Swimming after a tattoo?...?

Question

I just got a tattoo today and the guy said not to go swimming for 2 weeks. I know I should really stick by that, but i swim everyday...Do you think i could cut it down a week or so?

Answer 1

If you want to be happy with your tattoo once it's healed, you need to listen to the artist. If you're OK havin' a crappy, faded, spotty, etc. tattoo, go ahead and take your chances.

Answer 2

Absolutely NOT!! You need to listen to the instructions you were given.

The day after getting a tattoo, your skin scabs and heals after being injected by a needle piercing your skin thousands of times per minute-- or more. Your skin will need 3-5 days for this scab to heal, and afterwards the new skin underneath will be tender, but still fine. However, it's chemicals like chlorine which can cause infection to the healing site (your tattoo) and cause you to see the doctor and thus give the tattoo place you went to a bad name. Half of these incidences would be nonexistent if the tattoo, piercing, etc customers listened to the instructions.

I don't think not swimming for two weeks will cause your freestyle to dwindle, however imagine what a hamper an infected tattoo can do to your swimming capabilities.

Answer 3

Do not go swimming for two weeks. Firstly, your tattoo is a wound that is etched into the skin. It goes through three stages.

Stage one: this is the initial wound stage, this is when the wound creates the barrier that will keep airborne particles out.
Stage two: this is when the skin regenerates itself, so all of that peeling you see on the tattoo is the dead skin falling off as it gets replaced by new skin.
Stage three: this is when the scar matures and sets in to become like the rest of the skin. This is the stage in which your tattoo becomes the art and is not a wound.

Going swimming in any of these stages will pull the ink out and also, it takes away that protective barrier (in this case the peeling and scabbing).

Answer 4

Until your tattoo has completely healed (2 weeks), do not swim in an open space under sun. When it comes to the sun, though, from here on out it is your tattoo's number one enemy--Destroyer of Pigment, Vanquisher of Color, Fader of All Things Once Bright. It's ironic, of course. You want nothing more than for your friends to see your new tattoo. Hell, for strangers to see it too. But tattoo viewings are best left to the great indoors, no matter what the beach at spring break looks like.

You're used to the sun having an effect on your skin. In response to the radiation of the sun, it gets darker. You get a tan. That happens to all skin types, from white to black and everything in between. The pigment is called melanin and it's produced by melanocytes in the epidermis. In darker skin, melanin is in a constant state of production. However, melanin is not produced in response to all radiation; it is specifically counteracting ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The skin produces melanin in response to UV light as a protective mechanism so that the melanin can absorb the UV radiation and protect other cells from UV damage. That's all well and good and right. But consider how a darker epidermis affects the look of your tattoo. In order to see your tattoo, remember, you are looking through the epidermis. The darker the window, the darker the tattoo will look.

A tattoo that is done well in the first place, healed properly, and protected from light can remain vibrant for many decades. Ironically, of course, this isn't why many people get a tattoo. They get it to show it. So if you gotta show it, then show it indoors. If you gotta show it outdoors, do it in the winter on a cloudy day. If you gotta show it outdoors in the summer, do it in the early morning or late afternoon. And if you show it outdoors at all, use sunblock, always, always, always, even in winter on a cloudy day.

Answer 5

I highly recommend you follow the instructions the artist gave you. They put ink in skin every day and know what's right and wrong about the healing process of their work.

Tattoos are essentially a wound scratched into your skin, then filled with ink. The scratches heal, but the ink stays. Exposing the fresh wound to the chemicals in a pool or the dirtiness of the ocean is not a good idea at all.

It's only two weeks that you have to wait.....and it's worth it.

Answer 6

I was also told to stay out of water for a couple of weeks. I think it's for infection purposes and for the good of the tattoo as well. I guess tatoo artists know what they're talking about, so I wouldn't go swimming.

Answer 7

my friend got a tattoo on his arm, then went swimming after he got it, and it totally ruined it because of the chlorine in the water. i would sugest waiting till the tattoo is healed or when your tattoo guy said it was ok to swim. you might get lucky and it wont hurt it at all, but i'm telling you, if you could see my friends tattoo, you wouldn't swim lol

Answer 8

You really shouldn't. You don't want to risk damaging your tattoo. Why spend all that money and pain if you aren't going to let it heal properly? Wait at least 2 weeks. Plus, pools have more risk for bacteria and they have chlorine, which can bleach out a tattoo.

Answer 9

Don't go swimming. If you must, after a few days, you can just jump in the water and jump back out again....the same wetness you'd get in the shower. You just don't want to soak the tattoo.

Next time, get tattooed in the winter time! :)

Answer 10

Ihave made me to a tatto and i was allways swimming i don't thing that is a problem this you must only put alot of sun cream because is dangures if you live now your tatto in the sun without cream ok....!