Is My Tattoo Healing Properly?: A Day-by-Day Guide to Perfectly Healed Ink
- hannahkucharzak
- Mar 31
- 6 min read
If you’ve ever googled “is my tattoo healing normally or should I be worried????,” this article is for you! No matter what, when you’re healing a tattoo, the key is to pay attention to what your body needs and give it the best possible foundation for your tattoo to stay bold and true for years to come.
Keep in mind that every body is different. And a wall-to-wall full-color sleeve’s healing process will look different than a 2 inch fine line tiny tatt’s. Your experience may differ from what’s in the guide below, and that’s okay. It’s not an exact science.
If you’re still concerned, even after reading the article, you can reach out to your artist with photos of your tattoo to confirm if your healing process is on the right track.
Medically speaking, your body’s full healing process can actually take up to 6 months—but the bulk of that healing happens in the first three weeks or so, and requires your attention and care. Below is a handy guide to take you day-by-day through your fresh tattoo’s healing stages.
This article is intended to cover what is normal during the healing process. For more information about caring for your tattoo, or if you forget what your artist explained about aftercare, please refer to our other article, “Tattoo Aftercare.”
FIRST WEEK
You’ll want to make sure your body has the best chance of healing your tattoo, which means a strong immune system and rest.
Take it easy! Make sure to hydrate and eat healthy.
Avoid heavy exercise. The sweat and repeated stretching of your skin may irritate the tattoo and cause excess ink weeping.
Avoid heavy drinking the day before and the night after your tattoo, which can thin your blood and cause excess ink loss.
Avoid using petroleum jelly, Vaseline, Aquaphor, or other thick moisturizers. These usually sit on the top of the skin, soaking the tattoo, and risking patchy healing later. Always use a thin layer of unscented water-based lotion (like Cerave or Curel) to moisturize your tattoo. Your tattoo should NOT be shiny from oversaturated moisturizer—if it is, then you’re using too much.
Use an unscented liquid soap like Soft Soap. Avoid antibacterial or bar soaps.
Avoid hot tubs, swimming, and baths, which can cause poor healing or infection (DO THIS FOR THE FIRST 3-4 WEEKS).
Cover your tattoo from the sun, which can irritate and fade your tattoo prematurely (DO THIS FOR THE FIRST 3 WEEKS, then apply sunscreen after 3 weeks).
Let’s dive in and take it day-to-day:
DAY 0
You just got out of the chair. Your ultra fresh tattoo will have blood and redness, and will very likely hurt. Your artist will put a transparent derm bandage (sometimes referred to as “Second Skin,” “Tegaderm,” or “Saniderm”) which is a breathable bandage that you will keep on your tattoo in the coming days.
If you’re allergic or have sensitivity to medical adhesives, your artist may cover your tattoo in cling wrap, a soaker pad bandage, and/or wrap that in sensi-wrap, a lightweight compression bandage. You should remove this when you get home, and immediately wash your tattoo with water, unscented soap, pat dry, and apply a thin layer of unscented water-based lotion. More on that below! You may apply a fresh sheet of cling wrap around your tattoo before bed so that your tattoo doesn’t weep ink and plasma on your bedsheets.
NORMAL: Pain, blood, redness, excess ink/plasma/fluid, swelling, feeling hot to the touch.
DAY 1 - 3
Your tattoo may still hurt and have redness. Slight swelling is normal for the first couple of days. Tattoos on sensitive areas where your skin moves a lot (elbow, knee, stomach, neck, finger/hand) are more prone to feeling painful and sore.
If you had a derm bandage applied, your tattoo will still be weeping some ink/blood/other fluid. This discharge can get stuck under the bandage and cause it to look blurry or even like there is a thick colored film over the entire area. This is okay! When the bandage is removed and cleaned, your tattoo should look just like it did before the bandage.
If your derm bandage is making your skin turn red and irritated around the edges or under the bandage, carefully take it off immediately in the shower, clean the tattoo with unscented soap, and apply a thin layer of unscented water-based lotion. Likewise, if your derm bandage is creating big pockets of pooling with excess ink, sweat, and other fluid, take it off, clean the tattoo with unscented soap, and apply a thin layer of unscented water-based lotion.
NORMAL: Redness, pain when stretched or moved, pooling or weeping ink/blood/plasma/fluid under your derm bandage, swelling, derm bandage peeling up at the edges.
TAKE ACTION IF YOU HAVE: Irritated and red skin around or under the derm bandage (take it off), irritated itchy red skin (wear looser clothing so that it’s not constantly rubbing against your skin).
DAY 3 - 5
Time to take off your transparent derm bandage. The purpose of the bandage is to skip some of the typical scabbing that happens to a fresh tattoo that doesn’t receive the bandage, so some of the info below may not apply to you.
Your tattoo should be hurting less by now. If you’re still experiencing the same level of pain by Day 5 as you had when your tattoo was fresh, monitor it and reach out to your artist for advice.
Fresh tattoos (wounds) scab due to the plasma that oozes out. Gently pat away wet plasma while cleaning your tattoo to keep it from forming big scabs that could dry out and crack.
NORMAL: Tightness, mild redness, light scabbing, wrinkled skin where the bandage was applied, some swelling, derm bandage peeling up at the edges (as long as it isn’t exposing your actual tattoo, you’re good to keep it on; if it’s peeled up, exposing the tattoo, just take off the derm bandage).
TAKE ACTION IF YOU HAVE: Intense swelling or purple-ish skin (contact your artist and send pictures so that they can advise you on what to do), irritated and red skin around or under the derm bandage (take it off!), irritated, itchy red skin (wear looser clothing so that it’s not constantly rubbing against your skin).
DAY 5 - 10
Your tattoo may be feeling tight or itchy. Make sure you’re applying a thin layer of unscented water-based lotion throughout the day, but more than 4 times per day is not necessary—you want to make sure your tattoo doesn’t dry out but you don’t want it to be over moisturized and wet, which may cause fallout and patchy healing.
Very peel-y, flaky skin is normal at this stage. Don’t peel it, as satisfying as it might seem. Simply allow it to flake off on its own when you’re applying lotion or gently washing it in the shower. Picking off skin that isn’t ready to come off can prematurely fade your tattoo or cause infection or patchy healing.
Your tattoo might look dull or even blurry at this point, which is normal—once you’re finished shedding/flaking that skin, your tattoo will be vibrant again.
Feel free to exercise as normal. Make sure you’re continuing to cover your tattoo from direct sunlight and staying out of water, pools, and soaking in the bathtub.
Your tattoo should be finished with “oozing” fluid. It should no longer be red with mild irritation.
NORMAL: Tightness, itchiness, peeling, flaking, light scabbing, light scabs flaking off, wrinkled light scabbed skin, dull or blurry-looking tattoo, DO NOT PICK, PEEL, SCRATCH, OR EXCESSIVELY RUB YOUR TATTOO.
TAKE ACTION IF YOU HAVE: Pain, intense swelling or purple-ish skin, raised red extremely itchy areas (contact your artist and send pictures so that they can advise you on what to do).
DAY 11 - 21
Your tattoo is on its way to finally being healed! Flaking should be finishing up by week 3. It’s normal to go through a heavy flaking period followed by a few days of looking healed, only to go through a second, lighter flaking period.
Limit swimming or soaking in water/pools until after week 3-4. When you’re finished peeling, be sure to apply SPF50 sunscreen to the tattoo from here on out, but continue to limit sun exposure. UV rays quickly fade tattoos, so protect your beautiful investment.
Your tattoo might have a slight sheen on its surface for the first couple of months, which is completely fine and normal—it will go away.
NORMAL: Heavy flaking, light flaking, slight sheen on the surface.
TAKE ACTION IF YOU HAVE: Pain, intense swelling or purple-ish skin, raised red extremely itchy areas (contact your artist and send pictures so that they can advise you on what to do).
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Happy healing!
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