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​General

When your tattoo is fresh and healing, refrain from using sunscreen, scented products, and self-tanner directly on the tattoo. Avoid swimming, soaking in hot tubs, and long showers. Keep your tattoo out of the sun. Avoid intense workouts for the first week. 

Day of

Leave bandage on for the number of hours we discussed at the appointment. 

Traditional bandage: Before bed, remove the bandage and wash in lukewarm water with a non-fragrant, anti-bacterial soap. You do not need to scrub or be aggressive, use the soap enough to wash off any ink, blood and plasma. 

After washing, pat dry with paper towel, and re-wrap the tattoo in saran wrap just to sleep in. This prevents your tattoo from sticking to clothes and bedding.

Saniderm bandage: Leave on for 2 days, 3 days maximum. When ready to remove the bandage, remove it while in a warm shower to loosen the adhesive. When pulling it off, tug at the corners, tug away "like a command strip", this method is most gentle on your skin. If the bandage is coming off on its own prematurely, remove it and follow traditional aftercare.

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Next Morning

In the morning, unwrap your tattoo and wash it gently. Pat dry with clean paper towel. Wear loose clothing over your tattoo if you are leaving the house. You do not need to use a healing ointment like Aquaphor, unless you have used it before with good results. I personally do not use a healing ointment. 

Day 2-3

Wash once or twice a day, as needed. Do not touch your tattoo unless your hands have been just washed. You can wear loose, breathable clothing over your tattoo to protect it from the elements. 

Day 3-7

This is when new skin is growing over your tattoo, it can get very dry and itchy, this is normal. This is a great time to start using a gentle, non-fragrant lotion like Lubriderm or Eucerin. You can use it as needed throughout the day. This aids the healing process keeping it moisturized, since leaving it dry and flakey can have its own issues. Do not manually pick off flaking skin, this can remove ink or cause scarring!​

Tip: leave the bottle of lotion in the fridge for cold relief.

Week 2 & on

Your tattoo is almost healed! Keep being mindful of it. The tattoo is fully healed from 3 weeks to 1 month. 

Once it is fully healed, you can start using sunscreen, and go swimming! 

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Continued Care

Use sunscreen indefinitely, or clothing over your tattoo works just as well or better than sunscreen. Exposure to the sun will fade the ink, this happens very easily if you aren't taking precautions. 

Here are some sun protection clothing ideas: sun protection arm sleeve, neck gaiter, bandana, tall socks, fingerless driving gloves. 

When sunbathing, consider using a shirt or towel to cover your tattoo. For small tattoos, a bandage over your tattoo works.

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(Example image of a tattoo before and after long term sun exposure. Not my image or tattoo. Sourced from Google Images)

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