How Soon After Getting 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
What happens if you swim too soon after getting a tattoo?
How Soon Can YOU Swim AFTER Getting 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.
How long after a tattoo can you go in the pool?
Keep it dry for the first 3 weeks – Whether in the sea or in the pool , you should avoid contact with water to begin with to allow your tattoo to heal without issues. Any extended contact with water should be avoided , as it risks displacing the ink of the tattoo or altering the colour.
Baths, rivers, jacuzzis, etc. , it’s better to avoid all forms of bathing if you want to preserve the design of your tattoo ! The water in a swimming pool, for example, can pose an infection risk to your wound.
The water in swimming pools is treated with products to disinfect the pool, which doesn’t mix well with a wound. Another important piece of advice: avoid gyms ! When you exercise, your muscles stretch your skin and you sweat. Stretching the skin and sweating excessively in the area of your tattoo can impede the healing process.
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.
How do you waterproof a tattoo for swimming?
How Can I Waterproof A Tattoo For Swimming? – While there is no way of fully waterproofing a tattoo for swimming, there are a few things you can do to prevent damage. If you’re going to go swimming with a new tattoo, make sure it is fully covered with either a waterproof bandage, some Vaseline, or both.
- Then, once you’re out of the water, quickly remove the cover, and rinse the tattoo with fresh water;
- Your tattoo artist will also have given you some aftercare cream to put on the area with the tattoo;
Once you have washed it after swimming, simply apply some of this cream to the tattoo. 
While you may long for your next swim, waiting for your tattoo to heal is crucial.
How do you tell if a tattoo is 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.
Can you swim in chlorine with a new tattoo?
How Long Before You Can Swim With a New Tattoo? – The temptation is real when it comes to showing off fresh ink—but proceed with caution. “Any [new] tattoo is essentially a fresh wound, and needs time to heal without being exposed to the elements,” Forte tells us.
- This includes protecting it from bacteria, sun, chemicals, pollution, and water—particularly when it comes to swimming;
- “Both saltwater and chlorine are harsh on new tattoos, especially if you had a lot of work done,” he explains;
Translation: You shouldn’t swim until your tattoo is fully healed, advises Fenton. “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.
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.
Can you go swimming 1 week after getting 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 you wrap your tattoo to go swimming?
Swimming With a New Tattoo – When it comes to swimming with a new tattoo, we have a few things to say. First and foremost, don’t even think about covering your tattoo with Vaseline or Aquaphor so you can go take a dip when the tattoo is not healed. Unless you really crave a bacterial infection, visit a doctor and a messed up tattoo design, stay away from the water (and the petroleum jelly products) until the tattoo is fully healed.
- Now, if it’s been more than 4 weeks, and your tattoo is all closed and scab-free, you can try to go for a swim;
- Technically, there shouldn’t be any issues, and we still do advise you to wait for a few extra weeks;
But, if you really can’t wait to take a dip, we strongly recommend you use a waterproof bandage. This may prevent a tattoo infection caused by exposure to bacteria in the water. Now, you may think; hey, swimming pools are cleaned than open bodies of water; they’re less dirty, and there are fewer bacteria, I can go swimming there.
Well, sure, there might be fewer bacteria, but swimming pools contain chlorine. And, this chemical can cause its own set of issues for your new tattoo. It can irritate your skin, cause a rashing of the tattoo area, and of course, the pools aren’t bacteria-free, so the tattoo could also get infected.
Just because you change the swimming area, doesn’t mean the tattoo will react differently to the water. 
.
How many days does it take for a tattoo to heal?
How long does it take for a tattoo to heal? After getting a tattoo, the outer layer of skin (the part you can see) will typically heal within 2 to 3 weeks. While it may look and feel healed, and you may be tempted to slow down on the aftercare, it can take as long as 6 months for the skin below a tattoo to truly heal.
Why can’t you submerge a new tattoo in water?
Don’t submerge your new tattoo in water until it’s healed Unless you want to put yourself at an additional risk of infection or further irritate your skin, you’ll want to skip out on soaking in baths, pools, oceans, and hot tubs until your tattoo has healed.
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.
What happens if you take a bath with a week old tattoo?
I don’t have a tattoo—yet. But I was wondering, if I get one, will I have to give up my nightly bath ritual? Here’s what I found out: You cannot submerge a tattoo in water for 2-4 weeks while the open wound heals. Bathing, swimming, or using a hot tub soon after getting a tattoo can lead to a bacterial infection that can ruin the tattoo and make you sick.
