before your appointment
- Ensure you are well hydrated and have eaten within 2 hours of your appointment
- If you are using numbing cream you must make the artist aware before your appointment and must follow the instructions on the packaging, including any time scales it takes for the product to take effect before you arrive for your appointment.
- We cannot tattoo over sunburn.
- Use discretion when booking tattoos on high traffic areas, i.e hands. It is advisable to take time off work for the healing process to protect the integrity of your tattoo.
- Alcohol must be avoided for a period of 24 hours before your appointment.
AFTERCARE ADVICE
Your new tattoo has involved breaking the surface of your skin and there is a possibility that, If not cared for properly, your tattoo may become infected. By following the advice provided in this leaflet you will be reducing the chance of anything going wrong with your tattoo.
HOW TO TREAT YOUR TATTOO
- Your new tattoo is basically an area of tiny skin breaks which have been caused by the penetration of needles carrying ink into your skin. It is important that you keep wearing the sterile dressing applied by your tattooist for at least an hour after it is applied. This should provide enough time for the tattoo to stop bleeding or weeping.
- Once you remove the dressing, you should wash the tattoo gently with warm tap water and pat it dry with a clean tissue – try to avoid using towels, and definitely don’t use towels that other people have been using.
- After washing and drying your tattoo, apply a moisturising skin cream (your tattooist will recommend a cream but something like E45 is appropriate unless you are allergic to any of the ingredients) to stop the skin drying out and reduce scabbing.
- You should aim to wash the area and apply the moisturising cream approximately 2 to 3 times a day for the first few days. Cream should continue to be applied 2 to 3 times a day to keep the skin moisturised until your tattoo is fully healed.
- Everyone heals at a different rate and healing times depend on many factors. However, most scabbing should disappear within approximately 2 weeks – the next stage is for the tattoo to be covered in a “silver” skin which will last for about a week – in total, your new tattoo should be completely healed within about 4 to 5 weeks.
SOME GENERAL TIPS FOR AFTERCARE OF YOUR TATTOO
- Your new tattoo is basically an area of tiny skin breaks which have been caused by the penetration of needles carrying ink into your skin. It is important that you keep wearing the sterile dressing applied by your tattooist for at least an hour after it is applied. This should provide enough time for the tattoo to stop bleeding or weeping.
- Once you remove the dressing, you should wash the tattoo gently with warm tap water and pat it dry with a clean tissue – try to avoid using towels, and definitely don’t use towels that other people have been using.
- After washing and drying your tattoo, apply a moisturising skin cream (your tattooist will recommend a cream but something like E45 is appropriate unless you are allergic to any of the ingredients) to stop the skin drying out and reduce scabbing.
- You should aim to wash the area and apply the moisturising cream approximately 2 to 3 times a day for the first few days. Cream should continue to be applied 2 to 3 times a day to keep the skin moisturised until your tattoo is fully healed.
- Everyone heals at a different rate and healing times depend on many factors. However, most scabbing should disappear within approximately 2 weeks – the next stage is for the tattoo to be covered in a “silver” skin which will last for about a week – in total, your new tattoo should be completely healed within about 4 to 5 weeks.
If you have any problems or questions at any time then you should contact your tattooist – contact details are provided below – to ask their advice in the first instance. It may be the case that they may refer you to your GP, or reassure you that what you are seeing is part of the natural healing process. In an emergency, you should always seek medical attention either at your GP surgery or at a hospital Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department.
