Tatto care Tips for the proper care of tattoos

How to ensure a fast healing and protect the colors of your tattoo

You want to fulfill the long-standing dream of a tattoo? A dream with risks: who is the right tattoo artist for me? Are tattoo colors harmful? How do I take care of my new tattoo optimally? We help you to find answers to the questions about your tattoo and explain how to maintain your tattoo optimally.

contents

• How to ensure a fast healing and protect the colors of your tattoo
• A tattoo is medically a wound!
• Colored or black? Big or small?
• Who has the choice, has the agony!
• Tattoos abroad - A lasting holiday experience!
• The optimal tattoo care
• The 3 phases of tattooing
• What to do if something goes wrong?
• Long pleasure in valuable tattoo art

Tattoos have been used by people for many centuries to beautify the body. Tattoos formerly belonged to the "dirty corner" and were reserved for seafarers, miliegröße and criminals. Who does not know the famous "Knastträne", which should clarify that the "proud" porter already has a prison stay behind him? This picture has changed drastically since the 1960s: Today tattoos are part of the streetscape and more than that. Tattoos have become body jewelry, good tattoo artists often have waiting times of many months. About 13% of Germans are already tattooed and more than 70% of the tattooed think about a new tattoo. More than 2/3 of them already have a second tattoo. The picture is even clearer in the US, where more than half of the mid-aged people between the ages of 30 and 40 are tattooed.

After a tattoo, the right care is crucial to avoid health complications and to maintain the quality of the tattoo. (Source: www.pro-tac.de)

A tattoo is medically a wound!

As part of a tattoo, color is applied with a very small needle penetrating the skin up to 8000 times per minute. "With a tattoo, thousands of minute puncture channels are created which, from the body's point of view, represent nothing but a multitude of small wounds," Dr. Timo Spanholtz, specialist for plastic surgery from Cologne. "And those wounds have to heal. Therefore, it is extremely important to prepare the body for the tattoo and to support it in the phase after the tattoo by means of special active substance care, "emphasizes the physician. Find out more about tattooing care later in this article. In any case, it is important to organize the necessary care products before tattooing in order to have them ready to hand in the bathroom.

Colored or black? Big or small?

Around half of all tattoos in Germany are "black / white", that is, designed using black paint. The second most common color is red, followed by blue, green and yellow. On average, tattoos are surprisingly large in Germany with about 20x20cm. Even colored motifs which are exposed to UV radiation quickly fade without sun-protective care even in the initial phase. Motives become pale and lines become indistinct.

When choosing the studio, the design and the right technology, one first of all faces many questions: Who can advise me? Who is aware of his responsibility as a serious tattoo artist, works clean, reliable and conscientious? There is now an enormous selection of tattoo studios not only in big cities like Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. On average, metropolises already have a studio for every 10,000 people.

In the run-up to a tattoo, a few details should be considered when choosing a tattoo parlor, and ideally, the skin is already being prepared for the tattoo. (Image: Africa Studio / fotolia.com)

Who has the choice, has the agony!

Be sure to keep track of how long a tattoo artist is already working in the studio and get plenty of drafts and tattoos of him or her. If you like the style and the design meets your expectations, it is important to pay attention to the hygiene of the studio, the sterility of the needles and so on. Confront this with the tattoo artist directly with your questions. Many tattoo artists do not use so-called disposable needles because of the lower quality, but sterilize their needles. This means that the device (sterilizer) used for this purpose must be up-to-date, maintained and calibrated. Otherwise, a sterility of the needles is not ensured.

Caution should also be exercised when choosing colors: many colors are suspected of containing carcinogenic substances. At European level, a regulation has recently been amended and Öko-Test has been instructed to carry out a similar investigation. Colors should therefore be certified and tested. Also on this topic the tattoo artist should be able to give open answers.

For tattoo coats, attention must be paid to quality, as otherwise contaminants may be present which pose a health risk. (Picture: www.pro-tac.de)

Especially with very large tattoos you should consider planning the tattoo in several steps. This keeps the tattooist's concentration fresh and reduces the strain on your skin.

Tattoos abroad - A lasting holiday experience!

What a wonderful idea: a hot day surfing the beach, a few beers and after the BBQ we all make a tattoo as a reminder of their holiday together. So far so good. But beware! Hygiene regulations do not correspond to those in Germany in the least travel destinations. Infections such as hepatitis or HIV can be more common there and can be transmitted if the needles are not cleaned properly! The tattoo inks used may not be subject to any controls and may contain carcinogenic ingredients. "As beautiful as the thought is," Dr. Timo Spanholtz, "I strongly advise against taking a vacation tattoo." The risks outweigh the benefits in such a scenario Spanholtz.

The optimal tattoo care

As described above, it makes sense to intensively nurture new tattoos. Reasons for intensive care with high-quality products are:

• The tattoo can be brought to a healing faster, itching crusting is avoided.
• The color fastness of the tattoo is protected, the colors remain radiant and the lines do not distort.
• The tattooed skin can be protected against damaging UV rays, leaving the tattoo in bright colors for years to come.

"I see huge differences in the quality of tattoos in my practice," says the cosmetic surgeon Dr. Timo Spanholtz, "and time and again it turns out that not so beautiful tattoos were simply not optimally cared for". If you ask your tattoo artist, he may not give you any details about the available products, or even advises you to simply "apply some cream from the discounter". "I would by no means follow this advice," says Patrick Günther, pharmacist and CEO of oceanpharma from Hamburg. "Common creams and also many alleged tattoo care can draw the colors in the early phase of the skin," warns the expert. Then the tattooing suddenly becomes a horror: colors fade, the skin becomes soggy and over-greasy and begins to itch unbearably.

"I've had to remove unsatisfactory tattoos on several occasions," reveals Dr. Spanholtz. This is a very stressful situation for the patients. While resulting scars with proven scar care such. Scarcare® or Cicacare®, the market for tattooing is very confusing. There is a large amount of partly confusing information available on the Internet. However, taking care of your tattoo does not mean "much helps a lot", but it is important to use the right measures and products to achieve a perfect tattoo result. Commonly used products in Germany include proTAC®, Tattoomed®, Pegasus Pro, and some foreign brands. The differences are great - so it's worth taking a closer look at the care recommendations and available products.

The 3 phases of tattooing

Before you start a long drive, refuel your car, right? The same applies to tattooing: The skin to be tattooed should be prepared for the "micro-injury" before tattooing. The products of proTAC® enable a targeted preparation of the skin on the tattoo. The regeneration potential of the skin is activated by the patented active ingredient Spiralin®. This allows the skin to go into the tattoo optimally groomed. proTAC® was the only manufacturer on the market to prove this effect by means of a scientific study.

Once the desired motif has been applied - and hopefully to your complete satisfaction - the 1 phase of care begins immediately after the tattoo: the irritated skin must be intensively treated with suitable products after healing. These promote the trouble-free recovery of the skin. In this phase, most often "wrong" creams are used. Dr. Timo Spanholtz explains: "Many simple creams change the color scheme. Viscosity, osmolarity and added ingredients can lead to color fading or even color loss. "It is important to use" a cream that perfectly matches the initial phase of the tattoo, "continues Spanholtz. While many products attribute the main effects to the active ingredient dexpanthenol (eg Tattoomed®), proTAC® has the patented active ingredient Spiralin® (active ingredient of the year 2015) and, above all, scientific data confirming the effect on fresh tattoos. Simple creams such as marigold creams, petrolatum or bepanthenol can even have unwanted effects on the new tattoo: You can draw the colors from the so-called dermis into the higher epidermis, where they fade faster or at worst can be completely lost, as this layer of skin is regularly peeled off.

In the early phase after tattoo crust formation should be avoided at all costs. Many tattoo artists recommend using a cling film for this purpose, and e.g. to wrap around the upper arm. "This creates a humid environment in which bacteria really grow," explains Dr. med. Timo Spanholtz. Protecting the tattoo in this way is basically correct, but two things should be strictly followed: First, a care cream should first be applied, which contains a disinfectant component (here proTAC® comes into question) and, secondly, should not unsterile slides from the discounter be used. More suitable are medical products that can be obtained on the Internet. These transparent polyurethane films protect against the ingress of bacteria, divert fluid to the outside and protect the fresh tattoo from the covering clothing.

What many do not know: Even a long-term care is necessary. "Damaging UV rays cause color pigments to decay in the so-called dermis," explains Dr. med. Spanholtz, cosmetic surgeon from Cologne. "The tattoos are getting paler, the contours blurred, so that eventually a Überertätowieren (so-called cover-up) is necessary," says the physician. Therefore, the skin should be cared for weeks, months and years after a tattoo and protected from exposure to UV rays. For this purpose, a high sun protection factor is recommended. Some manufacturers offer corresponding sun creams, while other manufacturers offer e.g. put on special pens for the trouser pocket, which also cover the Tattoopflege in addition to the sunscreen.

What to do if something goes wrong?

If you notice after the tattoo that the skin is inflamed, forms a thick crust or the skin is increasingly red, you should definitely consult a doctor. "The doctor has to help here," Dr. Spanholtz. An inflammation is not to joke and possibly an antibiotic treatment is necessary. Many customers see the tattoo artist a second or third time for "piercing". This can also be prevented by targeted care, as a study of the youth delusion Skinart UG showed. Conclusion: Make it right and maintain your tattoo so that you avoid complications and Nachstechen.

Long pleasure in valuable tattoo art

If you follow this advice, there should be no hurdle to the joy of your tattoo. Whether black'n'white, old school, realistic or watercolor, every tattoo has earned a reasonable care. Take some time to look after your tattoos - this will give you great enjoyment and the tattoo artist can be proud of his enduring art together with you.

If you have questions about Tattoopflege you can contact us by email ([email protected]) to our expert dr. Timo Spanholtz apply.

Author:
Dr. med. Timo A. Spanholtz, Specialist in Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, Head of the Praxisklinik am Rosengarten