How Long After A Tattoo Can You Swim?
2 to 4 weeks You should wait for your tattoo to fully heal — which can take at least 2 to 4 weeks — before swimming in any kind of water.
Contents
- 1 How soon can you go swimming after getting a tattoo?
- 2 How do I protect my tattoo while swimming?
- 3 How do I know when my tattoo is fully healed?
- 4 Does Vaseline protect tattoos from water?
- 5 Can I put sunscreen on a new tattoo?
- 6 Can you put Vaseline on a new tattoo to go swimming?
What happens if I swim with a new tattoo?
Damage to your tattoo – Soaking your new tattoo could also cause fading and discoloration. Chlorine and salt water are especially hard on fresh tattoos, because both can leach ink from a tattoo, making the color less vibrant. Swimming can also dry out your skin and prolong healing, leading to more itching, flaking, and scabbing.
Can I go swimming 10 days after a tattoo?
Despite how pervasive tattoos are these days, they’re still kind of a big deal. At the risk of sounding like your grandma, getting inked with that work of art is a procedure that can actually be quite risky, which is why it’s so important to follow tattoo guidelines to a T.
- As a report published earlier this month details, ignoring them can be fatal;
- In a definite worst case scenario, an unidentified 31-year-old Hispanic man died after ignoring tattoo artists’ warnings not to go swimming with fresh ink, reports the Daily Mail;
Five days after getting a cross tattoo on his calf, the man reportedly went for a dip in the Gulf of Mexico, where he contracted a bacterial infection. A day after exposing his ink to the ocean, he developed a fever, chills and a nasty rash near his tattoo.
- Despite treatment, the infection ultimately killed him;
- Warning: the images are graphic;
- According to tattoo guidelines, you’re supposed to wait two weeks before swimming in the pool or ocean to allow the ink to heal — up until that point, your tattoo is still an open wound and needs to be cared for like one;
Submerging your wound in water, which is often swimming with all different types of bacteria, can lead to some serious infections. The bacteria in this case, was a particularly nasty flesh-eating strain called Vibrio vulnificus, according to the official report published in BMJ Case Reports , which affects the immune system and can be contracted by exposing an open wound to seawater or by eating raw shellfish.
Even with aggressive treatment from doctors, a pre-existing liver condition made the man more susceptible to developing sepsis from the infection and he ultimately died two months after entering the hospital.
Daily Mail.
Can I swim 7 days after tattoo?
How Long Before You Can Swim With a New Tattoo? – Most of the time, a tattoo needs to fully heal before you can safely swim. How long that takes varies from person to person, but many tattoo artists recommend anywhere from two to four weeks. When you get a tattoo, you’ll be sent home with a bandage over it.
After a few hours, you can likely remove the bandage and wash off the excess blood and ink. Use your hands to gently wash it with light warm water and antibacterial soap, then let it air dry in a clean environment and apply the aftercare cream.
As the tattoo heals, flaky skin and scabs will form. As the scabs flake and fall off naturally, a new layer of skin will heal underneath. When there’s a new layer of skin, that’s when you know you can safely swim. Throughout the healing process, you’ll also want to avoid baths for many of the same reasons, but continue to gently clean the area, air dry, and use the aftercare cream.
How soon can you go swimming after getting a tattoo?
‘For most people, that is two weeks, but it can be longer depending on the size, location, and how quickly you heal. If after two weeks, the skin does not appear fully healed (any scabbing, crusting, or redness), then I would recommend waiting longer,’ he says.
How do I protect my tattoo while swimming?
Can I swim 3 weeks after tattoo?
Proper tattoo aftercare should be performed for at least three weeks before bathing or swimming in any type of water so the skin can recover and close properly, in turn guarding the tattoo/wound against chemical irritation, risk of infection, and the chance of water saturation.
How do I know when my tattoo is fully healed?
What your tattoo will look like when its completely healed – 
You will know that your tattoo is completely healed when there are no scabs, the texture of your skin where the tattoo was placed is the same as a similar surface of skin, and the colors on your tattoo are no longer faded. Once your tattoo is healed, you will be able to enjoy everything you did before you got it, without fear of infection or damage to the tattoo. –> 
Brian Cornwell founded Next Luxury in 2007 as a magazine for modern gentlemen. Brian Cornwell founded Next Luxury in 2007 as a magazine for modern gentlemen..
Can you put Vaseline on a new tattoo to go swimming?
DON’T apply alcohol, Neosporin, Vaseline, or petroleum jelly (they can trap dirt and germs and cause infection). DON’T apply a heavy coat of lotion (remember the skin must breathe in order to heal). DON’T expose your tattoo to direct sunlight, swim, sauna, steam or tub for 2 weeks.
Does Vaseline protect tattoos from water?
When Should You Use Vaseline On A New Tattoo? – One way that petroleum jelly can actually be useful during the tattoo healing process is by guarding the tattoo during showering. Although a new tattoo is fine to get wet in the shower for a short amount of time (generally less than 10 minutes), petroleum jelly can be applied to a tattoo if you envisage yourself having a shower for a longer duration.
- Because vaseline is non-porous (watertight), it can be applied over a tattoo before getting into a shower and it will protect the area from any water that may spray against it;
- Vaseline will hold up very well as long as a strong water jet isn’t blasted directly onto the area;
Showering with a new tattoo: You should also remember that you shouldn’t be bathing (or swimming) with a new tattoo as this can lead to multiple problems just as potential fading and infections. You should only shower until your tattoo has scabbed and fully peeled (2-3 weeks).
Can I take a bath 2 weeks after tattoo?
How to Tell When It’s Safe to Soak – 
So you’ve showered instead of bathed for several weeks, maybe even a whole month. But how will you know when at last it’s safe to submerge yourself in a glorious bath or go for a delicious swim in the sea? According to the Atomic Tattoo website: “You should wait until your tattoo is fully healed before soaking the area in a bath or hot tub.
This means that you should have gone through the initial peeling stage and the skin should be feeling normal again, other than a little dryness. The Health Department states a minimum of 2 weeks. ” You’re in the clear once the scab has formed, hardened, and fallen off.
After that happens, you know that the open wound has healed, new skin has grown, and it’s safe to jump in the bathtub or jump in the ocean waves..
Can I put sunscreen on a new tattoo?
Can You Put Sunscreen on a New Tattoo? – The answer is a resounding NO! New tattoos should not be exposed to sunlight until they are fully healed, and tattoo experts say that putting some sunscreens on new tattoos can do more harm than good. Since the top layer of your skin is wounded by tattooing, chemicals in some sunscreens can enter the lower layers of the skin and cause reactions.
Can you put Vaseline on a new tattoo to go swimming?
DON’T apply alcohol, Neosporin, Vaseline, or petroleum jelly (they can trap dirt and germs and cause infection). DON’T apply a heavy coat of lotion (remember the skin must breathe in order to heal). DON’T expose your tattoo to direct sunlight, swim, sauna, steam or tub for 2 weeks.
