April 19, 2024 • 31 mins
This episode is equally meant for those who want to know the nitty gritty of tattoo healing and care and those who just like to hear me drone on in the background.
Here I describe both, first, what I call the old school traditional way of caring for a fresh tattoo and second, the wet method.
I get into the products I like to have my clients use, including a deep dive into what Aquafor actually is and how it works so well, since it's not technically "moistizuring".
I talk a lot about tegaderm/saniderm and what a reaction to these convenient first aid plastic films could look like.
This episode is a bit nerdy, kinda long, and hopefully informative.
Enjoy. You can find links to all of the products I talk about on my website's tattoo care section:
https://www.micahriot.com/tattoo-care-instructions/
You can connect with me, Micah Riot, as well as see my tattoo art on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/micahriot/
Micah's website is www.micahriot.com
The podcast is hosted on Buzzsprout but truly lives in the heart of Micah's website at:
https://www.micahriot.com/ink-medicine-podcast/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Micah Riot (00:30):
Hello, hello, it's Micah Riot here.
It's April 18th of 2024.
Today I'm making episode 69,and I needed something
straightforward today andsomething I've been thinking
about making for a while,because it's going to be very
useful to many new clients.
Today's episode is about tattoocare.
(00:51):
Every tattoo artist that I knowhas slightly different care
instructions, and that isprobably because we were all
taught a little bit differentlyand then the practices we came
to do for ourselves as we gottattooed and healed our own ink
also diverged.
As everyone's instructions forcare are a little bit different,
everybody's also convinced thattheirs are the best, and my
(01:14):
philosophy around it is that ifyou want me to give you care
instructions, I'm happy to do soIf you stick to mine, because
that's the best option for you.
But if you have tattoos fromlong ago, from before you were
tattooed by me, and you haveyour own way of taking care of
your tattoos and that works foryou, it works well for you.
(01:34):
You have products you like touse that are different from what
I recommend.
It's working for you.
Keep on going.
I do not insist that you takecare of your tattoos exactly the
way I say.
If they were done by me.
The end result is what mattersto me.
Because this is a podcastepisode, I'm going to go into
(01:54):
two different methods of caringfor your healing tattoo One
that's going to be moretraditional, more old school,
more standard, and another onethat is, I think, people have
been using a bit for a bit lesstime.
It's been talked about a littlebit more.
These days it's becoming morepopular.
The first technique we're goingto call the traditional method
(02:17):
or the old school method, andthe second technique we're going
to call the wet method.
You could also hear themdescribe this wet and dry, but
the first one isn't really dry.
I mean, it's a little bit dry,it's a little drier, but it's
not totally dry.
So I would just refer to it asthe old school, traditional
method.
Let's get to it.
So your tattoo care starts.
(02:39):
Before you get the tattoo, youwant to set yourself up for
success and therefore, being ina good frame of mind, having
slept, having eaten, not beingunder immense amounts of stress,
not being near getting sick andnot being near bleeding if that
is something your body doesthese are all the things you can
(03:02):
think about before setting upyour tattoo appointment.
Of course, sometimes you set itup and you have to wait a few
months and circumstances changeand life changes and you don't
want to reschedule, you know, doyour best.
So you know, the more kind ofneutral your body is at that
point in time neutral to happythe better off you are.
In time, neutral to happy, thebetter off you are.
(03:23):
So the day of the tattoo youhave snacks, you feel good, your
blood sugar is nice, and evenRight afterwards the tattoo.
So your tattoo artist probablywrapped it up real nice, and put
some perhaps sticky plastic ontop of it, which is also called
(03:44):
second skin, a tegaderm, asaniderm.
Maybe they put saran wrap andsome stretchy tape to hold it
down, maybe it's a combinationof saran wrap and that Maybe
there's a plasma catchingsomething inside, like a bandage
of some sort inside the wrap.
The tattoo artist wrapped youup.
You should be feeling nice andsecure, right.
(04:06):
So your wrapping isn't comingoff.
It's going to last you for atleast a few hours, if not
overnight.
Go and have a nice meal.
If you eat meat, some nicequality pastured, grass-fed meat
is a good idea.
Burger steak, sure you knowmeat is a good thing in this
context.
Like your body's releasingplasma, there was bleeding.
(04:29):
It's a lot of energy for yourbody to get tattooed a lot of
energy expenditure so you wantto replenish it by getting some
of that like nice protein,bloody protein back into your
body.
The reason why I think a burgeror steak if you eat red meat is
a good idea is because it's themost like our own flesh and I
(04:50):
do believe that energeticallyand psychologically and in
various ways, ayurvedicallyspeaking, like goes with like,
so things that are alike shouldgo together right.
So your body just went througha big process and you replenish
it with a thing that's most likeit.
You can take that or leave it.
(05:12):
It's just a little thing that Iuse as a tool.
Then you go home and maybe youhave a meal at home.
So you're home.
You want to put on clothingthat's going to make it easy for
you to exist at home, sosomething very comfortable but
isn't gonna expose the bandageor ride up on the bandage so
(05:33):
that it doesn't so the edges ofit don't start coming up,
something like secure.
You know, say, if it's on yourthigh and you put on some
leggings, like some soft butclose to the skin leggings, that
would be a good thing, kind ofhelp hold it to your skin, help
hold it together.
You know, if it's your arm,maybe it's a long sleeve t-shirt
, just something that'sprotective and soft and comfy,
(05:54):
but also it's protective.
It makes you feel kind ofsecure inside that piece of
clothing.
You know, if it's your torsomaybe a tighter tank of some
sort or a tighter t-shirt Thenyou're going to go to bed the
next morning when you wake up.
This is where the old schoolmethod and the new school method
are going to diverge.
So the old school method, thetraditional method of caring for
your fresh tattoo, is thatyou're going to be getting in
(06:15):
the shower, taking off thebandage and washing the tattoo
with water that is hot if youcan handle it, warm, if you
can't handle the really hot, thereally hot is going to make you
a little sore.
But there is a belief thatgetting the water really hot, as
hot as you can handle it, willhelp the plasma clear out faster
of your fresh tattoo and youwant that.
(06:37):
You basically want it to stopseeping and close up as soon as
you can.
You're going to wash it reallywell.
Use unscented soap.
Dr Bronner's baby soap is onethat I recommend, but there's
other unscented soaps on themarket.
Liquid soap is better becauseit's fresh.
It's not sitting aroundgathering bacteria or dust.
So liquid soap, such as DrBronner's something mild,
(07:01):
unscented Wash the tattoo reallywell, maybe even a couple of
times with your hand, you know,no need to use anything because
it's going to be pretty tender.
And if you have some kind of asoft washcloth you can do that
too.
But you can use your hand andjust, you know a clean hand.
Wash it off really well untilyou get all of the plasma, all
the goo off that's kind of stuckto it and it should still feel
(07:27):
somewhat slick to the touch,meaning it's still releasing
plasma.
It's not quite closed up, butas close as you can get it to
clean as possible.
So you wash it really well.
Try not to get like shampoo orwhatever on it from your hair If
that's also something you'redoing that day.
You get out, you pat it dry witha clean towel or even paper
towels.
You get out, you pat it drywith a clean towel or even paper
(07:47):
towels.
If you have that in your house,pat it dry, let it air out a
little bit, just let it breathefor a second, maybe 10 minutes,
10-15 minutes.
You just let it, let it be.
It's gonna start to, it's gonnafeel warm to the touch and it's
gonna feel a little bit swollenstill at that point.
And you know, these, thesethings that I'm describing have
more to do with a higher degreeof coverage of ink in your skin
(08:12):
than something that's small andjust line work.
Right, something that's reallysmall, it just has line work.
You'll feel some soreness, etcetera.
But these instructions are notgoing to be as relative to that
type of a tattoo, because youwon't notice these things as
much.
So my instructions are more todo with tattoos that have more
ink in your skin, that take acouple hours to do.
(08:33):
Maybe there's coverage of coloror shading.
So after you let it air out,you're going to take a little
bit of Aquaphor.
Aquaphor is something Irecommend.
It's one of the things Irecommend.
I like something thicker forthat first few days to a week of
caring for your tattoo.
So you're going to take alittle bit of Aquaphor from the
(08:55):
jar or you can also use the kindthat you spray on.
They now have that.
That's also very convenient andyou put a little bit of
Aquaphor in your tattoo and justyou know about a pea-sized
amount again depends on the sizeof your tattoo.
Little goes a long way here.
So you take it and you rub itacross your tattoo and you rub
(09:15):
it in kind of surrounding skinas well, gently but firmly,
until it just feels a littletacky to the touch.
You don't want to have a thicklayer of Aquaphor sitting on top
of your fresh tattoo.
Reason being is that Aquaphoris essentially liquid plastic
and you don't want it to coverup your pores to such an extent,
(09:36):
to glop onto your pores, tosuch an extent that it won't let
you tattoo breathe at all.
So if you put it on in a thinlayer, some of that water will
get absorbed into your skin,some of it will evaporate, it
will kind of rub away with yourclothing and it will soon
disappear.
So it's not really plastic, butit has petroleum in it, right,
(09:57):
which is a component of plastic.
Next day, micah here, I wantedto make a note about petroleum
because, as I was editing this,didn't feel quite right to leave
as is.
So I went to Google and Ilooked up what is petroleum?
And here's the answer Petroleum, also called crude oil, is a
naturally occurring liquid foundbeneath the earth's surface
(10:18):
that can be refined into fuel, Afossil fuel.
Petroleum is created by thedecomposition of organic matter
over time and used as fuel topower vehicles, heating units
and machines, and can beconverted into plastics.
And the next bit of thatinformation that I feel like we
were missing yesterday when Iwas recording this episode is
(10:40):
this.
So I typed in also what ispetroleum in Aquaphor and such
other products?
And the answer on Google is thatthe main ingredient in products
like Aquaphor and Vaseline,petrolatum, is an emollient.
Emollients moisturize the skinby forming an oily layer that
traps moisture in the skin.
Petroleum jelly products canprevent and treat dry skin,
(11:01):
chafing and diaper rash and canbe used in basic wound care.
The next search that I did wasto check if petrolatum and
petroleum were the same thing,and here's the result of my
search.
The main difference betweenpetroleum jelly and petrolatum
is their purity level.
Petroleum jelly is a mixture ofsemi-solid hydrocarbons that
(11:23):
may contain some impurities,while petrolatum is a purified
form of petroleum jelly that isfree of impurities.
And, as we already learned,petroleum, which is an unrefined
version of petrolatum, is aderivative of the natural world,
a product of organic matterdecomposing, and it can become
(11:46):
oil fuel for our cars, and itcan also be a component of
plastic making.
So there you go, if you wantedto know more about Aquaphor and
how it works.
It traps the moisture of yourskin underneath the layer of it
and kind of helps your body healitself with its own moisture,
its own methods.
(12:06):
The reason why I think, uh,it's better if you don't mind it
and if your skin is notsensitive to it, is because of
that process, because your skinkind of heals itself from the
inside out naturally and itkeeps it supple because it sits
on top of the skin as opposed todrying out.
So when you just use a regularlotion the skin sucks it right
(12:28):
up and then you are still dryand crackly and uncomfortable.
You can't use enough lotion atthat time when your skin is just
intaking moisture.
But Aquaphor, because it formsthat protective layer, kind of
keeps it supple.
Still, okay, now onwards youwant just a little bit, just a
little bit of thin layer andthen you're going to leave it be
(12:49):
.
Keep in mind Aquaphor slashPetroleum will stain nicer
clothing, so don't put on yournicest dress on top of that, or
your nice linen trousers or yoursilk shirt.
Be careful, right, because it'snot going to be the ideal
situation for a nicer piece ofclothing.
(13:09):
So if you have to go to work,choose clothing that you don't
care as much about.
Also, cotton, loose, breathableis all good options, right, the
kind of most casual, clean,breathable clothes that you can
do.
For that you know at least thatweek, if not two, you know
(13:29):
that's good.
The first day of the care ofyour tattoo is that what you do
in the morning with the washingand the ointmenting, and then
later in the day when you gethome from work, wash it again.
So wash it again with unscentedsoap, put a little bit of
phenolate, breathe, put a littlebit of Aquaphor on it, that's
it.
And you do that again and againfor the first few days.
(13:52):
And you know it kind of dependson your tattoo and how well
you're healing and how fast it'sgoing.
But you're washing it a wholebunch for the first couple days
while it's closing up andforming that like new skin layer
and that kind of little bit ofcrust and a little bit of starts
to slough off skin, right, oldskin, like a burn, like a
sunburn.
So you're going to wash it,trying to get all the plasma off
(14:17):
that it's still releasingplasma for the first, say, two
days and you're going to wash ita few times during those days
so that you can try to not getcrusties right.
The plasma is what is going toform the crust.
And if you keep washing theplasma off and you don't let it
form, you don't let it dry, it'snot going to form the crust.
And if you keep washing theplasma off and you don't let it
form, you don't let it dry, it'snot going to form the crust.
(14:38):
So as much as you can wash itthe first couple of days if you
are working from home, if youare at home for the first couple
of days, wash it more thantwice a day, wash it three or
four times a day.
If you can manage that you knowagain, that is good.
And if you can't, you knowthat's okay too.
The truth is your tattoo isgoing to heal.
If you're a fairly healthyperson, you take good care of
(15:00):
your health, you sleep, you eat,you don't drink too much, it
will heal Almost.
Surely if you take a little bitof care of it, it will be
grateful.
Perhaps your healing will beeasier the better care you take
of it.
But it's going to heal Ifyou're taking care of it and
you're again washing itsometimes and ointmenting it.
It's really rare to haveproblems with healing.
(15:21):
And a note about the Aquaphor ifyou don't want to use
petroleum-based products whichsome people don't they're
sensitive to them there's otherthings in the market you can use
.
You can use a whipped sheabutter product or a cacao butter
product.
I think what's important isthat it's soft consistency.
(15:42):
So shea butter usually isfairly thick and clumpy and if
you get the whipped kind, you'regoing to be able to put it on
your skin a lot easier.
Aquaphor is quite soft andsilky on the hands, so the more
you know, know soft theconsistency is, the easier it's
going to be to get it onto yourtattoo.
And when it's sore, when it'sthose first few days after you
(16:03):
get tattooed, when it's bruised,it is actually it.
You're going to see it makes abig difference if the product
you're using is soft, which isalso why I like using the spray
on aquaphor, because I don'thave to really like rub it that
much right, and it sprays it onyour skin in a nice thin layer.
(16:24):
Already when I was being taughtabout tattoo care as part of my
tattoo apprenticeship about 15years ago.
Something that I was told thatI still hold on to because you
know we hold on to things welearn early on and keep
repeating is that aloe verashould not be in your tattoo
care when you first get tattooed.
You don't use stuff with aloevera in it because aloe vera
(16:46):
will make the skin heal fasterthan it normally would and you
don't want that to happen.
You want there to be a naturalprocess at the natural speed
happening in your skin, in yourbody, for healing a fresh tattoo
.
I've hold on to thatinformation and I now see often,
when I look at you know, brandsthat advertise tattoo care
(17:08):
products that have aloe vera inthem.
I see that quite often I do notuse aloe vera products on my
own healing tattoos and I don'trecommend them, but I see them
and I do not think that you knowwhat I was taught was the right
way.
Perhaps aloe vera is fine.
(17:29):
I'm not personally willing toinvestigate but and I wouldn't
recommend it to my clients, as Isaid.
But I also don't want to saythat the products out there that
contain aloe vera are all bador uninformed.
However, you know, as I said, Iam choosing not to participate
in the finding out.
(17:50):
The two products that I havelinked on my website to Amazon
links are for care.
Besides Aquaphor are a whippedshea butter by Evan Healy which
comes in a little glass jar andit's quite fancy.
I think it's like 50 bucks fornot a very big jar.
But it is lovely stuff so soft,so delicious, so fresh, smells
(18:12):
nice.
I mean, their stuff is justbeautiful.
I love Evan Healy for so manyof my body care, face care needs
, but you know it's pricey and Idefinitely don't think it's
necessary.
It's just nice if you canafford it.
The other products that, excuseme, I just went to have a look
at the Evan Healy product.
It is $40 for 1.9 ounces.
(18:35):
The other product I have linkedwhich is a bit more accessible,
it is Alafia.
It's 11 ounces of the stuff.
It's a big jar.
It will last you a long time.
It's not actually a jar, it's aplastic tub.
So Alafia is a brand that makesa lot of shea butter products
for hair, for skin, and Ipersonally think their stuff is
nice.
It makes a lot of shea butterproducts for hair, for skin, and
(18:55):
I personally think their stuffis nice.
It's a clean product.
It doesn't have a bunch of crapin it.
In fact it's just pure sheabutter.
It says on the package it's 11ounces, as I said, and it's $14.
So it's a much better bang foryour buck and I think it works
really well.
It's just fine.
So the link I have on mywebsite to the Amazon listing
(19:19):
for it has two kinds there's apassion fruit scent and there's
an unscented version, and Iwould get the unscented version
every time.
I recommend the unscentedversion.
So you just have to, when yougo to the website, make sure
that you click.
The unscented version is what Irecommend.
That's basically the care foryour fresh healing tattoo.
After those first few days youcan stop washing it quite as
(19:42):
much.
Once a day will be enough.
Try not to get the sloughingcoming off skin off before it's
ready to come off.
So, like, don't pick at it,don't pull on those like drugs
of skin.
Let it be.
Uh, let it fall off on its ownand keep moisturizing carefully.
You know, maybe spray theaquaphor pat, pat on the shea
(20:04):
butter.
Um, again, carefully, don'tdisturb the fresh skin and the
skin that's trying to come offyour body.
Be, be gentle with it, begentle with yourself, be gentle
with yourself.
Things not to do, of course.
Don't drink a bunch.
That's just not really good foryour body.
That's also not good for yourhealing tattoo, and you know,
(20:24):
keep it clean, stay hydrated.
Drink lots of water.
It's kind of advice for mostthings.
Like you get a massage andthey're like drink lots of water
today.
Like yeah, a massage, andthey're like drink lots of water
today.
Like yeah, okay, I try to drinklots of water every day.
So drink lots of water.
Eat fresh vegetables and giveyour tattoo some air, but not
sun.
You don't want to be sitting outin the sun with it.
Please don't go in the oceanwith your fresh tattoo or the
(20:46):
river or the lake.
Um, don't be in the sun with it.
It's basically a it.
It's essentially a sunburn.
It acts like a sunburn.
Your skin will come off it'sall you know raw.
It's a wound.
It's like a bad sunburn.
So you don't want to be sittingin the sun with it.
Sun damages your skin and you.
It's fresh and healing, so youdon't be putting on sunscreen.
(21:06):
So let it heal before you sitout in the sun with it, please.
Other things not to do don't letyour cats and dogs go near it.
They have bacteria.
Don't soak it.
So no swimming of any kind inthe pool anywhere.
No hot tubbing.
No taking baths while stillhealing.
(21:26):
So those first 10 days to twoweeks don't take baths.
No Bikram yoga right, likeexcessive sweating.
Basically, you don't want tosubmerge your fresh tattoo in
wetness and hold it there.
It will interrupt the healingprocess.
It could give an infection.
Don't do it.
And showering is fine.
You know you're having a littleshower, wash it off, you're all
(21:47):
good, all good to go.
Also, no gardening or like nofresh soil, right.
Fresh soil has bacteria.
Don't put that anywhere nearyour fresh healing tattoo.
I have to give a note of caution.
You have to seek medical helpif you do see some really
concerning signs.
So signs and symptoms ofinfection are red streaks going
(22:07):
from the procedure site towardsthe heart, elevated body
temperature.
You have a fever site towardsthe heart, elevated body
temperature, you have a fever.
Or if you have pussy drainagefrom the tattoo.
These things are not common butthey are possible.
And if you have these kinds ofsigns and symptoms, please go
seek medical help.
And that's essentially the oldschool, traditional way of
(22:30):
caring for your tattoo and Ithink it works really well.
I don't think we need to doanything different.
But there is another way ofhealing tattoos that is a little
bit harder to explain, but I amgoing to be doing that now.
When you get your tattoo andyour artist puts on that clear
protective film called Tegadermor Saniderm there's a few
(22:52):
different names, a few differentbrands it's like a first aid
film and it lets the tattoobreathe and it doesn't let
moisture through Kind of magical, I know and it sticks to dry
skin.
It doesn't stick to wet skin,so it won't stick to your fresh
tattoo.
That was just done because itkeeps releasing plasma.
(23:12):
So there's not stick to yourfresh tattoo.
That was just done because itkeeps releasing plasma.
So there's not going to bestickiness between the wall of
the plastic and your tattoo, butit'll stick to the skin
surrounding it.
Therefore, keep it nice andsecure under there.
And if you are a person who isnot sensitive to medical glue
which a lot of us are, and Inotice it being more and more
common and your tattoo is on abody part that is kind of easy
(23:36):
to keep steady, like an upperarm or a thigh, maybe a calf,
it's a little bit harder to doon the torso because we twist
and turn so much.
But if it's somewhere, you cankind of let it be and you can
tell that there's still ahealthy border around where the
tattoo is and where the plasticis right, so it's not leaking,
(23:58):
it's not opening, it's notrolling up, it's not doing
anything, but just staying niceand steady and closed up.
Then you can use this plasticfilm to seal your tattoo in,
release those juices.
It's gonna release a bunch ofink and plasma, as we talked
about before, and you'll see allthe juice.
It's going to be a pack ofjuice.
It's going to be like one ofthose stickers from old school
(24:21):
stickers that you poke and it'sfull of liquid.
So it's going to be like a bagof liquid inside the tattoo, the
pouch, and then your skin'sgoing to absorb it back in and
when that happens, a couple ofdays later, your tattoo will be
basically healed a lot fasterand it's not going to peel.
The advantage of that, ofcourse, is that it takes less
(24:43):
time.
You don't have to worry aboutwashing it, ointmenting it, not
sticking to your clothing,ruining your clothing, et cetera
.
But the disadvantage is thatit's quite hard to keep a tattoo
that's still and steady, thatit can retain that shape, that
the plastic will stay on it, notmove, not open, not leak.
That's quite hard to do.
(25:04):
There's a little bit ofallowance for slight deviation
from having to keep that firstpiece of plastic on your skin.
You can do one redo.
So what I mean by that is youhave your first plastic bandage
the next day.
You take it off, you shower,you wash all the plasma off.
(25:26):
Your skin should still be slimyfeeling.
If it feels a little slimystill, you're good.
You then put on another piece ofTegaderm.
You can get it at pharmacieseverywhere.
It comes in sheets Like weusually use rolls.
It's a lot cheaper for a tattooshop to buy plastic in those
rolls and for you you can getTegaderm or Nextderm or those
(25:52):
sheets from the first aidsection of your local CVS or
Walgreens or whatever pharmacy.
So you would take those sheetsand you would put them onto the
tattoo, keep your body in a veryneutral position as you do it,
maybe have somebody else do itfor you, make sure the edges are
down and then you can keep thaton for the next few days.
You'll also probably get alittle pouch of liquid and it
(26:13):
will or you know it could startto dry up and it'll be dry.
That's also possible.
There's a lot of factors tothink about when you're using
the wet method, so I would notrecommend this method to
somebody new to getting tattoos.
Somebody who is veryexperienced, knows how it goes,
knows what to look for and isnot allergic to medical glue
(26:34):
which a lot of people are wouldbe a good candidate to use the
wet method.
It has its advantages, but alsohas disadvantages.
Notes on being sensitive to themedical tape medical glue, it
seems to me like more and morepeople are sensitive, one of the
reasons being is because it canbecome cumulative.
More and more people aresensitive, one of the reasons
(26:55):
being is because it can becomecumulative.
Back in the day, we were notusing Tegaderm, siniderm those
kinds of wound care tools,because they were very expensive
.
You could get a couple ofsheets of them for like $20 at a
CVS or Walgreens these days,because people decided that they
were a really good idea fortattoo care.
You can get a roll of it, anice big roll that will last for
(27:17):
a few weeks for about 30 bucks.
And myself you know when I wasgetting my chest piece done and
my back piece done, which wasseveral years ago now.
That was the first time that myartists were using that stuff
on me and I am allergic to latex.
I know that from early on in mytattoo career we used to use
latex gloves and when you uselatex for a long time,
(27:39):
consistently, many hours a day,you'll become allergic to it,
and that's what happened to me.
I switched to nitrile.
That seems to be going justfine.
I do have some skin issues, youknow, have some eczema and some
irritations, and it issensitive, kind of came on in my
20s.
It was not something Iexperienced much as a kid, but
yeah, I'm allergic to latex andso I thought that maybe Tegaderm
(28:00):
, saniderm have latex in them.
It's unclear from the packaging, but if you are allergic to
latex, I would say that youshouldn't be using them and if
you keep using them you mightbecome sensitive.
And what that looks like what itlooks like for me is that I get
edge of the plastic.
(28:21):
So it's usually a straight edgeunless you cut it, but it's
usually a straight edge, hascorners.
The edge of those sheetsbecomes red and inflamed and
raised on me and it gets veryitchy and I start to develop
blisters.
It happens fairly fast, I don'teven have to keep the bandage
on for that long couple hours.
I could develop blisters,especially if it's in a more
(28:42):
sensitive area, like an underarmor kind of like near the armpit
, on the soft part of your upperarm, on the inside or inner
thigh, on the soft part of yourupper arm, on the inside or
inner thigh, something like that.
It will happen fast and thenI'll have those blisters,
they'll be itchy, they'll beirritated and they'll be scarred
for like a month or two, waybeyond the healing of the tattoo
(29:04):
.
To me it's not really worth it.
People have reported beingsensitive in similar ways and
they would be like you know I'vebeen hearing this a lot more
lately where people will be liketattoo healed, fine.
But I'm clearly sensitive tosomething that you used and I'll
be like it's the, it's theplastic wrap.
Good to know we're not going touse that again.
It's so convenient, it's soeasy to keep your tattoo clean
(29:26):
and breathing for that first day, you know, for after the tattoo
session.
It's so much nicer than usingsaran wrap and paper tape or
something.
So, if possible, if a person cantolerate it, if it's not a big
deal to their skin, I will usethe Tegaderm.
Yeah, I'm seeing sensitivitymore and more and I tell people
(29:49):
to watch out for it because itcan become cumulative.
The more you use it, the morelikely you are to develop an
allergy.
Yeah, those glues are reallyharsh.
I hope that maybe medicine willcontinue to work on that and
create another type of woundplastic wrap care that is going
to be less of a problem forpeople like me and a lot of
(30:10):
other people that I tattoo.
If you see raised edge rednessitching, take it off.
It's not worth it, you know,especially with the wet method.
Another reason I don'trecommend it to people is
because it's more exposure tothe glue in the plastic wrap,
and those are the two methods ofhealing your fresh ink.
(30:31):
I hope this was helpful and ifyou have questions, don't
hesitate to reach out and alsolook on my website.
I have a bunch of informationon there.
I have links to the products Imentioned earlier.
I hope you're having a lovelyday and I'll see you next week.
Thank you.
Hello, hello, it's Micah Riot here.
It's April 18th of 2024.
Today I'm making episode 69,and I needed something
straightforward today andsomething I've been thinking
about making for a while,because it's going to be very
useful to many new clients.
Today's episode is about tattoocare.
(00:51):
Every tattoo artist that I knowhas slightly different care
instructions, and that isprobably because we were all
taught a little bit differentlyand then the practices we came
to do for ourselves as we gottattooed and healed our own ink
also diverged.
As everyone's instructions forcare are a little bit different,
everybody's also convinced thattheirs are the best, and my
(01:14):
philosophy around it is that ifyou want me to give you care
instructions, I'm happy to do soIf you stick to mine, because
that's the best option for you.
But if you have tattoos fromlong ago, from before you were
tattooed by me, and you haveyour own way of taking care of
your tattoos and that works foryou, it works well for you.
(01:34):
You have products you like touse that are different from what
I recommend.
It's working for you.
Keep on going.
I do not insist that you takecare of your tattoos exactly the
way I say.
If they were done by me.
The end result is what mattersto me.
Because this is a podcastepisode, I'm going to go into
(01:54):
two different methods of caringfor your healing tattoo One
that's going to be moretraditional, more old school,
more standard, and another onethat is, I think, people have
been using a bit for a bit lesstime.
It's been talked about a littlebit more.
These days it's becoming morepopular.
The first technique we're goingto call the traditional method
(02:17):
or the old school method, andthe second technique we're going
to call the wet method.
You could also hear themdescribe this wet and dry, but
the first one isn't really dry.
I mean, it's a little bit dry,it's a little drier, but it's
not totally dry.
So I would just refer to it asthe old school, traditional
method.
Let's get to it.
So your tattoo care starts.
(02:39):
Before you get the tattoo, youwant to set yourself up for
success and therefore, being ina good frame of mind, having
slept, having eaten, not beingunder immense amounts of stress,
not being near getting sick andnot being near bleeding if that
is something your body doesthese are all the things you can
(03:02):
think about before setting upyour tattoo appointment.
Of course, sometimes you set itup and you have to wait a few
months and circumstances changeand life changes and you don't
want to reschedule, you know, doyour best.
So you know, the more kind ofneutral your body is at that
point in time neutral to happythe better off you are.
In time, neutral to happy, thebetter off you are.
(03:23):
So the day of the tattoo youhave snacks, you feel good, your
blood sugar is nice, and evenRight afterwards the tattoo.
So your tattoo artist probablywrapped it up real nice, and put
some perhaps sticky plastic ontop of it, which is also called
(03:44):
second skin, a tegaderm, asaniderm.
Maybe they put saran wrap andsome stretchy tape to hold it
down, maybe it's a combinationof saran wrap and that Maybe
there's a plasma catchingsomething inside, like a bandage
of some sort inside the wrap.
The tattoo artist wrapped youup.
You should be feeling nice andsecure, right.
(04:06):
So your wrapping isn't comingoff.
It's going to last you for atleast a few hours, if not
overnight.
Go and have a nice meal.
If you eat meat, some nicequality pastured, grass-fed meat
is a good idea.
Burger steak, sure you knowmeat is a good thing in this
context.
Like your body's releasingplasma, there was bleeding.
(04:29):
It's a lot of energy for yourbody to get tattooed a lot of
energy expenditure so you wantto replenish it by getting some
of that like nice protein,bloody protein back into your
body.
The reason why I think a burgeror steak if you eat red meat is
a good idea is because it's themost like our own flesh and I
(04:50):
do believe that energeticallyand psychologically and in
various ways, ayurvedicallyspeaking, like goes with like,
so things that are alike shouldgo together right.
So your body just went througha big process and you replenish
it with a thing that's most likeit.
You can take that or leave it.
(05:12):
It's just a little thing that Iuse as a tool.
Then you go home and maybe youhave a meal at home.
So you're home.
You want to put on clothingthat's going to make it easy for
you to exist at home, sosomething very comfortable but
isn't gonna expose the bandageor ride up on the bandage so
(05:33):
that it doesn't so the edges ofit don't start coming up,
something like secure.
You know, say, if it's on yourthigh and you put on some
leggings, like some soft butclose to the skin leggings, that
would be a good thing, kind ofhelp hold it to your skin, help
hold it together.
You know, if it's your arm,maybe it's a long sleeve t-shirt
, just something that'sprotective and soft and comfy,
(05:54):
but also it's protective.
It makes you feel kind ofsecure inside that piece of
clothing.
You know, if it's your torsomaybe a tighter tank of some
sort or a tighter t-shirt Thenyou're going to go to bed the
next morning when you wake up.
This is where the old schoolmethod and the new school method
are going to diverge.
So the old school method, thetraditional method of caring for
your fresh tattoo, is thatyou're going to be getting in
(06:15):
the shower, taking off thebandage and washing the tattoo
with water that is hot if youcan handle it, warm, if you
can't handle the really hot, thereally hot is going to make you
a little sore.
But there is a belief thatgetting the water really hot, as
hot as you can handle it, willhelp the plasma clear out faster
of your fresh tattoo and youwant that.
(06:37):
You basically want it to stopseeping and close up as soon as
you can.
You're going to wash it reallywell.
Use unscented soap.
Dr Bronner's baby soap is onethat I recommend, but there's
other unscented soaps on themarket.
Liquid soap is better becauseit's fresh.
It's not sitting aroundgathering bacteria or dust.
So liquid soap, such as DrBronner's something mild,
(07:01):
unscented Wash the tattoo reallywell, maybe even a couple of
times with your hand, you know,no need to use anything because
it's going to be pretty tender.
And if you have some kind of asoft washcloth you can do that
too.
But you can use your hand andjust, you know a clean hand.
Wash it off really well untilyou get all of the plasma, all
the goo off that's kind of stuckto it and it should still feel
(07:27):
somewhat slick to the touch,meaning it's still releasing
plasma.
It's not quite closed up, butas close as you can get it to
clean as possible.
So you wash it really well.
Try not to get like shampoo orwhatever on it from your hair If
that's also something you'redoing that day.
You get out, you pat it dry witha clean towel or even paper
towels.
You get out, you pat it drywith a clean towel or even paper
(07:47):
towels.
If you have that in your house,pat it dry, let it air out a
little bit, just let it breathefor a second, maybe 10 minutes,
10-15 minutes.
You just let it, let it be.
It's gonna start to, it's gonnafeel warm to the touch and it's
gonna feel a little bit swollenstill at that point.
And you know, these, thesethings that I'm describing have
more to do with a higher degreeof coverage of ink in your skin
(08:12):
than something that's small andjust line work.
Right, something that's reallysmall, it just has line work.
You'll feel some soreness, etcetera.
But these instructions are notgoing to be as relative to that
type of a tattoo, because youwon't notice these things as
much.
So my instructions are more todo with tattoos that have more
ink in your skin, that take acouple hours to do.
(08:33):
Maybe there's coverage of coloror shading.
So after you let it air out,you're going to take a little
bit of Aquaphor.
Aquaphor is something Irecommend.
It's one of the things Irecommend.
I like something thicker forthat first few days to a week of
caring for your tattoo.
So you're going to take alittle bit of Aquaphor from the
(08:55):
jar or you can also use the kindthat you spray on.
They now have that.
That's also very convenient andyou put a little bit of
Aquaphor in your tattoo and justyou know about a pea-sized
amount again depends on the sizeof your tattoo.
Little goes a long way here.
So you take it and you rub itacross your tattoo and you rub
(09:15):
it in kind of surrounding skinas well, gently but firmly,
until it just feels a littletacky to the touch.
You don't want to have a thicklayer of Aquaphor sitting on top
of your fresh tattoo.
Reason being is that Aquaphoris essentially liquid plastic
and you don't want it to coverup your pores to such an extent,
(09:36):
to glop onto your pores, tosuch an extent that it won't let
you tattoo breathe at all.
So if you put it on in a thinlayer, some of that water will
get absorbed into your skin,some of it will evaporate, it
will kind of rub away with yourclothing and it will soon
disappear.
So it's not really plastic, butit has petroleum in it, right,
(09:57):
which is a component of plastic.
Next day, micah here, I wantedto make a note about petroleum
because, as I was editing this,didn't feel quite right to leave
as is.
So I went to Google and Ilooked up what is petroleum?
And here's the answer Petroleum, also called crude oil, is a
naturally occurring liquid foundbeneath the earth's surface
(10:18):
that can be refined into fuel, Afossil fuel.
Petroleum is created by thedecomposition of organic matter
over time and used as fuel topower vehicles, heating units
and machines, and can beconverted into plastics.
And the next bit of thatinformation that I feel like we
were missing yesterday when Iwas recording this episode is
(10:40):
this.
So I typed in also what ispetroleum in Aquaphor and such
other products?
And the answer on Google is thatthe main ingredient in products
like Aquaphor and Vaseline,petrolatum, is an emollient.
Emollients moisturize the skinby forming an oily layer that
traps moisture in the skin.
Petroleum jelly products canprevent and treat dry skin,
(11:01):
chafing and diaper rash and canbe used in basic wound care.
The next search that I did wasto check if petrolatum and
petroleum were the same thing,and here's the result of my
search.
The main difference betweenpetroleum jelly and petrolatum
is their purity level.
Petroleum jelly is a mixture ofsemi-solid hydrocarbons that
(11:23):
may contain some impurities,while petrolatum is a purified
form of petroleum jelly that isfree of impurities.
And, as we already learned,petroleum, which is an unrefined
version of petrolatum, is aderivative of the natural world,
a product of organic matterdecomposing, and it can become
(11:46):
oil fuel for our cars, and itcan also be a component of
plastic making.
So there you go, if you wantedto know more about Aquaphor and
how it works.
It traps the moisture of yourskin underneath the layer of it
and kind of helps your body healitself with its own moisture,
its own methods.
(12:06):
The reason why I think, uh,it's better if you don't mind it
and if your skin is notsensitive to it, is because of
that process, because your skinkind of heals itself from the
inside out naturally and itkeeps it supple because it sits
on top of the skin as opposed todrying out.
So when you just use a regularlotion the skin sucks it right
(12:28):
up and then you are still dryand crackly and uncomfortable.
You can't use enough lotion atthat time when your skin is just
intaking moisture.
But Aquaphor, because it formsthat protective layer, kind of
keeps it supple.
Still, okay, now onwards youwant just a little bit, just a
little bit of thin layer andthen you're going to leave it be
(12:49):
.
Keep in mind Aquaphor slashPetroleum will stain nicer
clothing, so don't put on yournicest dress on top of that, or
your nice linen trousers or yoursilk shirt.
Be careful, right, because it'snot going to be the ideal
situation for a nicer piece ofclothing.
(13:09):
So if you have to go to work,choose clothing that you don't
care as much about.
Also, cotton, loose, breathableis all good options, right, the
kind of most casual, clean,breathable clothes that you can
do.
For that you know at least thatweek, if not two, you know
(13:29):
that's good.
The first day of the care ofyour tattoo is that what you do
in the morning with the washingand the ointmenting, and then
later in the day when you gethome from work, wash it again.
So wash it again with unscentedsoap, put a little bit of
phenolate, breathe, put a littlebit of Aquaphor on it, that's
it.
And you do that again and againfor the first few days.
(13:52):
And you know it kind of dependson your tattoo and how well
you're healing and how fast it'sgoing.
But you're washing it a wholebunch for the first couple days
while it's closing up andforming that like new skin layer
and that kind of little bit ofcrust and a little bit of starts
to slough off skin, right, oldskin, like a burn, like a
sunburn.
So you're going to wash it,trying to get all the plasma off
(14:17):
that it's still releasingplasma for the first, say, two
days and you're going to wash ita few times during those days
so that you can try to not getcrusties right.
The plasma is what is going toform the crust.
And if you keep washing theplasma off and you don't let it
form, you don't let it dry, it'snot going to form the crust.
And if you keep washing theplasma off and you don't let it
form, you don't let it dry, it'snot going to form the crust.
(14:38):
So as much as you can wash itthe first couple of days if you
are working from home, if youare at home for the first couple
of days, wash it more thantwice a day, wash it three or
four times a day.
If you can manage that you knowagain, that is good.
And if you can't, you knowthat's okay too.
The truth is your tattoo isgoing to heal.
If you're a fairly healthyperson, you take good care of
(15:00):
your health, you sleep, you eat,you don't drink too much, it
will heal Almost.
Surely if you take a little bitof care of it, it will be
grateful.
Perhaps your healing will beeasier the better care you take
of it.
But it's going to heal Ifyou're taking care of it and
you're again washing itsometimes and ointmenting it.
It's really rare to haveproblems with healing.
(15:21):
And a note about the Aquaphor ifyou don't want to use
petroleum-based products whichsome people don't they're
sensitive to them there's otherthings in the market you can use
.
You can use a whipped sheabutter product or a cacao butter
product.
I think what's important isthat it's soft consistency.
(15:42):
So shea butter usually isfairly thick and clumpy and if
you get the whipped kind, you'regoing to be able to put it on
your skin a lot easier.
Aquaphor is quite soft andsilky on the hands, so the more
you know, know soft theconsistency is, the easier it's
going to be to get it onto yourtattoo.
And when it's sore, when it'sthose first few days after you
(16:03):
get tattooed, when it's bruised,it is actually it.
You're going to see it makes abig difference if the product
you're using is soft, which isalso why I like using the spray
on aquaphor, because I don'thave to really like rub it that
much right, and it sprays it onyour skin in a nice thin layer.
(16:24):
Already when I was being taughtabout tattoo care as part of my
tattoo apprenticeship about 15years ago.
Something that I was told thatI still hold on to because you
know we hold on to things welearn early on and keep
repeating is that aloe verashould not be in your tattoo
care when you first get tattooed.
You don't use stuff with aloevera in it because aloe vera
(16:46):
will make the skin heal fasterthan it normally would and you
don't want that to happen.
You want there to be a naturalprocess at the natural speed
happening in your skin, in yourbody, for healing a fresh tattoo
.
I've hold on to thatinformation and I now see often,
when I look at you know, brandsthat advertise tattoo care
(17:08):
products that have aloe vera inthem.
I see that quite often I do notuse aloe vera products on my
own healing tattoos and I don'trecommend them, but I see them
and I do not think that you knowwhat I was taught was the right
way.
Perhaps aloe vera is fine.
(17:29):
I'm not personally willing toinvestigate but and I wouldn't
recommend it to my clients, as Isaid.
But I also don't want to saythat the products out there that
contain aloe vera are all bador uninformed.
However, you know, as I said, Iam choosing not to participate
in the finding out.
(17:50):
The two products that I havelinked on my website to Amazon
links are for care.
Besides Aquaphor are a whippedshea butter by Evan Healy which
comes in a little glass jar andit's quite fancy.
I think it's like 50 bucks fornot a very big jar.
But it is lovely stuff so soft,so delicious, so fresh, smells
(18:12):
nice.
I mean, their stuff is justbeautiful.
I love Evan Healy for so manyof my body care, face care needs
, but you know it's pricey and Idefinitely don't think it's
necessary.
It's just nice if you canafford it.
The other products that, excuseme, I just went to have a look
at the Evan Healy product.
It is $40 for 1.9 ounces.
(18:35):
The other product I have linkedwhich is a bit more accessible,
it is Alafia.
It's 11 ounces of the stuff.
It's a big jar.
It will last you a long time.
It's not actually a jar, it's aplastic tub.
So Alafia is a brand that makesa lot of shea butter products
for hair, for skin, and Ipersonally think their stuff is
nice.
It makes a lot of shea butterproducts for hair, for skin, and
(18:55):
I personally think their stuffis nice.
It's a clean product.
It doesn't have a bunch of crapin it.
In fact it's just pure sheabutter.
It says on the package it's 11ounces, as I said, and it's $14.
So it's a much better bang foryour buck and I think it works
really well.
It's just fine.
So the link I have on mywebsite to the Amazon listing
(19:19):
for it has two kinds there's apassion fruit scent and there's
an unscented version, and Iwould get the unscented version
every time.
I recommend the unscentedversion.
So you just have to, when yougo to the website, make sure
that you click.
The unscented version is what Irecommend.
That's basically the care foryour fresh healing tattoo.
After those first few days youcan stop washing it quite as
(19:42):
much.
Once a day will be enough.
Try not to get the sloughingcoming off skin off before it's
ready to come off.
So, like, don't pick at it,don't pull on those like drugs
of skin.
Let it be.
Uh, let it fall off on its ownand keep moisturizing carefully.
You know, maybe spray theaquaphor pat, pat on the shea
(20:04):
butter.
Um, again, carefully, don'tdisturb the fresh skin and the
skin that's trying to come offyour body.
Be, be gentle with it, begentle with yourself, be gentle
with yourself.
Things not to do, of course.
Don't drink a bunch.
That's just not really good foryour body.
That's also not good for yourhealing tattoo, and you know,
(20:24):
keep it clean, stay hydrated.
Drink lots of water.
It's kind of advice for mostthings.
Like you get a massage andthey're like drink lots of water
today.
Like yeah, a massage, andthey're like drink lots of water
today.
Like yeah, okay, I try to drinklots of water every day.
So drink lots of water.
Eat fresh vegetables and giveyour tattoo some air, but not
sun.
You don't want to be sitting outin the sun with it.
Please don't go in the oceanwith your fresh tattoo or the
(20:46):
river or the lake.
Um, don't be in the sun with it.
It's basically a it.
It's essentially a sunburn.
It acts like a sunburn.
Your skin will come off it'sall you know raw.
It's a wound.
It's like a bad sunburn.
So you don't want to be sittingin the sun with it.
Sun damages your skin and you.
It's fresh and healing, so youdon't be putting on sunscreen.
(21:06):
So let it heal before you sitout in the sun with it, please.
Other things not to do don't letyour cats and dogs go near it.
They have bacteria.
Don't soak it.
So no swimming of any kind inthe pool anywhere.
No hot tubbing.
No taking baths while stillhealing.
(21:26):
So those first 10 days to twoweeks don't take baths.
No Bikram yoga right, likeexcessive sweating.
Basically, you don't want tosubmerge your fresh tattoo in
wetness and hold it there.
It will interrupt the healingprocess.
It could give an infection.
Don't do it.
And showering is fine.
You know you're having a littleshower, wash it off, you're all
(21:47):
good, all good to go.
Also, no gardening or like nofresh soil, right.
Fresh soil has bacteria.
Don't put that anywhere nearyour fresh healing tattoo.
I have to give a note of caution.
You have to seek medical helpif you do see some really
concerning signs.
So signs and symptoms ofinfection are red streaks going
(22:07):
from the procedure site towardsthe heart, elevated body
temperature.
You have a fever site towardsthe heart, elevated body
temperature, you have a fever.
Or if you have pussy drainagefrom the tattoo.
These things are not common butthey are possible.
And if you have these kinds ofsigns and symptoms, please go
seek medical help.
And that's essentially the oldschool, traditional way of
(22:30):
caring for your tattoo and Ithink it works really well.
I don't think we need to doanything different.
But there is another way ofhealing tattoos that is a little
bit harder to explain, but I amgoing to be doing that now.
When you get your tattoo andyour artist puts on that clear
protective film called Tegadermor Saniderm there's a few
(22:52):
different names, a few differentbrands it's like a first aid
film and it lets the tattoobreathe and it doesn't let
moisture through Kind of magical, I know and it sticks to dry
skin.
It doesn't stick to wet skin,so it won't stick to your fresh
tattoo.
That was just done because itkeeps releasing plasma.
(23:12):
So there's not stick to yourfresh tattoo.
That was just done because itkeeps releasing plasma.
So there's not going to bestickiness between the wall of
the plastic and your tattoo, butit'll stick to the skin
surrounding it.
Therefore, keep it nice andsecure under there.
And if you are a person who isnot sensitive to medical glue
which a lot of us are, and Inotice it being more and more
common and your tattoo is on abody part that is kind of easy
(23:36):
to keep steady, like an upperarm or a thigh, maybe a calf,
it's a little bit harder to doon the torso because we twist
and turn so much.
But if it's somewhere, you cankind of let it be and you can
tell that there's still ahealthy border around where the
tattoo is and where the plasticis right, so it's not leaking,
(23:58):
it's not opening, it's notrolling up, it's not doing
anything, but just staying niceand steady and closed up.
Then you can use this plasticfilm to seal your tattoo in,
release those juices.
It's gonna release a bunch ofink and plasma, as we talked
about before, and you'll see allthe juice.
It's going to be a pack ofjuice.
It's going to be like one ofthose stickers from old school
(24:21):
stickers that you poke and it'sfull of liquid.
So it's going to be like a bagof liquid inside the tattoo, the
pouch, and then your skin'sgoing to absorb it back in and
when that happens, a couple ofdays later, your tattoo will be
basically healed a lot fasterand it's not going to peel.
The advantage of that, ofcourse, is that it takes less
(24:43):
time.
You don't have to worry aboutwashing it, ointmenting it, not
sticking to your clothing,ruining your clothing, et cetera
.
But the disadvantage is thatit's quite hard to keep a tattoo
that's still and steady, thatit can retain that shape, that
the plastic will stay on it, notmove, not open, not leak.
That's quite hard to do.
(25:04):
There's a little bit ofallowance for slight deviation
from having to keep that firstpiece of plastic on your skin.
You can do one redo.
So what I mean by that is youhave your first plastic bandage
the next day.
You take it off, you shower,you wash all the plasma off.
(25:26):
Your skin should still be slimyfeeling.
If it feels a little slimystill, you're good.
You then put on another piece ofTegaderm.
You can get it at pharmacieseverywhere.
It comes in sheets Like weusually use rolls.
It's a lot cheaper for a tattooshop to buy plastic in those
rolls and for you you can getTegaderm or Nextderm or those
(25:52):
sheets from the first aidsection of your local CVS or
Walgreens or whatever pharmacy.
So you would take those sheetsand you would put them onto the
tattoo, keep your body in a veryneutral position as you do it,
maybe have somebody else do itfor you, make sure the edges are
down and then you can keep thaton for the next few days.
You'll also probably get alittle pouch of liquid and it
(26:13):
will or you know it could startto dry up and it'll be dry.
That's also possible.
There's a lot of factors tothink about when you're using
the wet method, so I would notrecommend this method to
somebody new to getting tattoos.
Somebody who is veryexperienced, knows how it goes,
knows what to look for and isnot allergic to medical glue
(26:34):
which a lot of people are wouldbe a good candidate to use the
wet method.
It has its advantages, but alsohas disadvantages.
Notes on being sensitive to themedical tape medical glue, it
seems to me like more and morepeople are sensitive, one of the
reasons being is because it canbecome cumulative.
More and more people aresensitive, one of the reasons
(26:55):
being is because it can becomecumulative.
Back in the day, we were notusing Tegaderm, siniderm those
kinds of wound care tools,because they were very expensive
.
You could get a couple ofsheets of them for like $20 at a
CVS or Walgreens these days,because people decided that they
were a really good idea fortattoo care.
You can get a roll of it, anice big roll that will last for
(27:17):
a few weeks for about 30 bucks.
And myself you know when I wasgetting my chest piece done and
my back piece done, which wasseveral years ago now.
That was the first time that myartists were using that stuff
on me and I am allergic to latex.
I know that from early on in mytattoo career we used to use
latex gloves and when you uselatex for a long time,
(27:39):
consistently, many hours a day,you'll become allergic to it,
and that's what happened to me.
I switched to nitrile.
That seems to be going justfine.
I do have some skin issues, youknow, have some eczema and some
irritations, and it issensitive, kind of came on in my
20s.
It was not something Iexperienced much as a kid, but
yeah, I'm allergic to latex andso I thought that maybe Tegaderm
(28:00):
, saniderm have latex in them.
It's unclear from the packaging, but if you are allergic to
latex, I would say that youshouldn't be using them and if
you keep using them you mightbecome sensitive.
And what that looks like what itlooks like for me is that I get
edge of the plastic.
(28:21):
So it's usually a straight edgeunless you cut it, but it's
usually a straight edge, hascorners.
The edge of those sheetsbecomes red and inflamed and
raised on me and it gets veryitchy and I start to develop
blisters.
It happens fairly fast, I don'teven have to keep the bandage
on for that long couple hours.
I could develop blisters,especially if it's in a more
(28:42):
sensitive area, like an underarmor kind of like near the armpit
, on the soft part of your upperarm, on the inside or inner
thigh, on the soft part of yourupper arm, on the inside or
inner thigh, something like that.
It will happen fast and thenI'll have those blisters,
they'll be itchy, they'll beirritated and they'll be scarred
for like a month or two, waybeyond the healing of the tattoo
(29:04):
.
To me it's not really worth it.
People have reported beingsensitive in similar ways and
they would be like you know I'vebeen hearing this a lot more
lately where people will be liketattoo healed, fine.
But I'm clearly sensitive tosomething that you used and I'll
be like it's the, it's theplastic wrap.
Good to know we're not going touse that again.
It's so convenient, it's soeasy to keep your tattoo clean
(29:26):
and breathing for that first day, you know, for after the tattoo
session.
It's so much nicer than usingsaran wrap and paper tape or
something.
So, if possible, if a person cantolerate it, if it's not a big
deal to their skin, I will usethe Tegaderm.
Yeah, I'm seeing sensitivitymore and more and I tell people
(29:49):
to watch out for it because itcan become cumulative.
The more you use it, the morelikely you are to develop an
allergy.
Yeah, those glues are reallyharsh.
I hope that maybe medicine willcontinue to work on that and
create another type of woundplastic wrap care that is going
to be less of a problem forpeople like me and a lot of
(30:10):
other people that I tattoo.
If you see raised edge rednessitching, take it off.
It's not worth it, you know,especially with the wet method.
Another reason I don'trecommend it to people is
because it's more exposure tothe glue in the plastic wrap,
and those are the two methods ofhealing your fresh ink.
(30:31):
I hope this was helpful and ifyou have questions, don't
hesitate to reach out and alsolook on my website.
I have a bunch of informationon there.
I have links to the products Imentioned earlier.
I hope you're having a lovelyday and I'll see you next week.
Thank you.
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