How Long After A Tattoo Can You Swim In Freshwater?
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 Can I swim 7 days after tattoo?
- 2 How long before you can get a tattoo wet?
- 3 How long after tattoo can you go in sun?
- 4 Can I put sunscreen on a tattoo after 2 weeks?
- 5 How long after a tattoo can you expose it to sun?
What happens if you swim in a lake 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 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 I swim 7 days after tattoo?
How Soon Can YOU Swim AFTER Getting A NEW 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.
Is it OK to swim with a week old 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.
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 wrap a new tattoo for swimming?
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.
How do you know when your tattoo is fully healed?
Stages of the tattoo healing process – One of the biggest decisions in getting a tattoo is settling on a design and the right artist to bring your vision to reality. But the time you spend in the tattoo parlor is just a small part of the entire process.
Once you leave the shop with your new tattoo, it’s important to turn your focus to the tattoo healing phase. So, how long does it take a tattoo to heal? As you might expect, the answer is ‘it depends. ‘ Depending on how the inking process went and where your tattoo is located, it can take anywhere from four weeks to a couple of months for it to fully heal.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how you can speed up this healing process, let’s first take a look at the various stages of it: 1. Week 1: open wound Immediately after the tattooist is done with the art piece, your body begins the process of healing.
Though it might not look like it, your tattoo is actually an open wound on your skin. Your body begins to repair the damage right there and then. In this stage, your body mobilizes its first responders to injury, and you might notice a slight stinging or burning sensation resulting from inflammation at the site of the tattoo.
That sensation, which lasts a week, on average, is your body working hard to patch things up and prevent infection. It’s therefore recommended that you treat your fresh tattoo as an open wound. By doing this, you can avoid infections and other complications that can occur when you leave an open wound unattended.
Your tattoo artist will go over the things you need to do to keep your new tattoo clean, and it can feel overwhelming at first. Add to this some stinging pain, and it’s not hard to see how your stress levels might increase a bit during this time.
A good tattooist can recommend some ways to alleviate this stress so that your skin can heal properly. Week 2: itching and peeling In the second week of the tattoo healing stages, the inflammation around your tattoo will subside a little. As you might have experienced with other healing wounds, an itching feeling — which replaces the burning and stinging sensation from stage one — is normal during this part of the healing process.
- A new top layer of skin has formed over the tattoo, which means the old skin will form scabs and flake off;
- The dryness is what causes you to feel the itchy sensation on and around the wound — the tattooed area;
The incessant itching might make you wonder, “How long do tattoos take to heal?” In such a situation, try to resist the urge to scratch the skin or peel off the flakes. Your tattooist can likely recommend some lotion to keep your skin moisturized, which can reduce the itchy feeling.
Weeks 3 and 4: drying out When the topical healing is done, you will stop feeling itchy at the site of the tattoo. At this point, the skin dries out. In many instances, there’s a layer of dry skin that covers the tattoo after the scabs fall off.
While this often causes the tattoo to appear slightly duller in color, it will naturally slough off to reveal the vibrant piece of art you went in to get. Weeks 5 and 6: completely healed This is the last part in the four stages of tattoo healing. You’ll know you’re in this phase — and that your tattoo is fully healed — because all the dry skin and scabs have sloughed off to reveal new, smooth skin with a vibrant tattoo and you no longer feel the burning and itchiness because the body has repaired itself. Take a quiz. Find out what you can do with our Health Assistant.
How long before you can get a tattoo wet?
Week one – Some tattoo artists recommend waiting between 24-48 hours before applying moisturizer, though others recommend doing so as soon as the first wash. A person with a fresh tattoo should follow their tattoo artist’s instructions on when to start using moisturizer.
- For the first couple of days, the tattooed skin may feel warm to the touch and have a reddish appearance;
- The colors may also appear very bright against the rest of the skin;
- The tattoo will become less vibrant as the healing process continues;
A person should avoid submerging the tattoo in water or getting the tattoo wet during the first 3–6 weeks, except for when washing it. A person can continue using the washing technique above throughout the first week when needed. How often washing is necessary will vary depending on a person’s activity levels and environment.
- Someone who is sitting in an air-conditioned office all day may only need to wash the tattoo once a day;
- However, someone who is working in a hot or dirty environment and sweating may need to wash the tattoo every few hours;
It is best to wash the tattoo with clean fingers only and not a cloth or towel, which may irritate the skin and prematurely remove any scabs that may have formed. Scabs will often form in the first few days, and ink may still come up through the skin and need to be washed away.
It is important not to pick the scabs or scratch the skin. In general, Scabbing is not a sign of improper wound care. Scabs will form anytime the skin is injured, and can be a sign of healthy tissue forming underneath the wound.
Keeping some form of antibiotic ointment or moisturizer under occlusion (as long as there is no known allergy) on the wound can help it heal better and the sooner this is done the better healing will happen with less chances of scarring. Any redness or mild swelling usually goes away near the end of the first week.
How long after tattoo can you go in sun?
How to Protect Your Tattoo From the Sun – @ girlknewyork Wear sunscreen: Sunblock is the number one form of protection for your tattoo. Applying sunblock will help prevent skin cancer, wrinkles, blotchy complexions, and other skin-caused damage. Any sunblock is better than no sunblock when it comes to preparing your ink for the sun, but most artists will suggest using a fragrance-free sunscreen with 30-50 SPF (try to stick to natural ingredients if possible, too).
Whatever sunscreen you would normally use without a tattoo is fine — whether chemical or physical. According to Nussbaum, SPF is a critical part of protecting your tattoo against UV rays. “The most important thing when choosing a sunscreen is to make sure it is broad-spectrum, meaning it protects against both UVA, which penetrates deeper than UVB rays, causing free radical damage, and UVB rays, which damage the cell’s DNA and burn the skin,” she says.
“Sunburns and chronic UV exposure can damage the appearance of tattoos over time and lead to fading, wrinkles, and dullness/dryness. ” Nussbaum also says it’s safe to put sunscreen on a healed tattoo, but fresh ink will need to heal first (instead, cover it with a bandage or loose clothing).
Be sure to reapply your sunblock every two hours to ensure a continuous and solid layer of protection. Cover up: If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of reapplying sunscreen , the second-best option for sun protection is to ultimately keep your new ink out of the sun.
At the very least, make sure not to expose a new tattoo to direct sunlight for the first month of having it—especially the first two weeks. Not only will sun exposure cause the tattoo’s colors to fade, as previously mentioned, but it may also burn your skin and scar it from sun damage.
- Keeping your tattoo out of the sun doesn’t mean you have to stay inside all day, though;
- Maintain your ink’s vibrant colors and linework by always wearing at least one layer while in the sun;
- It can be light—as long as it covers the tattoo design completely;
Get your tattoo during the winter : One of the easiest ways to prevent sun damage to your tattoo is to consider what time of year you’ll be getting inked. Getting your tattoo in the winter will reduce your bare exposure to sun, as chilly weather means more clothing to cover up with.
However, the winter season also means dry skin. If your skin tends to feel dry, flakey, and itchy during the colder weather months, load up on moisturizing lotions. To protect your new tattoo, we love the original, unscented Aquaphor formula.
Slather on day or night for intense moisture and protection. (Or, try one of these tattoo artist-approved lotions ). If you get the tattoo too close to a vacation or beach day, you’ll spend the whole time out of the water with your ink-covered. While saltwater may seem like it’ll help ( chlorine water —not so much), any kind of soaking during your initial healing period may cause infection and damage the design work you paid for.
If you really want to get a tattoo during the summer, at least wait until you know you won’t be going on vacation for a month or so. And if you want to get tattooed while on vacation ? Just wait until the latter half of your trip, so you can still have fun in the sun and worry about aftercare once you’re home.
Moisturize often, inside and out: Nussbaum also suggests moisturizing often and drinking water every day. “Keep your skin well hydrated so that it can protect itself from external damage and maintain your skin’s natural moisture barrier,” says Nussbaum.
She also notes that hydration doesn’t mean more showers, though. “Skip the long, hot showers, which can strip the skin of its natural oils and lead to dry skin, and instead opt for a shorter shower (five minutes maximum) with lukewarm water.
” Check-in with your skin: Another essential thing to do if you expose your tattoo to the sun is to check your skin for any visible signs of damage. Aside from spot-checking regularly for any mole additions or changes (this should be a weekly thing, regardless of the season!), make sure to give your tattoo a good once over to ensure that the design hasn’t majorly warped.
Can I swim 2 weeks after getting a 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 put sunscreen on a tattoo after 2 weeks?
When Can You Put Sunscreen on a New Tattoo – Experts advise waiting 4 to 6 weeks before applying any sunscreen on your tattoo. This time is given for the tattoo to heal fully, so that the epidermis recovers to protect the much more sensitive dermis layer of the skin.
How long after a tattoo can you expose it to sun?
How to Protect Your Tattoo From the Sun – @ girlknewyork Wear sunscreen: Sunblock is the number one form of protection for your tattoo. Applying sunblock will help prevent skin cancer, wrinkles, blotchy complexions, and other skin-caused damage. Any sunblock is better than no sunblock when it comes to preparing your ink for the sun, but most artists will suggest using a fragrance-free sunscreen with 30-50 SPF (try to stick to natural ingredients if possible, too).
Whatever sunscreen you would normally use without a tattoo is fine — whether chemical or physical. According to Nussbaum, SPF is a critical part of protecting your tattoo against UV rays. “The most important thing when choosing a sunscreen is to make sure it is broad-spectrum, meaning it protects against both UVA, which penetrates deeper than UVB rays, causing free radical damage, and UVB rays, which damage the cell’s DNA and burn the skin,” she says.
“Sunburns and chronic UV exposure can damage the appearance of tattoos over time and lead to fading, wrinkles, and dullness/dryness. ” Nussbaum also says it’s safe to put sunscreen on a healed tattoo, but fresh ink will need to heal first (instead, cover it with a bandage or loose clothing).
Be sure to reapply your sunblock every two hours to ensure a continuous and solid layer of protection. Cover up: If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of reapplying sunscreen , the second-best option for sun protection is to ultimately keep your new ink out of the sun.
At the very least, make sure not to expose a new tattoo to direct sunlight for the first month of having it—especially the first two weeks. Not only will sun exposure cause the tattoo’s colors to fade, as previously mentioned, but it may also burn your skin and scar it from sun damage.
- Keeping your tattoo out of the sun doesn’t mean you have to stay inside all day, though;
- Maintain your ink’s vibrant colors and linework by always wearing at least one layer while in the sun;
- It can be light—as long as it covers the tattoo design completely;
Get your tattoo during the winter : One of the easiest ways to prevent sun damage to your tattoo is to consider what time of year you’ll be getting inked. Getting your tattoo in the winter will reduce your bare exposure to sun, as chilly weather means more clothing to cover up with.
However, the winter season also means dry skin. If your skin tends to feel dry, flakey, and itchy during the colder weather months, load up on moisturizing lotions. To protect your new tattoo, we love the original, unscented Aquaphor formula.
Slather on day or night for intense moisture and protection. (Or, try one of these tattoo artist-approved lotions ). If you get the tattoo too close to a vacation or beach day, you’ll spend the whole time out of the water with your ink-covered. While saltwater may seem like it’ll help ( chlorine water —not so much), any kind of soaking during your initial healing period may cause infection and damage the design work you paid for.
If you really want to get a tattoo during the summer, at least wait until you know you won’t be going on vacation for a month or so. And if you want to get tattooed while on vacation ? Just wait until the latter half of your trip, so you can still have fun in the sun and worry about aftercare once you’re home.
Moisturize often, inside and out: Nussbaum also suggests moisturizing often and drinking water every day. “Keep your skin well hydrated so that it can protect itself from external damage and maintain your skin’s natural moisture barrier,” says Nussbaum.
She also notes that hydration doesn’t mean more showers, though. “Skip the long, hot showers, which can strip the skin of its natural oils and lead to dry skin, and instead opt for a shorter shower (five minutes maximum) with lukewarm water.
” Check-in with your skin: Another essential thing to do if you expose your tattoo to the sun is to check your skin for any visible signs of damage. Aside from spot-checking regularly for any mole additions or changes (this should be a weekly thing, regardless of the season!), make sure to give your tattoo a good once over to ensure that the design hasn’t majorly warped.
