Small Tattoo Ideas: Tattoo Aftercare and Types of Removing Procedure

Tattoos are made by inserting irremovable ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment thus a proper after care must be taken, so that the area heals properly without infection.  Tattoo aftercare differs from person to person and artist to artist.  Mostly a tattoo artist will provide you instruction for aftercare of tattoo.  But you must be prepared of these instructions before getting your tattoo. Don’t worry, tattoo aftercare is very simple if you follow the instructions carefully. If you haven't chose a tattoo design yet, small tattoo ideas can come very handy for you. There are lot of resources online to refer for small tattoo ideas and get ideas.

1.        Most tattoo artists will cover your raw tattoo with a bandage.  The key is to not take it off too early but not let it sit too long.  If you take it off too early you open up the possibility of infection.  If you leave it on too long it can get stuck to your skin.

2.       Once the bandage is completely removed, wash the area with clean, warm water.  Always make sure your hands are clean too when touching your new tattoo area.  Treat it like a wound.

3.       After drying your tattoo, apply a very thin layer of antibacterial ointment like Neosporin or bacitraycin, with your finger.  DON’T apply thick layer of ointment, otherwise your skin will not be able to breathe. A thin layer of ointment is enough to cover the tattoo, depending upon the size.

4.       For the first two weeks try and avoid any water activities such as swimming or sitting in Jacuzzis because this will greatly increase the exposure to harmful bacteria.

5.       Always keep the tattoo area clean in order to avoid bacterial infection.  Wash the tattoo at least twice a day for the first two weeks.  Apply ointment on the tattoo for first 4-6 times for the first three days.  This will help keep up the tattoo moisturized and prevent its fading.

6.       After several days of using ointment switch to moisturizing lotions that you can commonly find at the drug store.

7.       Your tattoo might bleed ink for the first few days after tattooing, So wear something that you don’t mind having a little ink on.

8.       NEVER re-bandage a tattoo.  Also, only use water based products on it, not petroleum.

9.       If you have to be out in the sun, use a very heavy sunscreen (SPF 50) on that area.  The sun could cause permanent scarring if it dries out your skin.

10.   Your tattoo is most likely going to itch while it heals.  This is normal.  Just apply lotion if the itching gets to be too much for you.

If you follow these simple instructions, it’s for sure that you can have a great tattoo on you without any complications or infections.

There might be some consequences you may at later date.  Like it having a tattoo on your body might get in way for obtaining a job or obtaining other goals in life.  Thus you might have to remove the tattoo.  Removing of tattoo depends on the age of the tattoo, the size, the dept and the type of ink used. It also depends up on the location of tattoo also the skin type may influence the procedure decision.

Types of Tattoo removing procedure

·         Laser therapy:  most common therapy. It targets the ink and shatters it into microscopic fragments with short burst of high intensity light. This might take more treatments and more treatment required increases the risk of scarring.

·         Intense pulsed light therapy: - a gel is applied to the tattoo and a wand emits a high- intensity light which targets the ink and breaks into fragments much like laser treatment.

·         Sal abrasion:  coarse salt is used to abrade the tissue involved and its is considered to be very painful

·         Surgery:  in this process the skin is removed with a surgical knife and closed with stitches.

·         Creams:  creams usually take months to achieve desirable and may never truly fade the tattoo.

Hopefully after reading this article you will have a better idea of how the tattoo process works, how to care for a tattoo, and what your options might be for removing an unwanted tattoo.