
Infections and rejections
Even with the cleanest and most professional procedure and the best aftercare any body modification can be subject to infection and/or rejection. You must see your doctor or attend your A&E department if outside doctor’s hours straight away as a reaction or infection is a very serious matter and doctor’s advice and treatment should never be delayed. Please take these aftercare instructions with you to show your doctor.
Typical symptoms
•Excessive red colouration around the tattoo area
•A server prickly sensation
•Area is hot to touch, gently lay your clean hand over the inflamed area. Does it feel significantly warmer than the rest of your skin? Does the heat seem to radiate?
•Excessive swelling.
•Fever, this is very serious and needs immediate medical attention.
•General weakness, this can also be related to a fever caused by infection, but by the time weakness sets in, an infection may have reached a serious stage.
•Pain, with the exception of large pieces, foot, ankle and hand tattoos which can be painful for as long as a week, most initial pain should fade after 48 hours. If the pain doesn’t reduce in the time scale discussed with your tattooist, it's likely that the tattoo is in the early stages of infection and should be examined right away.
•Discharge, this is a natural part of the healing process. However, if it becomes a greenish-yellow pus that can smell unpleasent or an excessive bloody discharge you definitely have a problem in progress.
•Red streaks that radiate outward from the original tattoo site can be a serious sign of blood poisoning.
•Prolonged swelling of the lymph nodes, it's a sign that the immune system has been called into action to attack an intruder either as a reaction to the ink or a bacterial infection.
Allergic Reactions
We use a wide range of products in our procedures which is why we ask you about any allergies you may have in your tattoo consent form and why we offer patch testing for those with noted allergies or on request
Ink allergies are rare but do happen, a reaction to tattoo ink can vary between a weak reaction to an extreme one, an extreme reaction can often be mistaken for an infection or can help lead to an infection because the tattoo weeps for extended periods leaving the skin open to general infection
Red, Green and Yellow inks are the most likely colours to show problems but it can happen with any colour or of course like any product an individual may have a reaction to a particular brand of ink.
Most ink reactions can be dealt with by keeping the tattoo moist and cleaning off any discharge, this allows the body to naturally expel the substance that has set off the allergic reaction; however, more serious reactions may need a special dressing or cream.
Possible treatments for Infections and Reactions
Infections are usually treated with a round of antibiotics prescribed by your doctor
Reactions are often treated by your doctor with
Steroid creams
Silver sulfadiazine dressings
In all cases your doctor will advise you on how to clean and care for your tattoo during treatment
After the problem has been treated
Once the tattoo is healed, skin finish and design integrity can be dealt with. This healing process may take some time depending on the problems incurred. It is most likely that the tattoo will need a re-touched for colour and design.
Before a tattoo can be re-worked the skin finish must be addressed, once fully healed an anti scarring cream or oil like Mederma or Bio Oil should be used with your doctor’s consent.
If there was a possibility of allergic reaction in the previous procedure, alternate products must be used and a patch test under taken with consent and supervision of your doctor.
