How does dry healing work?
Dry healing is a kind of Healing Tattoo aftercare that doesn’t involve applying any cream, lotion, balm, or moisturiser to the skin after getting tattooed.
All you need to do for the remainder of the healing process is regularly wash the tattooed area with mild antibacterial soap and lukewarm/hot water to clean the tattoo after removing the original tattoo shop-issued bandage or wrap.
Why use a dry Healing Tattoo method?
1) Some tattoo enthusiastsÂ
Have exceptionally sensitive skin that does not respond well to environmental factors, including normal washes. To assist clean and protect the tattoo, a tattoo dry heal essentially goes above and beyond using tinctures of natural ingredient soaps or balms. It’s unlikely that your tattoo will develop into an itchy mess of allergies, redness, lumps, pimples, and (additional) abrasions if you’re only applying warm water to it.
2) A second common defence
Is that full tattoo aftercare is prohibitively expensive for Healing Tattoo. This reasoning is completely absurd. Given your presumably substantial initial investment in the inked project, another couple of twenty dollars, at the very most, is not too much to pay to keep your tattoo in immaculate condition for the following twenty years. Not to add the price of touch-ups or even removal that your bad maintenance decision does not cover.
3) Habits are fascinating concepts.
My first two dry heals were disappointing, which led to a change in aftercare behaviour (more on this below). Despite the rapid advancement of unscented lotion, unscented soap, essential oils, technology, and development for tattoo aftercare, for some people there is no need to alter a good formula because they have had positive experiences with dry healing tattoos throughout previous trips.
4) The influence of a force field.
Some people who collect tattoos don’t want anything to be able to penetrate the skin to the tattoo. They swear that by using this method, their fully healed tattoo is richer, brighter, and better because they view the top layer of skin as a force field that shouldn’t be breached under any circumstances.
Dry Healing? You must still clean your tattoo.
One prevalent myth among people who are dry healing a fresh tattoo is that you should entirely ignore the ink and carry on with your life as usual.
The most worst thing that might happen to your tattoo, skin, and general health is for it to become infected. Therefore, you must still properly clean your tattoo with an anti-microbial soap, preferably one that is unscented.
The quickest method for cleaning the tattooed region is as follows:
- Wash your hands well.
- Using clean hands, apply foam cleanser or soap to the freshly tattooed region.
- Gently massage a cleanser into the tattoo’s surrounding skin.
- Gently use a fresh paper towel to wipe away any residual cleanser.
- Gently pat any excess dry—do not rub—with a fresh towel.
- Cleaning a newly inked tattoo should begin as soon as the initial bandage is taken off and continue three times each day. Throughout the entire healing and tattoo care process, the cleaning procedure should continue.
What negative implications might dry tattoo healing cause?
The risk of tattoo dry healing tattoo is the same as the risk of any other approach, including the tattooing procedure itself. By injecting ink fragments under your skin, you have opened up a wound, which is danger by definition.
If the proper measures aren’t done to ensure skin health, the technique of aftercare you’ve chosen may be problematic.
Typical negative effects of dry healing tattoo include:
- Rupture and Itch. No matter how much money you spend on ink, if you choose the dry healing route, your skin will itch. You could feel like it’s driving you crazy at times.
- Peeling, flaking, and scabbing. Your epidermis, the top layer of skin, sheds during the skin peel phase of tattoo healing. Your tattoo ink is shielded from the top layer’s healing skin since it is located underneath your dermis. The issue here is that you can harm the tattooed skin by picking, prodding, and poking it. This will prevent the healing process from taking place.
- Dry skin. Your skin is likely to become tighter if you opt not to use a moisturising lotion, balm, or ointment. The appearance of your tattoo after healing may be affected by skin cracking.My experiences dry healing tattoos
I healed my first two tattoos using a dry method. On my left and right upper arms, respectively, they were little designs in plain areas that were about the size of a badge. I heal rather quickly by nature and am also very lethargic.
Dry Healing Tattoo was the tattoo artist’s recommendation for aftercare when I got my first one in 2000. It’s simple advice to follow if you’ve ever visited Canberra, Australia in the dead of winter because the city is frigid enough to freeze a brass monkey’s balls off. Despite the itching and peeling being nearly intolerable at points over the following two and a half weeks, I strictly complied with his advice.
What Steps Should Be Taken For Every Tattoo Aftercare?
Whether you pick a dry or wet Healing Tattoo procedure, tattoo aftercare is essential. Regardless of the healing technique you select, here are a few essential measures that every new tattoo owner should remember:
Get Clean Hands
Before touching or caring for your tattoo, always wash your hands. If your hands are not well washed, they will transfer bacteria and germs to this sensitive area. Clean, lint-free towels should be used to dry your hands after washing them for 20 seconds with antibacterial soap and warm water. Keeping your hands so clean and fresh stops bacteria and germs from getting into the new tattoo location and perhaps causing inflammation or infection.
Replace the bandage only once.
Before you leave the studio, the tattoo artist covers the ink with a bandage. The raw, vulnerable skin is shielded by this bandage from the first contact with the elements. Usually within the first 24 hours, your artist will let you know how long you should leave the dressing in place. After washing your hands, carefully remove the bandage. The healing process could be slowed down if you change the dressing with a new one.
Observe two weeks
The majority of tattoo artists advise their customers to wait two weeks before getting the tattoo wet. How long should you wait? Ask your artist. The first two weeks following receiving your new Healing Tattoo should not be spent swimming or taking tub baths; nevertheless, this is not an excuse to skip your morning shower. Simply keep your tattoo in mind while taking a shower and avoid letting the water drip down onto it.
Keep it tidy
You must keep your tattoo clean if you don’t want to develop a skin infection. After two weeks, wash the new ink two to three times daily with warm, sterilised water and a gentle, alcohol-free, fragrance-free tattoo cleanser.
Adopt safe sun habits
Can you imagine what the sun does to newly tattooed skin if it causes damage to healthy skin? Skin that has just been tattooed is raw and vulnerable, thus it has to be shielded from the sun’s rays. Make sure your tattoo is loosely covered with breathable cotton clothing, regardless of where it is. Ask your Healing Tattoo artist if mineral-based sunscreen with 30 SPF or more is appropriate to wear over that delicate new ink if you will be directly exposed to the sun. Always use SPF 30 or higher to protect both the tattoo and the rest of your skin after it has healed.
Develop sun-safe habits.
If the sun damages healthy skin, can you imagine what it does to freshly tattooed skin? Skin that has recently undergone tattooing is sensitive and raw, thus it must be protected from the sun’s rays. No matter where your tattoo is, make sure it is loosely covered with breathable cotton clothing. If you will be exposed to the sun directly, ask your Healing Tattoo artist if mineral-based sunscreen with 30 SPF or more is okay to apply over that delicate new ink. After your tattoo has healed, you should always apply SPF 30 or higher to protect the rest of your skin as well.
Cover Healing
During the entire Healing Tattoo period, wrap healing involves keeping your tattoo wrapped in plastic (you only remove it to clean the wound).
The concept is that by keeping your skin’s natural moisture in place rather than evaporating as it would during a dry heal, the plastic aids in the healing process.
Both the dry and wrap methods avoid the use of moisturisers or other products during the tattoo healing process. However, given the variety of other options available for your new tattoo, I’m not sure covering your ink with plastic wrap is a great idea.
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