For anyone who has gotten a new tattoo, how long after getting it were you back in the water? How long should you have waited 
thanks
Layne
thanks
Layne
New Tattoo and Diving
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If they used water proof ink, you should be able to go back right away. 
Actually, I have no clue. I know K-Valve got a new tat when he was in Coz. He would be a good one to check with. You might also see if DAN has any information on the subject.
Actually, I have no clue. I know K-Valve got a new tat when he was in Coz. He would be a good one to check with. You might also see if DAN has any information on the subject.
Dont go swimming in Mexico Resort pools after getting piercings. I know that one.
It was a month after the piercing, and it got so infected, it was like a pea sized puss bubble.
I went to the piercing place, and they almost fell off their chairs it was so gross looking, they took it out right then and there.
It was a month after the piercing, and it got so infected, it was like a pea sized puss bubble.
I went to the piercing place, and they almost fell off their chairs it was so gross looking, they took it out right then and there.
SCUBAJENNIFER
Contributor
This is from my friend Donald's tattoo shop website...I think it's pretty thorough!
We did our job, now it's all up to you to take good care of your brand new tattoo. Please follow the instructions given to you so that your tattoo heals up fast and good.. It's all in your hands now...So please take good care of your tattoo...
BASIC AFTERCARE
Leave Your Bandage On For 12 Hours, Do Not Take It Off
To Show People. It will Still be there Tomorrow.
Before You Remove The Bandage, you should Wash Your Hands
with an Antibacterial Soap. If The Bandage Sticks at all
To The Fresh Tattoo, Stop. Get a Cup and Fill It With Cold Water.
Pour the Cold Water over the Bandage and The Tattoo.
This Will Loosen the Bandage from your Skin. Pull Gently,
You Don't want To Pull out any of the Color.
After Removing the Bandage, Wash the Tattoo Lightly using a
mild antibacterial soap and cold Water for 5 minutes.
Do Not use a Wash Cloth! Use Your Hand To Wash The Tattoo.
After the 5 Minutes are Up, Gently Pat the Tattoo Dry. Do not Rub.
DO NOt Re bandage The Tattoo!!
You Want Your Tattoo To Stay as Dry as Possible. That is Why It Is
Important When Applying Lotion or Ointment To the Tattoo, That You Don't
Use a lot. Just Enough to Cover It with a Light Layer. You Shouldn't Be Able
Tell That there Is Anything on the Tattoo except for the Fact that an
Ointment will be Wet Looking. If You Use the Correct Amount
You Won't Be Able to tell at all 10 Minutes after you put it on.
There Are Several Things You Can Put on a Tattoo To Help It Heal Faster.
Lotion such as Dermasooth, Curel and Lubriderm. These all work fine.
Using a Lotion Takes about 2 weeks for the Tattoo to Heal all the way.
With A Lotion Use Only a Small Drop Three or Four times a Day. Gently
Rub it on the Tattoo. Do Not Coat the Tattoo with It. More Is Not Better,
Use Less and It will Heal Faster.
Ointments Work For Healing a Tattoo. Preparation H Works Great.
It Heals In Half the Time. You Can't Use a lot of It. It's The Same
as the Lotion. Use Less and It will heal faster. I've Seen So Many
People Glob Preparation H on their Tattoo. That Method Slows Down
The Healing Process and Can trap Bacteria in The Globbed Up Warm
Goo That They Have So Graciously Covered Their tattoo with. I've Seen
People Use Enough Ointment in One Application that they could have
used the same amount over a period of 2 weeks and Still Would have
Had Some to Spare. People "DON'T USE THAT MUCH OINTMENT!"
Other Ointments: A&D works OK It heals kinda Slow. Bacitracin Works
If You Don't Use That Much. I've Seen a lot of Reactions to Bacitracin.
Red Pimples Pop Up and Itch all around the tattoo. It's the Zinc in Bacitracin
and Preparation H That can Cause This. Some People are allergic To It.
Do Not Use NeoSporin! You Are Not Treating an Infected Cut. Out of all
The Ointments I've Seen People have a reaction to It's been Neosporin.
Do Not Use Petroleum Jelly, It will Cause Slow Healing and A dull Look to
The Tattoo Once It's Healed.
When Applying The Ointment or Lotion Make Sure You WASH YOUR
HANDS before you touch your Tattoo. You Will Have To Wash Your tattoo
Gently at Least Twice a Day with Your Hand and Antibacterial Soap.
You Will Develop a Thin Scab on The Tattoo. Don't Pick It, Scratch It
or Pull at the Scabs. It Will Itch a little when It's Healing. Do Not Scratch IT!
Do Not Go Swimming or Soak The Fresh Tattoo in Water for 2 Weeks.
Water Includes = Hot Tubs, Pools, Bath Tubs, Lakes, Creeks, Rivers
and Oceans. You Have To keep Your Fresh Tattoo out of the SUN
FOR 2 WEEKS. No Tanning Beds For 2 WEEKS.
That's Basically It. Caring For a Tattoo is More Common Sense Than
Anything Else. Keep the Tattoo Clean and Use VERY LITTLE
Ointment or Lotion. Always Wash Your Hands Before Touching It.
No Sunlight or Soaking It in Water. If You Are Having Any Problems
With Your Tattoo Contact Someone Who Knows. Your Friends
Regardless of How many tattoos They Have, Or How Ever Many Their
Uncle's Brother's Cousin Has. They are Not The Person You Should
Be Taking Advice From. A Tattoo is Permanent, You Can Do Damage
to It's Appearance If You Do Not Care For It Properly.
If You have any Questions Call Us Or Email Us, Please.
We did our job, now it's all up to you to take good care of your brand new tattoo. Please follow the instructions given to you so that your tattoo heals up fast and good.. It's all in your hands now...So please take good care of your tattoo...
BASIC AFTERCARE
Leave Your Bandage On For 12 Hours, Do Not Take It Off
To Show People. It will Still be there Tomorrow.
Before You Remove The Bandage, you should Wash Your Hands
with an Antibacterial Soap. If The Bandage Sticks at all
To The Fresh Tattoo, Stop. Get a Cup and Fill It With Cold Water.
Pour the Cold Water over the Bandage and The Tattoo.
This Will Loosen the Bandage from your Skin. Pull Gently,
You Don't want To Pull out any of the Color.
After Removing the Bandage, Wash the Tattoo Lightly using a
mild antibacterial soap and cold Water for 5 minutes.
Do Not use a Wash Cloth! Use Your Hand To Wash The Tattoo.
After the 5 Minutes are Up, Gently Pat the Tattoo Dry. Do not Rub.
DO NOt Re bandage The Tattoo!!
You Want Your Tattoo To Stay as Dry as Possible. That is Why It Is
Important When Applying Lotion or Ointment To the Tattoo, That You Don't
Use a lot. Just Enough to Cover It with a Light Layer. You Shouldn't Be Able
Tell That there Is Anything on the Tattoo except for the Fact that an
Ointment will be Wet Looking. If You Use the Correct Amount
You Won't Be Able to tell at all 10 Minutes after you put it on.
There Are Several Things You Can Put on a Tattoo To Help It Heal Faster.
Lotion such as Dermasooth, Curel and Lubriderm. These all work fine.
Using a Lotion Takes about 2 weeks for the Tattoo to Heal all the way.
With A Lotion Use Only a Small Drop Three or Four times a Day. Gently
Rub it on the Tattoo. Do Not Coat the Tattoo with It. More Is Not Better,
Use Less and It will Heal Faster.
Ointments Work For Healing a Tattoo. Preparation H Works Great.
It Heals In Half the Time. You Can't Use a lot of It. It's The Same
as the Lotion. Use Less and It will heal faster. I've Seen So Many
People Glob Preparation H on their Tattoo. That Method Slows Down
The Healing Process and Can trap Bacteria in The Globbed Up Warm
Goo That They Have So Graciously Covered Their tattoo with. I've Seen
People Use Enough Ointment in One Application that they could have
used the same amount over a period of 2 weeks and Still Would have
Had Some to Spare. People "DON'T USE THAT MUCH OINTMENT!"
Other Ointments: A&D works OK It heals kinda Slow. Bacitracin Works
If You Don't Use That Much. I've Seen a lot of Reactions to Bacitracin.
Red Pimples Pop Up and Itch all around the tattoo. It's the Zinc in Bacitracin
and Preparation H That can Cause This. Some People are allergic To It.
Do Not Use NeoSporin! You Are Not Treating an Infected Cut. Out of all
The Ointments I've Seen People have a reaction to It's been Neosporin.
Do Not Use Petroleum Jelly, It will Cause Slow Healing and A dull Look to
The Tattoo Once It's Healed.
When Applying The Ointment or Lotion Make Sure You WASH YOUR
HANDS before you touch your Tattoo. You Will Have To Wash Your tattoo
Gently at Least Twice a Day with Your Hand and Antibacterial Soap.
You Will Develop a Thin Scab on The Tattoo. Don't Pick It, Scratch It
or Pull at the Scabs. It Will Itch a little when It's Healing. Do Not Scratch IT!
Do Not Go Swimming or Soak The Fresh Tattoo in Water for 2 Weeks.
Water Includes = Hot Tubs, Pools, Bath Tubs, Lakes, Creeks, Rivers
and Oceans. You Have To keep Your Fresh Tattoo out of the SUN
FOR 2 WEEKS. No Tanning Beds For 2 WEEKS.
That's Basically It. Caring For a Tattoo is More Common Sense Than
Anything Else. Keep the Tattoo Clean and Use VERY LITTLE
Ointment or Lotion. Always Wash Your Hands Before Touching It.
No Sunlight or Soaking It in Water. If You Are Having Any Problems
With Your Tattoo Contact Someone Who Knows. Your Friends
Regardless of How many tattoos They Have, Or How Ever Many Their
Uncle's Brother's Cousin Has. They are Not The Person You Should
Be Taking Advice From. A Tattoo is Permanent, You Can Do Damage
to It's Appearance If You Do Not Care For It Properly.
If You have any Questions Call Us Or Email Us, Please.
OP
I heard several different things from a few different tattoo artists. One said to wait a couple of weeks at least whereas another said it could be up to 6 weeks. One even said I could get back in the next day. Obviously I didn't pick that guy to do the art. Now, since it is getting colder down deep, I will be wearing my dry suit almost exclusively so that may certainly help but I don't want to do anything stupid and ruin the tattoo...
Layne
Layne
everyone has a different idea, but I would say the general rule is no salt water for at least 4 weeks and I would wait at least a week after it looks as though it is heal for lake water,typically 3 weeks depending on how much color is put in and how fast you heal.
OP
thanks. I have only completed the outline and shading at the moment. I have to wait for that to heal - 2-3 weeks before getting the color and then it has to heal - 2-3 weeks. I am wondering since I will be using a drysuit, yes I know they leak, if that would be enough to get back in the water in between outline/ shading and color.
thanks
Layne
thanks
Layne
1TexasDiver
Contributor
I don't want to know what was pierced
LVX,normally it takes about 2-3 weeks for the new tat to heal,and I would give it an extra week or two, at least a month before you go into saltwater
Voodoo Reef
Registered
It's more the "open wound" getting infected, than the color coming out.
I got a 1/2 sleeve done this summer & it took about 2 months to complete, going back every 2.5-3wks. I usually waited about a week before getting in the lake. Enough time for it to do it's initial scab and start to peel a bit.
Make sure you keep the tat hydrated if you get it wet. Lake and ocean water always dries my skin out. I used Aquaphor by Eucerin, which worked great for me. You can get it at Walgreen's or CVS.
I got a 1/2 sleeve done this summer & it took about 2 months to complete, going back every 2.5-3wks. I usually waited about a week before getting in the lake. Enough time for it to do it's initial scab and start to peel a bit.
Make sure you keep the tat hydrated if you get it wet. Lake and ocean water always dries my skin out. I used Aquaphor by Eucerin, which worked great for me. You can get it at Walgreen's or CVS.
I got one last October and went to Coz 5 days later. I used a lot of Vitamin D ointment 2x daily and heavy application of SPF 50 sunscreen over the area. Did 17 dives over 5 days and the tat is still looking good 1 year later.
