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Tattoos and other body mods

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sitnspin:
That will pass. Just keep up with your aftercare and it should heal just fine pretty quickly.

94ssd:
As of yesterday I now have a Cedar of Lebanon on my left bicep. I've wanted it for going on 3 years. I had made the appointment for Friday the 9th, but storms came through and knocked out power to the tattoo company. I rescheduled for the following Monday (the 11th) - my last day before moving an hour away for a new job. But they still didn't have power because of the storm. I'd already put down the deposit there, so I used my day off yesterday to drive back and get it.

The artist was cool. We emailed back and forth a couple times about finding the right amount of detail so that it looks good as line work but could still be colored in the future. The session itself was about an hour. He also talked about how he purposely uses an older type of tattoo gun as opposed to the newer type they have in the shop (don't remember the names for those) because he likes putting the time and effort into maintaining it. Wasn't as painful as I thought, more like a really bad itching sensation while it was happening than anything else. It does still does hurt a bit now though. Overall cost with tip came out to $136.

One of my friends got a much smaller and quicker tattoo (she was only in there for about 10 minutes) at the same time, she already has several, it was just some writing. Another friend actually sat in the room with me (there's only really room for one, plus I've heard most artists keep a one-observer rule), she wants to get a tattoo but is nervous about it.

Doing my best to keep up with the aftercare instructions. I was told to wash it with unscented soap and put lotion on it twice a day, until the skin starts peeling in a couple days - after that stop using soap and use lotion at least 4 times a day for about 2 weeks. And always only touch it with clean hands and by padding the soap or lotion on gently.

One problem I didn't anticipate and wasn't warned about - I woke up this morning with an ink stain on my sheet that I'm guessing won't be coming out. I hadn't fallen asleep on that arm so as not to hurt it but I must have rolled over. Hopefully sleeping on it won't hurt anything while it heals since I apparently can't help it, it still looks fine.

sitnspin:
Sleeping on it shouldn't hurt it too much. I roll in my sleep, too, and I have tats pretty much all over and have never had a problem. Just make sure your sheets are clean. Sheets tend to collect a lot gross stuff that could cause some irritation to the tattooed area.  Congrats on finally getting the ink you wanted.

Welu:
On my large leg tattoo, for the first two or three nights, I covered it in cling film on when going to bed until it wasn't as gooey and sticky. After that, a decent layer of my aftercare cream of choice alone was enough to stop anything sticking too much. I woke up with an ink stain on the sheet as well the first night because the film unwrapped a little and it washed out. Although my tattoo was so dry and sticky that I was terrified while cleaning off the little bits of fluff and threads from the skin. Just took it very slow and it's healed well now. After that first night I put a clean towel down for another layer between my skin and the sheet.

You'll find an aftercare routine that works for you. I find a mix of the advice I've heard from a couple artists (that was mostly similar other than specific product names) and experimentation led me to the best for me. The only definite is don't pick or scratch, as tempting as it can be when it gets to the scabby and peely stage.

Yay for new ink!

94ssd:
So I've just gotten to the scabbing/peeling phase of healing. And by just got to I mean like 30 minutes ago it just starting feeling a bit itchy (I haven't scratched it, obviously). I've been using Goldbond lotion because that's just sort of what I've got in my apartment, but do I need a different type of/stronger product? The artist recommend a specific brand but I'll be damned if I can remember what it was.

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