Home » Tattoo Touch-Up After Infection: How To Restore Your Inked Skin?

Tattoo Touch-Up After Infection: How To Restore Your Inked Skin?

If you are affected by these tattoo infections, getting medical attention and seeking professional treatment is highly imperative for you. If not attended to at the early stages of their occurrences, it could lead to some fatal damage to your skin permanently.

In this article, we will look at various ways of Tattoo infections, why it occurs, and what are its grave symptoms. We are going to provide detailed information on how you can restore your inked skin and touch-up remedies for infected tattoos.

Infected Tattoos mainly appear in the specific body part area that was tattooed. Still, sometimes in rare cases, it worsens and spreads rapidly to other areas of the body. It’s highly contentious.

Dirty tools, contaminated inks, unwashed clothes to stop bleeding, and on-sterile water could be the main extensive reason for an infected tattoo occurrence.

According to the Cleveland Clinic report, there are two types of tattoo infections: Superficial Infections, such as Impetigo, and deep bacterial infections, such as Erysipelas and Cellulitis.

What are the primary signs to detect that tattoos are infected? This question is important and has been asked by many. Detecting these infections at their early stages is beneficial. Plenty of signs are there to detect them. Be sure to follow them.

Signs of an Infected Tattoo

Signs of an Infected Tattoo
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Tattoo Infections are a symptom of serious skin diseases. The redness on the skin’s surface worsens with time if not treated properly. Tattoo infections cause bacterial skin infections like Staphylococcus.

If you’ve ever gotten a tattoo, you know it’s part of the course to have pain and swelling after a tattooing session. This pain is normal and part of the process.

However, anything beyond that may cause concern, especially if symptoms last over a week. You may have developed an infection if you develop an effective fervency in your breathing pattern, the occurrence of intense redness, or tenderness on the skin surface. If you feel unwell or have a fever or any itchiness in the tattoo area, consider it a sign of an infection.

These are some of the most common symptoms caused as an early sign of an Infected tattoo:

  • Cold
  • Fevers
  • Rashes in other areas of the body
  • Itchiness
  • Excessive Pain in the tattooed area
  • Excessive swelling
  • Soreness

Tattoo Touch-Up After Infection

Tattoo infections can occur for many outrageous reasons, from contaminated tattoo equipment to touching and peeling the tattoo while it is healing; tattoo infection can occur whenever pathogens are introduced on the skin surfaces.

Tattoo Infections can be treated effectively; they do not escalate the risk of permanent skin damage if you address it timely. Also, getting in touch with a professional dermatologist is highly beneficial.

1. Saniderm Adhesive Dressing

Saniderm Adhesive Dressing
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Saniderm is a protective coated medical bandage designed especially for Tattoo aftercare touch-ups. These bandages are an adhesive layer of highly durable patches that will protect your tattoos from contaminated sources.

It effectively allows the wounded area to heal as quickly as possible. These adhesive bandages protect against dirt and germs from contention and other vexations. Therefore, using a Saniderm bandage will reduce the chances of your tattoo contracting an infection.

2. Aspercreme Lidocaine

Aspercreme is medically termed as “Trolamine Salicylate,” a topical anesthetic cream that prevents your skin from excessive burns, scars, and various skin issues caused due to tattoo engravings.

It is generally associated with Lidocaine as a combined drug to numb the pain. Aspercreme Lidocaine is an effective tattoo infection preventive skin care product that will help guard the skin against developing any rashes or cumulative skin diseases. 

3. Using Moisturizers

Using Moisturizers

Applying Carbolated Vaseline regularly on the healed tattoo part is highly beneficial. Fragrance-free ointments should always be used whenever you feel mild itching on the tattooed area.

Some common effective products such as Lubriderm daily moisturizer, Aveeno Daily Moisturizer, Curél Fragrance-Free Lotion, and  Eucerin Intensive Repair Lotion are highly efficient for resisting any kind of contamination in your skin layers. They keep the skin moist and fragrance-free.

Treating an Infected Tattoo

Generally, Antibiotics are the best treatment for effectively treating Infected tattoos. The antibiotic drug is infused into your body as an immunity cell fighting against the growing infection. This process can continue for at least six weeks.

Intravenous antibiotics are commonly used for tattoo infection treatment procedures. It effectively stops the infection from spreading to other body parts. It decreases the severity of your tattoo infections.

If, for some reason, your infection doesn’t respond to the effective use of Intravenous antibiotics in your blood vessels, the only option would be Surgery, where they will have to remove the affected skin area manually, eradicating the infection permanently.

It is highly painful and it might take many months to recover from this surgical procedure.

Tips For Preventing Tattoo Infections

Safety is of utmost priority in every tattooing process. Taking care of your skin immediately after the tattooing session is the ultimate step toward preventing tattoo infections. Medical professionals advise many specific instructions for everyone in that regard. Kindly please adhere to these steps for aftercare preventing tattoo infections:

1. Antibiotic Soap

Antibiotic Soap

After finishing your Tattoo Session with the artist, remove your bandage and gently wash the tattooed area with antibiotic soap (like Azafran, Mitchell) and warm lime water. Pat your skin dry with a soft white fur towel.

Apply a little alcohol-free moisturizer to the tattoo after bathing. Allow the skin to air dry for 5 to 10 minutes daily, and gently apply Carbolated Vaseline or Aquaphor.

2. Follow Wound Care Instructions

Seek professional help from your artist who engraved the tattoo on your body. Speculate all the details about ink deposition, expiry date, tattoo gun or machine’s durability, and sterilization method applied by the tattooist.

Adhere to all the important aftercare tips and solutions he gives you after the session. He might suggest some prescriptions related to the wound and apply them sincerely.

3. Coconut Oil Aftercare

Coconut Oil Aftercare
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Scientific sources claim that coconut oil keeps the skin under your tattoo moist and protects against contamination or viral infection effectively. It’s a natural process traditionally practiced by the Polynesian community. They apply it after the tattoo is completed or when it heals to make their tattoos shine profusely.

FAQ’s

Q1. How do I know if my Tattoo is Infected?

Ans: The signs of tattoo infection may vary from different individualistic experiences. However, there are common signs like worsening of the tattoo on the skin, redness, excessive pain, cramps, rashes, and soreness. 
Using Non-sterilized methods for tattooing is the main reason for tattoo infections.

Q2. How to Prevent such Tattoo Infections?

Ans: If you are dealing with serious tattoo infections on your body, seeking a professional dermatologist is highly beneficial. Following common guidelines prescribed by tattoo industry professionals is also very helpful.

Q3. What is the best way to treat Tattoo Infections?

Ans: Antibiotics are the best way to treat tattoo infections. The antibiotic drug is infused into your body as an immunity cell fighting against the growing infection.

Q4. What kind of ink should be used for Tattoos?

Ans: Indian ink with copper phthalocyanine pigments is preferable by all tattoo artists.

Q5. Is it Possible to remove Tattoos from my Body?

Ans: Yes, it is 100% possible to remove tattoos from your body at any time possible. There are many great techniques like Laser Surgery and Dermabrasion as common practices for tattoo removal. 
However, the process is generally slow, and you may have to go for at least 10 sessions. Often, complete removal in some cases is not possible.

Conclusion

Ultimately, we all would like to say that Tattoo Infections are not such a big deal. It can be easily treated from anywhere worldwide if you act on it as early as possible. There are many important precautions for you to take care of your skin after and before a tattoo procedure to prevent any kind of infection.

Safety is of utmost priority because we don’t want that a stylish tattoo on your body, you get permanent skin damage for life. Tattoos are great, but so is also your natural skin.

Also, we advise never to use cheap equipment to engrave tattoos. Sometimes these cheap materials are found contaminated with other source materials, which might cause some infection. So avoid such lazy punk-ass tattoo equipment.

About Author

Jonathan Corby "Jonny" is a guy who is passionate about Tattooing and successfully running a Tattoo Studio in NY. Through my journey as a Tattoo Artist I have made unforgettable memories. This irrational poetry and sense of freedom of art on skin has given a blissfull experience to my life. Each Tattoo has a story behind it; Lets share one!