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before your tattoo
Tattoo Pre-Care
How we treat our bodies BEFORE getting our tattoo is equally as important as how we care for our healing tattoo, especially when it comes to longer sessions. Here are some tips for what to do BEFORE your tattoo appointment:
1) Moisturize your tattoo area once a day for a whole week before getting tattooed.
2) Get a good night of sleep. Tattooing is a traumatic experience for your body. Your adrenal system responds better when it’s well rested.
3) Eat a big, healthy meal beforehand. Your body needs many different amino acids and the right type of carbohydrates going into it in order to respond efficiently to tattoo stress.
4) Don’t wait, hydrate! Drink 64 ounces (8 glasses of water) in the 24 hours before your appointment. Don’t overdo it and drink a gallon though. You can actually be TOO hydrated and end up bleeding MORE.
4) AVOID alcohol and NSAIDS 24 hours beforehand, and caffeine in the 4 hours beforehand. Alcohol and some medications cause you to bleed more and caffeine can make it harder for your body to relax.
After your tattoo
Tattoo Post-Care
Once you leave the shop with your new tattoo, it feels like I am sending one of my children out into the world. It belongs entirely to you now, but it also represents my “parenting” to the world, so I must send you out prepared! Lol.
1) Using Tattoo Film: Keep it on for 2-5 days. (5 days is best). It is safe to shower, but do not scrub at the edges. When you take it off, do so with clean hands, liquid antibacterial soap and warm water. It will be like you’ve had 3 weeks of healing under there! Just a little bit of peeling and it will be beautifully healed.
2) Traditional Healing: Keep the wrap on for 2-10 hours- just make sure you remove it about an hour before bed. Wash it 2-3 times per day with clean hands, liquid antibacterial soap and warm water. Pat dry with a clean paper towel. Moisturize 5-8 times per day- as often as it feels dry and itchy after FULLY rubbing in moisturizer.
3) Moisturizer: I recommend Witch Doctor Tattoo Balm, made in house and available in shop OR (for those with skin allergies) Aquafor. Anything else soaks into the skin TOO quickly and can lead to it drying out very easily.
4) DO NOT:
Peel, pick, scratch or rub at your fresh tattoo! Engage in intense physical activity for 48 hours afterward. (This means you, GymStud.) Tan or sunbathe. Immerse your tattoo in a hot tub, hot bath or natural (bacteria-filled) water (Rivers, lakes, streams and oceans are strictly prohibited). Ride your motorcycle, race your dirt bike, haul lumber, build a house, wrestle with your licking/clawing dog or any other activity that would cause your clothing or other material to rub aggressively against the open wound that is your brand new and beautiful tattoo!
healing your piercing
Piercing Pre & Post-Care
BEFORE YOUR PIERCING:
1) The body part must be “without blemish,” which means: NO bruising, cuts, scrapes, swelling, infection, etc.
2) Please remove make up and spray on tanning. We will do our best to get it all removed with the alcohol, but some of those are not alcohol soluable!
AFTER YOUR PIERCING:
1) DO NOT: Peel, pick, scratch, rub or twirl your fresh piercing! Immerse your piercing in a hot tub, hot bath or natural (bacteria-filled) water (Rivers, lakes, streams and oceans are strictly prohibited). Shove your head into a dirty helmet (facial piercings), wear restrictive clothing (nipples and belly buttons) or wrestle with your licking/clawing dog or any other activity that would cause your clothing or other material to rub aggressively against the open wound that is your brand new and beautiful piercing.
2)DO: Clean it 2-3 times per day with Medicine Woman Icelandic Piercing spray, generic piercing spray or homemade salt water solution. Soak it with a cotton ball for 60 seconds at each cleaning.
3)If there is an irritation, redness or pus, please notify the shop or ask your doctor for advice.
4)Tea Tree oil has anecdotally been recommended for keloids. Use a cotton swab to apply when cleaning.
