Well, I learned something today, and, frankly, it makes me kind of nervous.
Did you know there are virtually no actual tattoo training schools? Apparently, the most common way to become a tattoo artist is to apprentice another artist/studio. In other words, on-the-job training. To me, that’s a little scary. After all, tattooing is a little like surgery; someone is tearing up your skin and opening you up for infection and pathogens. What if that’s how doctors were trained?
I’m only concerned about this because I just got a tattoo and I’m finding dozens of different recommendations for after-care. What makes one set of instructions better than another, if the process is basically the same for every tattoo? Here are some of the recommendations from various tattoo artists and wearers:
- Use antibiotic ointment for 3 days
- NEVER use antibiotic ointment
- NEVER use petroleum jelly (a.k.a. petrolatum)– this is a pretty standard recommendation. Tends to lift the ink.
- Use A&D or Aquaphor ointment (both are petrolatum-based) for 7-10 days
- Don’t use lotions
- Use Curel or Aveeno lotion for 7-10 days
- Don’t rub the tattoo, pat it
- Rub the ointment in like it’s lotion
Fortunately (for me), Washington State is going to start regulating the industry. I don’t know what that will do for after-care instructions, but it would be really nice if people could get together and use science to maybe figure out what’s the best way to heal a tattoo while maintaining the ink.
