Question about healing method of tattoos

[Graupel]

I've found that, as a client through experimentation and trial/error, that whenever I get a tattoo I remove the saran wrap bandage after two hours and wash it thoroughly with soap and warm water. I then do a very unusual thing.. I let it dry heal (ie.. after the first wash.. I wrap t-shirts and a garbage bag around it to keep an extremely dry environment when I shower) with only about 30 second sponge baths with a soapy water solution. I don't use any ointment or lotion at all because I've found that if I put anything with moisture in it after I initially let it dry out.. it will promote oozing of lymph onto the area, forming a scab later.

Do you think this is a good aftercare method, or do you suggest that I do something different?

Has anyone heard of the japanese hot soak method, where you soak the tattoo in a clean tub full of extremely hot water for about 30 mins to an hour during the first two days, which in theory supposedly drains a lot of the lymph fluid from the site and promotes an easier healing process?

[jess the dude]

why would you wrap it in a tshirt and garbage bag?

[Graupel]

To protect it from the moist environment of the shower. I've found that any kind of contact with water more than a minute causes the tattoo too ooze / start the plasma cycle. That's why I'm very careful about the spongebaths. But any kind of shower contact for the first few days seems to cause it to ooze plasma for some reason, which turns into a scab later.

[inkspotbrianNJ]

? in theory if you let a cut dry out it will scab moisture prevents that like dry skin feels tight and moist skin doesn't . im an artist for about 3 years now and ive been getting tattooed for about 8 years and i never let my tattoos dry out. i also ooze alot as well but never had a problem with scabs i use A & D ointment for the first two to three days, after that fragance free hand lotion. with in 3 to 5 days tattoo should peel like sun burn or flake and look like fish food not actually scab. this is how my boss has been healing tattoos for over 25 years.
scabs are mainly caused by sh!ty artists chewing the skin up or poor after care in the healing process. i feel that dry healing a tattoo will cause scabbing. thats how i knew it was time to put on more more A&D cause the tattoo was getting dry and i felt it getting tight . well thats my two cents i guess

[inkmunky]

careful though, too much A&D can clog the pores and suffocate the tattoo, applying a thin layer can help but the tattoo like any abrasion on the skin needs to breathe and get air... i actually advise my clients to let it dry out after the initial wash for a day then start with a cycle of lotion and i've never once seen a healing problem unless they pick at it or try to force it to peel before it's ready. If the tattoo is properly cleaned in the shower for the first few days you shouldn't get any scabbing from plasma.

[Graupel]

I wouldn't imagine that it would hurt to dry heal it.. because if you think about it the tattoo, when properly washed of all the petroleum jelly, plasma and other crud will form a protective membrane and start regenerating the epithelial layers. By keeping it dry, the membrane will remain undisturbed and then flake off like a sunburn. The only way to ruin it I can think of is to either not wash it properly the first time, or get it wet and cause it to blister/ooze.. which has happened in the past. I have never had success with any kind of ointments/lotions so I just let it dry heal and it seems to do fine.

Now though.. I have a heck of a hard time healing the back of the kneecap where it bends.. it seems like no matter how much I try to prevent a scab from forming there it will still form one.. although dry-healing it seems to form a less severe scab. But I might try to just keep a thin layer of Aquaphor over it the next time and see what happens. How do you all heal the back of the knee?

Originally Posted by inkspotbrianNJ

? in theory if you let a cut dry out it will scab moisture prevents that like dry skin feels tight and moist skin doesn't . im an artist for about 3 years now and ive been getting tattooed for about 8 years and i never let my tattoos dry out. i also ooze alot as well but never had a problem with scabs i use A & D ointment for the first two to three days, after that fragance free hand lotion. with in 3 to 5 days tattoo should peel like sun burn or flake and look like fish food not actually scab. this is how my boss has been healing tattoos for over 25 years.
scabs are mainly caused by sh!ty artists chewing the skin up or poor after care in the healing process. i feel that dry healing a tattoo will cause scabbing. thats how i knew it was time to put on more more A&D cause the tattoo was getting dry and i felt it getting tight . well thats my two cents i guess

I hate to be the one to inform you but almost every tattoo will scab if you let it dry out!!!! That comment is very ignorant! It is a controlled abrasion which we all know scab. If you are keeping lymph from drying on the surface then you will obviously not go through the normal scabbing process. Back on subject now....i definitely agree with you on the a&d...not too sure about the shirts and garbage bags but I have tried out many things and have found that as long as you are washing maybe like twice a day gently morning and night to remove any lymph then all a&d does atleast for the first three days is cause your body to weep lymph even in really light coats.

[john cothran]

my take on it is this. their seems to be 101 ways to take care of one. i also have tried many of them and it seems the more complicated you care for it the more that can go wrong. i say keep it simple. lotions, creams and foams work the best for me after doing the hot soak rite after getting it. that in it self stops the oozing.
i will say this. i will dry heal one before i put a petroleum based anything on it. to messy even when its a thin coat. last note if it works for you and the end results is close to perfect you have found you method no mater how weird or complicated.

Well Put!!!

[Graupel]

Awesome man. I'll just stick to the dry-healing method then.. it seems to be holding the color the best among everything else I have tried.