How Soon Can I Swim After A Tattoo?
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.
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Can you swim after getting a tattoo on your face?
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.
How long after tattoo can I take a bath (and why)?
Can I take bath in bathtub at least? – The rule of thumb is that you cannot take a bath for at least three to four weeks after getting tattooed. This is advised so that your tattoo can heal properly and completely. Also, tattoo artists advise this so that you can stay away from any kind of tattoo infection.
How long should you wait before remodeling a tattoo?
Some tattoo artists say that waiting for two weeks is enough. However, the safest bet would be waiting from 4 to 6 weeks to ensure that the tattoo is completely healed and that there’s no need for a rework to be done. Some tattoo artists are conflicted on this opinion.
What happens if you Soak Your New Tattoo in water?
Your tattoo is a fresh wound that needs to be kept clean and looked after during the entire healing process. Submerging your tattoo in water for long periods can cause significant damage to your new tattoo by affecting the ink underneath your skin before it’s had a chance to heal.
