Tattoos Near Me | Frequently Asked Questions About Tattoos: Pain, Healing and Recovery
Thanks so much for joining us again on the SkinArtJ YouTube channel. My name is Alana, and I’m joined, as always, by J. And today we’re going to be talking about frequently asked questions for tattoos near me. I love this because people have so many questions about tattooing, and this will be a great opportunity for you to set the record straight, as best as I can.
The fact for today is the modern machine that we use for tattooing was actually prototyped by Thomas Edison’s machine. Thomas Edison created, like, a machine for etching, and that is actually the design that was used to come up with the modern tattoo gun, which I love. That’s great—multi-purpose design. You got to tamper with things. You got to figure things out. Excellent.
All right, so the first question that we have for you today, J: are tattoos painful? I would like to think, for the most part, yes. I have had some feedback from some—like, depending on the client, some say that they can’t feel anything—but it’s all situational. Example: over the weekend when I was at the convention, I had someone state that they didn’t feel their first tattoo because they had nerve damage in their arm. So they just didn’t feel anything. So, situationally, you’re not going to feel pain, but for the most part, many people do experience slight discomfort during it, to which sessions can be catered to certain time frames so that it can help with the discomfort of the process.
Are Tattoos Painful? That Depends
Right. And the area that you’re getting tattooed—does that impact how painful a tattoo may or may not be? Oh, very much so. There are some areas that are a lot more sensitive. Mhm. And with that, it’s like each to their own. Awesome that they can sit through it. Other people—they could be in a painful spot once again, and they don’t seem to mind at all.
What are some of the more tender areas, on the average? Usually things like, example, palms—those are pretty spicy—the neck, bottom of your feet, feet in general, your head, sternum, some ribs, stomach. Those are all a little more tender. And so, what is a less tender area to get tattooed on, on average? Usually, like, shoulders, upper back. Your forearms, or arms in general, are pretty nice. Parts of the legs, of course. Inner thighs a little more sensitive, but those are your go-to that people will commonly say, like, it’d be great for first tattoos.
Great. And is it everyone will feel sensitive in the same place, or is it different for every person? Different for every person. Those are, like, generalized areas, but once again, depending on the individual and their own sensitivities to things. I’ve had people say, like, calves—not bad at all. Myself, I’ve gotten some line work on my calf. It wasn’t pleasant for me. So it’s just depending on the individual themselves.
Right. And is there anything that you can offer a client that’s getting tattooed and is finding that it’s a little bit more spicy than they are willing to put up with? I do state to a client that I’m open to working with some numbing creams. Usually, over the counter at a pharmacy, they’ll have Zensa. I will suggest that for people because I’ve had, more often than not, successful sessions with those. There are other ones out there that, if I don’t know the brand name or I’ve never experienced it before, I will caution people to try something different. Ultimately, it’s out of my hands if they choose to go down that route. I do try to tell them or suggest doing a sample area before the session itself to see how that reaction to that skin is going to be for them, because even at that, some people can have allergic reactions to the numbing cream. So I ask them to do a spot check before even applying it. Not always do people follow through with that, and with that, I can’t guarantee how my work’s going to be because I’ve never experienced it before. So it’s a learning curve for both of us, and that’s the risk that they were willing to take.
Should You Use Numbing Cream During A Tattoo?
All right. And other than a numbing cream, you will modify your session based on the client’s comfort. Is that correct? Yeah. So, example: like, I have a chest piece. I’ve had it broken down into smaller sessions for myself as well. I understand—same thing with people doing larger settings and stuff. I will state: at least get through the line work. That is my main goal. And then I will tell them we can do shading another day, or if they want to get through some of the shading in some of the day. It depends on the sizing and the complexity of everything. But even if it is a small tattoo and they needed to go smaller sessions, we can break it up into two sessions to be able to accommodate for everything.
Great. Excellent information. The next question that I have is: how long do tattoos take to heal, and is that dependent on size? How long does it take? I still stick with one month. I have heard some people say two weeks, but to properly have all your layers of skin fully healed and have the ink settled, I still stick on the one month. And I’ve had a couple other people also state the same thing, just for the layers that you’re going through and the process that they need to go through to properly heal everything—even if the surface level looks like it’s completely settled.
Okay. And how many layers deep into the skin do you go? Just two layers. It sits between the two, and it’s just where the particle gets placed, and it’s too big to get broken down before, like, the bloodstream takes it away and stuff. So it sits there and basically just vibrates until someone sees sunshine or is out there again, and it breaks into a smaller particle so that your body flushes it. Hence where things can age differently depending on how people are taking care of it.
Avoid Direct Sunlight After A Tattoo
All right. So not only should people avoid the sunlight immediately after a tattoo, but they should also avoid sunlight on their tattoo forever? I’m not going to say avoid sunlight, but care for their skin. Take the precautionary actions that you need to make sure that you’re caring for your body and the piece that you received. If you really want it to last and make it look as vibrant as possible, you’re gonna want to likely commit to sunscreen and a lot of water—hydration—and taking care of your overall body. All the things we should be doing anyway. Well, you know, sometimes, sometimes we don’t do the best—but human nature.
Excellent. And while we’re on the topic of healing a tattoo—it takes a month, you say—what should clients be doing in that month to help their tattoo heal as best they can? Rest. That’s a huge thing. Our body is our greatest ally. It does miracles for us. So if we’re patient with it, it will help assist, making the healing process faster. But we have to honor the rest. You want to hydrate, once again. Eating nutritious foods, getting the vitamins that you need in your body to help assist it. Other things to help heal the tattoo is making sure they wash their hands, wash their tattoo with a non-scented soap. I personally say air dry, just to make sure that someone is not applying something to it that they shouldn’t be or have forgotten to, and then a thin layer of lotion to help the skin rejuvenate and heal the, per se, broken skin—the pretty skin.
Moisturize Your New Tattoo Now and Forever
Excellent. And for the lotion, what kind of lotion do you recommend, and does it matter—lotion versus oil? Does matter. I always just recommend doing Lubraderm—is a very simple one to find. You usually find it in bulk, but honestly, brand name doesn’t matter. Like, there’s Avino that’s out there that does just fine. There’s a couple other brand names. I just—my go-to is just Lubé. That’s the one I remember off the top of my head, but as long as it’s non-scented. It cannot have scent in it. No scent, no color, just straight lotion. Just straight lotion and not oil.
That was another one of our frequently asked questions: can you use oil on a tattoo during the healing process? I’m not going to recommend using oil because, once again, depending on what you’re applying, it could be clogging the pores and preventing the tattoo from healing properly or creating further issues down the road. It just—I don’t think it’s necessary.
Great. It’s important to realize that your tattoo is essentially a wound. Yes. So don’t do anything to your tattoo that you wouldn’t do to a wound. Exactly. Just—you got to care for a wound. And I understand that some people might struggle with that, so I just suggest following the instructions or reaching out to your artist when you have any questions or if you need a reminder.
Perfect. Our next frequently asked question is, “Can I get a tattoo if I have sensitive skin?” J, what do you say to that? I would say yes, depending on what they define as sensitive. If they have certain skin conditions, then we’re going to have to consider what’s happening with the body, because if it’s already inflamed and it’s not capable of having tattoo work done on it, then we’re going to have to wait for it to heal properly before we can tattoo that area. Otherwise, if you’re just sensitive in general, it’s one of those we can break it into smaller sessions kind of thing.
Yes! People With Allergies Can Get Tattooed
And what about if someone has a lot of skin allergies—is that something that they should be at least informing their artist before they get a tattoo? They can, for sure. I don’t think that’s going to necessarily impact it, because for most part, our inks are regulated. So they consider safe material to be injected into the skin. If someone’s buying stuff off Amazon, of course there’s no guarantees—you don’t know what you’re getting. So at that point, you might have allergic reactions. You might have issues with your tattoo in general. So I would advise going to a professional studio and actually receiving the piece in studio.
Are there any risks at getting a tattoo? I would say yes. Once again, you’re risking—you’re putting trust into someone. So, like, it’s a risk of, you know, building that connection with someone. You’re risking feeling more empowered in your body, because obviously you’re enticed to get it for some reason, to then you’re risking health matters of—if you’re getting a tattoo, there’s the risk of, like, taking care of it, making sure you’re not getting infections. So there’s, I would say, different multitudes of risks that people are having with it. It just depends on: is it worth what they want? So, yes, there are some risks. Nothing that’s crazy or life-threatening, and you are getting a wound put into your body. I would say the only time it becomes life-threatening is when a client really chooses not to listen to how to take care of their open wound.
Avoid Swimming and Hot Tubs After a Tattoo
I have a story that I share with people of a client who had argued with me during the session and stating that their friends had advised them that it was safe or okay to go into a lake after receiving a fresh tattoo. I kept trying to prompt them and say strongly, “Do not do this. Like, I’m telling you not to do it.” It was only after probably half hour of me trying to politely tell them, “Don’t do it,” I was like, “All right, well, worst case scenario—if you get an infection because some bacteria that’s in there and, you know, something happens, I guess the worst case is you go to the hospital and, you know, you figure out what you got to do from that point.” I think that’s when it really set in that, like, there can be some big risks if you are choosing to deliberately go against what you’re being told.
Right. So no lakes, no swimming pools, no hot tubs when your tattoo is healing. Precisely. You don’t want to have bacteria introduced to an open wound that you’re trying to heal and keep clean.
How long should a person wait in between their tattoos? They get a tattoo—they have to wait a month. When can they get their second tattoo after that first one? It’s really up to them. If they want to do it the same day, you can do it the same day. If you want to do it the very next day, it depends on how much you can sit and be still—for a client or the artist—and what it is that they’re getting. Example: we can tattoo the very next day because it’s still fresh wound, and we have that grace period. But once you’re hitting into a third day, you’re starting that healing process. You don’t want to be fiddling with that skin anymore. So I’ve seen people that have done, like, three days back to back, and it’s just kind of working different areas or spots that have not been tattooed or have not been broken already to be able to do a huge piece—which, like, props to people for sitting that long. I know I am not one of those, but, like, props to them. And then other times, depends on people’s budget. So there’s a couple of factors in when someone might be enticed to come and get their second or continue on to a tattoo. So just—varying answers. Talk to your artist, essentially, is the best thing to do when you’re thinking of getting that next tattoo. Pretty much, they’ll be able to guide you with saying what they want to do or what is capable of happening for the vision that both have.
Contact Your Tattoo Artist For A Touchup in Three Months
Excellent. What about getting a touchup—they’ve had their tattoo, it’s a couple weeks, and there are some areas that they would like to have touched up for various reasons. When is the best time for them to come in for that touchup? Do they have to wait that month of healing process? Yes. So they still got to wait that whole month to heal. I let people know that they have three months grace period. That includes the one month of healing, because they’re seeing how things are going—they are witnessing literally how it’s settling into their skin—to reach out to me, let me know that they want a touchup and stuff, and get it booked in, or it does go back to regular rate. To which they’re more than welcome to get a touchup later down the road. If they decide, like, a year and a half later, I’m more than happy to do it. It will be at the normal rate. Or another way that I also offer it to clients is if they want to get another tattoo and then we do the touchup at that point with an existing piece that they want to get revamped, or for whatever reason there’s something that needs to be tweaked—if they’re okay with that, by all means I’m more than happy to assist them.
Great. And what about touching up other artists’ artwork—is that something that artists will do? Someone says, “I got this tattoo. I can’t go back to the artist. They’re in another city. They moved.” Is that something that artists will do commonly—is touch up another artist’s work? Some will completely stay or clear, which there’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe their style doesn’t align with it, or it’s not something that they want to take on—that’s completely fine. There’s also other situations where, example, an artist has passed away and the piece is incomplete and they want an artist to finish it. If it’s something that I feel I can do 100%, I’ll take it on. I’m not opposed to it—same stance is recognizing that it’s different artists. And then there’s a third option where sometimes people aren’t pleased with what they’ve received, and they just want a different vamp of it. I’m not opposed to that either—creating something new out of what’s existing.
Excellent. That’s all great information. If someone has a tattoo that they need fixed or added on to or changed—yeah, just go and talk to the artist. Yeah. Perfect advice.
Tattoo Aftercare Is Important
And when it comes to tattoos, I know that you have a couple of different methods that you employ right after tattooing. What do you do right after the tattoo to protect it? What are the two methods of aftercare? So if we’re doing aftercare, I usually let my tattoos settle or sit for a little bit so that they can weep a little bit, and then from there I will bandage the person. I give options of what I call a meat package—it’s a black little breathable material that goes on your tattoo temporarily while it’s doing the weeping process—before you start the washing and moisturizing. Or there’s another method known as second skin. I’ll clean the skin, make sure that it’s ready and prepped, and then I’ll apply it onto the tattoo. From there, it’s five to seven days of just letting it sit on the skin and let it do its thing, which does help assist the tattoo and protect it—it speeds up the healing a little bit more. And then from there, it’s taking it off and doing the wash process from there.
Excellent. And that’s, again, wash with a soap, air dry or pat dry. Don’t rub it off with a towel, and apply a thin layer of lotion. I don’t even say pat dry. Like, it is an option some artists use. Once again, I personally prefer if people just let air dry—soak in as much of the water that it can as it evaporates—and then moisturize. Right. The towel could be rough. The towel could have bacteria on it. Yeah, you don’t want towels, and it can also pull on the ink, and if it takes a chunk of ink out, it can potentially create scar tissue from pulling on ink. So, like, I just don’t advise any towels or any surface that’s going to interact with it. Good to know. Air dry. Perfect. Yeah.
Book A Tattoo Consultation With J Today!
All right. So if someone is interested in getting a consultation or getting a tattoo from you, J, what do they have to do? Oh man, well, they can text me. So it’s 780-722-2023. They can send me a message on SkinartJ with Instagram. They can also send me a message to my email, which is skinartj@gmail.com, or even on Facebook if you send me a message. Just bear with me—it might take me a day or two to get back to some messages while I navigate the rest of tattooing.
Excellent—that’s great information to have. And they can choose from a flash gallery, or they can get a custom design with you. Is that right? Correct. My website also has all my flash and has some of my work, so skinartjtattoo.com—that also is another option to getting in touch with me.
Perfect. And seeing as how it is April in Canada, is now about the best time to get a tattoo right before summer? It can be—it can be healed for summertime. So then, at least, you can apply the lotion on your skin and you can go swimming. Exactly. Some people do like getting tattooed in the summer because they can wear clothing that is a little more suitable for helping heal. So it can definitely be an opportunity or potential that is suited for some people that want to get tattooed during the season.
Excellent. Well, you’ve heard it here—come and get your tattoos. Get them all healed up before summertime, and if you have any other questions that you’d love answers to, drop them below. We’d love to hear and answer them on our next video. Again, this is SkinArtJ Tattoo’s YouTube channel. I’m Alana, and this has been J. Thanks so much for tuning in, and we’ll see you next time.