3950 Doniphan Drive Suite E, El Paso, Texas 79922, United States
Pre-Care
Pre-Care Instructions:
- For an optimal experience for you and your artist, peparing the area of skin you are anticipating getting tattooed is crucial.
- 1- 4 weeks prior to your appointment, simply drinking plenty of water will do wonders to hydrate your skin from the inside out.
- Apply lotion or oils on the area 1-2 times daily
- Exfoliate the skin weekly. Do not exfoliate within 48 hrs of your appointment.
- keep the area out of the sun and use sunscreen daily if needed.
- Do your best to avoid things that dry out your skin, such as: really hot and long showers, soaking (bath, hot tub, pool, etc), harsh cleaners, excessive caffeine or alcohol intake.
- If the area is covered in thick hair, feel free to trim it before your appointment so it's easier for us to shave.
Partaking in a healthy skin regiment not only looks good and feels good, but it will make for easier therefor quicker tattoo ink saturation. This will save you from unnecessary discomfort, time, money, and support a fast, easy heal.
Continue this skin regimen once your tattoo is healed for best longterm tattoo care.
(drink plenty of water, hydrate skin daily, exfoliate weekly, and use sunscreen daily)
Common Complications:
There may be physical ailments or conditions that would prevent you from being tattooed. Out of concern and consideration for clients’ health, most shops will not tattoo you if you have certain conditions. Choosing not to disclose medical conditions to your tattoo artist before your appointment could prove very harmful to your health.
Pregnancy or Breast Feeding:
- Reputable shops will not tattoo any clients that are pregnant or breastfeeding. As with any tattoo, there is always the risk for problems such as infection. With pregnancy and breastfeeding, these risks would also be passed onto the client’s baby. As infants, these risks are also higher because their immune systems are not as strong. In addition, creating and birthing a child causes a lot of changes within the body. Waiting at least six months after postpartum or weaning off breast milk will allow your body plenty of time to recover so it is ready to endure and heal a tattoo properly.
Diabetes:
- Having diabetes doesn’t prevent you from ever being tattooed. It just means that you will have a lot of things to consider and address before hand. The primary concern is longer healing times. Tattoos are an open wound, as a tattoo needle pierces the skin thousands of times per minute. Longer heal times mean that the wound (tattoo) will be more at risk to bacteria and infection. The healing time is not as lengthy for those with well controlled diabetes. In addition, certain areas of the body with poor circulation or neuropathy will also have longer heal times. Talk to your doctor before considering a tattoo, in order to keep your diabetes well maintained before, during and after the tattoo.
Psoriasis:
- Chronic skin conditions can pose unique risks for tattooing. There are a few possible triggers for psoriasis flares such as medications, stress, allergies, weather, illness or colds, and injuries / cuts to the skin – such as tattoos. Psoriasis doesn’t rule out ever being tattooed. First and foremost, you should speak with your doctor to see if you are a good candidate to be tattooed. You should not get tattooed in areas that regularly flare up, and your artist should not tattoo on or near a flare up. It’s also important to consider the ‘Koebner phenomenon’ which causes new flares to appear in areas nearing past trauma or injuries, where they haven’t before. Flares on new tattoos can cause them to heal poorly or take longer to heal.
Excema:
- There are different types and degrees of eczema. Those that seldom have or have small flares are better candidates to be tattooed. While those with frequent, large and severe eczema should speak with their doctor before speaking to a tattoo a shop. People with eczema can have more sensitive skin, which could lead to allergic reactions to the pigments in tattoo ink. The process of getting a tattoo itself has the chance to cause skin irritations or flare ups – as the skin is punctured thousands of times and foreign particles (ink) is deposited below the skin to create a design. If your new tattoo triggers a flare up, it runs the risks of not healing well and lengthy healing time – which also makes it more vulnerable to infection.
Blood Disorders:
- Some bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia, can be inherited or acquired. Others can occur from such conditions as anemia, cirrhosis of the liver, HIV, leukemia, and vitamin K deficiency. There are several different types of blood related disorders or conditions. Some of them cause excessive bleeding or issues with clotting, which is not ideal for tattooing. Those with blood disorders may be turned away by shops due to the risks and issues posed by being tattooed. Blood disorders could lessen the artists visibility, extra wiping could cause the stencil to come off early compromising the design, and even dilute or push out some of the tattoo ink. This means the tattoo artist would either have to go over these areas multiple times, causing more trauma and pain to the skin – or end the appointment altogether. Also, blood disorders can also cause tattoos to heal poorly or long healing times.
Medications:
- Certain medications that thin the blood, such as blood thinners (anticoagulants), heparin, and warfarin would hinder the chances for being tattooed. Tattooing those taking blood thinners can cause excessive bleeding, which is not good while tattooed as mentioned above. Those that are taking anti-rejection medication for an organ transplant should not be tattooed until consulting with a doctor, due to the greater chance for infections. Even some acne medications pose risks when being tattooed, as they make the skin incredibly sensitive causing increased levels of pain and discomfort. It’s imperative to speak with your doctor if you are uncertain how your medication will affect your chance to be tattooed.
Any client with an existing condition should confirm with their doctor whether or not being tattooed is safe. It is also important to disclose to your tattoo artist any and all conditions that may compromise you and your tattoo wellness so that they are aware and equipped to better serve you and ensure a safe experience. It should also be noted that every medical circumstance can be different from one person to the next.
