Aftercare for foot tattoo

Question

I just got a foot tattoo a day and a half ago, and it is beautiful. It is a snake; it's head is on my foot and it wraps around my ankle. I want to take good care of it, of course!

Anyone with a foot and/or ankle tattoo who has advice? I am keeping it moist of course and I will not be wearing anything but flip flops for two weeks - I am not touching/scratching it at all, and I am avoiding the sun.

However I am concerned about things such as showering. A little bit of the tattoo on my ankle already faded a tiny little bit (which I was expecting) and I just don't want it all to get much worse than that. Should I wash the tattoo with water, and if so: how? Should I stick my leg out of the shower when showering and washing my hair for the best result?

Also: in bed, is it safest to wrap something around my tattoo while sleeping, as I don't want to rub any ink off in my sleep?

Answer 1

If you're keeping your skin moist...I hope you're keeping vitamin a and d ointment. I have one tattoo that I point unscented lotion on (as directed by the artist) and it has faded.

You can wash your leg/foot in the shower, you can even bathe. You just shouldn't keep your leg submersed over an hour. You should be washing your tat with antibacterial soap i.e. dial...any kind that's basically unscented will do. You need to wash it! Tattoos are going to fade and artist should offer a touch up or fill to correct any fading within the first two months. Don't wrap your leg at night, it's not going to fade as bad as you think from sleeping. I have one on my ankle, one on the small of my back, one on my shoulder and one on my wrist and sleeping really didn't affect them at all.

Answer 2

Foot Tattoo Aftercare

Answer 3

First of all I would be searching for a new artist. If he doesn't care about telling you step by step instructions on preventing an infection how do you know he's sterile? Anyway.. my artist tells me to wash with a soft anti bacterial soap (soft soap clear brand), do not scrub hard, just lather the soap in your hands and rub gently across the tattoo. rinse it off with warm water. let the tattoo air dry and leave it alone. Do that every morning and night before you go to bed. After 3/4 days you should start to get a bit itchy, buy an unscented lotion (cetaphil moisturizing cream) and make sure to keep it moisturized. a lot of artists tell you to use an ointment such as A&D ointment, but my artist only has me use that when I've only gotten an outline. A&D actually pulls the color out of a healing tattoo, and if you want a real bright piece definitely stay away from the A&D, if you feel more comfortable using A&D just make sure you rub a tiny amount onto the tattoo, place your whole palm (with clean hands) on top of the tattoo and rub your palm with a little pressure across the tattoo and that'll take off a lot of the A&D because too much isn't good. Basicly just keep your hands off the tattoo, avoid rubbing against anything, avoid tight clothing/clothing in general as much as possible (if you can't have visible tattoos at work make sure when you get home you take all clothing off the healing tattoo so it can breathe and heal correctly.) Do not pick, itch, or slap your tattoo when it itches and is flaking. Let all the dry skin fall off by itself, and you will have a beautifully healed tattoo in no time. Good luck

Answer 4

It will fade a little bit anyways...its not a biggie because most places offer touchups. As for the showering thing...cover it with some saran wrap..just wrap it around your foot and hop in there and do what you gotta do. When you sleep...the same thing. Clean your hands and rub the tatto very gently with anti-bacterial soap (Dial is best) and warm water...pat it dry..let it air out for a little bit (about 20 min) and then (what I always have used) ...Aquaphor is really good to rub on gently after it dries but only put a thin layer or you could break out. After that, put one or two layers of saran wrap on it and hold it on with medical tape. That should do it :)

Answer 5

You can't exactly "rub" the ink off...as it has been injected UNDER your skin. Keeping it wrapped for the first week is recommended, especially for something such as a foot, but after that, it isn't terribly necessary and the skin should be relatively healed or scabbed over by then quite efficiently. As long as you aren't rubbing it or irritating it, you can keep your leg in the shower. Water running over it won't be harmful and would be okay to keep basic dirt off of it.

Answer 6

I badly sprained my ankle about 3 weeks ago. I was in a hurry going down the stairs, lost my balance and landed on a bad side of my left foot, causing my left ankle to be stretched going on the inside. The first 48 hours were excruciating and the pain was un-believable. I've never had a serious ankle injury before.



So I immediately treated it using the RICE method. The following day, the bruising and swelling were so horrible. I found out that I got a second degree sprain and immediately panicked after that. I had a football game on that week and it been looking forward to it because I've been training for rt. I had teammates that had similar injuries and it took them months to fully recover, some of them stopped playing altogether. So I kinda had a short-term depression because I can't imagine myself not being able to run and play sports anymore.



Because I was so desperate to recover again, I contacted a lot of people that I know who do sports and asked them if they had similar injuries. One friend of mine, from the boy's football team in my university, told me about H.E.M. Ankle Rehab. I got a copy 4 days after I got injured. I immediately read and followed what was instructed and felt improvement on the first day. I was able to walk a bit, but I was in pain.



A couple of days after that, the swelling and bruising were subsid-ing significantly and on the fourth day, I was walking comfortably again. Although I've had felt a bit of stiffness, I continued doing what was instructed. My sister was surprised that I have recovered this fast. I told her about this book and was shocked on how effective the procedures were. I'm just so happy that this book was shared to me and how effective it is.



Heal your ankle fully & fast?