Tattoo scabs are experienced during the healing stage of your tattoo. It is a normal process that you will have, and knowing what to do and expect is important for the best outcome and look of your new tattoo.
Here Is How To Heal A Tattoo:
Tattoos need to be cared for after you leave the tattoo studio and this is what heals up scabs on your tattoo. It is up to you to wear a cover the first few days, wash your tattoo with antibacterial wash, and use a great aftercare cream.
What Are Tattoo Scabs Made Of?
When you get a new tattoo, it is expected that your new ink may begin to scab during the healing process.
A scab will form when the secretion of a yellowish substance known as plasma begins to condition around the tattoo. You will then start to feel itching when your tattoo begins to heal.
Generally, your new tattoo area is a wound, and when it begins to heal, scabbing will form in an attempt for the body to create protective walls around the damage to prevent infections. In the process, a walling will take place to prevent germs.
The skin will regenerate from inside as the tattoo heals, and the formed scab will fall off. Proper care by moisturizing well and cleansing your tattoo will ensure that the healing process goes well to avoid scarring from taking place.
Scabbing is caused by your body’s white blood cells, which work with plasma proteins to develop a protective cap around the tattoo-affected area. The scab that form will cover your tattoo.
How Long Does A Tattoo Scab Take To Heal?
Tattoo scabs take a natural process to heal.
It is a body’s way of forming a protective cover over the tattooed area to prevent infections caused by bacteria from affecting the wound. Typically, your new tattoo may take 7-14 days to heal fully.
However, it may take close to 30 days for the underlying layers within the tattooed area to heal truly.
This is what happens during the healing process of your new tattoo.
(I)Weeks 1-2: Within the first week after getting a tattoo, your tattoo will appear brighter compared to how it will look in its final form. During this time, your tattoo can be considered an open wound. Therefore, you need to clean it once in the morning and repeat it using antibacterial soap and warm water in the evening.
As you approach day seven, you will notice the skin around your tattoo oozing a liquid substance known as plasma. Please don’t panic because this substance is formed by the body to assist in the repair process around the wound.
(II)Weeks 2-4: During this time, the epidermis shall have healed itself, and your tattoo will begin to scab and flake. Scabbing forms when the wound is healing to give it a protection cover from an infection that may be caused by bacteria forming around your wound. It would be best to avoid picking the scabs to prevent wound formation. They will flake away as you clock week.
Also, use moisturizers to keep your tattoos area hydrated to reduce the itchiness when the skin becomes dry and flaky. The scab will be entirely over by the end of week 4, leaving the affected area looking a little dull.
You can increase the healing process of your new tattoo by covering the wound with some clothing to avoid direct sunlight, which may cause fading.
Usually, fresh tattoos are very sensitive to the sun. After removing the initial bandage your tattoo artist placed on the wound, please avoid re-bandaging your fresh wound again to create another dressing.
Another way of increasing your tattoo healing process is to clean it daily using antibacterial soap and warm water and apply ointment recommended by your artist or a medical practitioner for aftercare service. Please avoid scratching or picking the scabs when itching, and avoid using scented products.
Do I Still Wash My Tattoo When It’s Scabbing?
Yes, it would help to continue washing your tattoo when it begins to scab.
Use antibacterial soap with warm water to wash it gently and then rinse. But avoid rubbing the wound. Ensure that everything that you do is done gently to avoid forcing the scab off to avoid causing severe wounds.
After washing your tattoo, pat it gently using a paper towel to keep it dry. Avoid bath towels at all costs and save the scab area moist using a recommended ointment.
Wash your scabbing tattoo 2-3 times a day until it will heal completely, which may take several months. After washing your tattoo with antibacterial soap, ensure that you finish off using cold water to help in closing up the pores.
Washing a scabbing tattoo helps keep bacteria at bay which may cause havoc on your skin and prevent more adverse impacts from taking place to prolong the healing process.
It is a critical process similar to disinfecting your scabbing tattoo or the moisturizing process of bolstering the health of a wounded skin area.
Should I Moisturize Tattoo Scabs?
Yes, it is essential to moisturize your new tattoo regularly to help speed up the healing process.
After getting a new tattoo, the skin area around the pieced part will become sensitive when it begins to heal from the resulting trauma.
The general rule about moisturizing your new tattoo is 2-3 times a day. This equates to the exercise every 8-12 hours a day. However, you must listen to your body’s healing process and adapt a moisturizing approach that suits it.
Proper moisturizing helps form a thin membrane around your new tattoo to protect it. It also helps generate new skin cells around the wounded area and heal the tattoo. Therefore, it helps keep your newly tattooed skin from getting dry to avoid ruining your new piece of art.
Using the recommended moisturizers by your tattoo artist or medical practitioner can also lessen the pain caused by the tattoo on your skin. Minimizing the pain caused by tattoo is crucial because it reduces fatigue, lower how the body responds to stress around the wound, and promote faster healing.
Moisturizing your new tattoo also reduces the likelihood of getting a new infection in your tattoo. Moisturizer helps form specialized skin cells like keratinocytes that are crucial in closing the wound.
Essential vitamin found in moisturizers such as vitamin k helps ensure that your blood will clot appropriately around the wound area to prevent excessive bleeding.
Do Tattoo Scabs Heal Faster Covered?
When you cover your new tattoo adequately during the first three nights will aid in reducing skin irritation and, as a result, promote quicker healing.
During the day, you can apply a mild moisturizer that does not have a scent or any additives.
The first night your tattoo artist may recommend using a plastic wrap like saran wrap to enable you to sleep without causing interference on the tattooed part.
It will also prevent tattoos from sticking on your sheets. This type of wrap is essential for more extensive tattoos or solid-colour tattoos and should only apply to tattoos recommended to be wrapped. If your artist does not recommend covering your tattoo, leave it exposed overnight.
Another cover to use is a tattoo healing ointment, which you can apply a light layer from day three to the seventh day until your fresh tattoo begins to peel.
You can also Saniderm to cover your new tattoo. It helps the tattoo to heal faster. Additionally, you will likely experience less peeling and scabbing when your tattoo begins to heal. You will also avoid damages to your new tattoo during the early stages of healing.
Do Tattoo Wounds Heal Faster When Sleeping?
Yes, they do. Getting enough sleep is a crucial aftercare recommendation to speed the healing process of a new tattoo.
Generally, your body requires enough sleeping time to repair itself. When you don’t get enough sleep, it will take a long time for the healing process to occur. Sleeping helps your blood flow appropriately for your tattoo to heal much quicker.
During sleep, you will not worry so much about your tattoo. Sleep helps in speeding up the wound healing process. A tattoo scab is a type of wound, and with enough sleep, it will speed up the recovery process by providing the following benefits to your body.
(I)Promote healing: During sleep, your brain will begin to attend to other issues within your body. If you have areas that need healing, like the tattoo scab, the brain will trigger and release hormones to ensure that blood vessels affected by the piercing process are repaired. As a result, the tattoo wounds will heal faster, restoring the damaged cells.
(II)Gives the body a needed break: When you go to sleep, the demands that your heart requires will become less, causing your blood pressure to drop, and your heart will take a needed break. Sleep helps in muscles relaxation and hormone release. This process helps reduce inflammation around your tattooed place and aids in healing.
(III)Provides an energy boost: Body recovery may take work, and you need the energy to work. During sleep time, the demand for calories in your body will reduce, and your body will prepare well for more action when you wake up. Therefore, proper night rest enables your body to keep an appropriate alignment and helps your tattoo heal faster.