Cracked and Peeled

@hcromer (2710)
United States
May 2, 2007 12:29pm CST
I went and got my most recent tattoo touched up on Wednesday last week. Nothing out of the ordinary, no ink was even leaking out into my sock when I was at work (its low on my ankle). A couple days ago the top layer of skin crackled like it was just a layer of paint on my skin and came completely off. No color stayed at all. Do any of you know what might have caused this? I have been taking care of it except for one night I went 12 hours between putting the triple antibiotic ointment on it so I have no idea what the problem might be, old ink maybe? I know she said that it had been there since before she started working there and it was a different color than what my little dinosaur started as (he was pink, then she touched him up in purple and now there's still only pink with skin showing though).
1 person likes this
4 responses
@lisado (1227)
• United States
2 May 07
I have no idea. Freak369 would probably know, if she hasn't answered this already. I know she wrote a detailed Epinion about "Tattooing 101". I asked my husband and he had no idea. He has two tattoos, one is color, and he said he used Neosporin on it (he was overseas and that was all he had) and didn't have that problem. Is this someone you have used before? I can't imagine it just peeling off like that, even if it was a touchup.
2 people like this
@loved1 (5328)
• United States
2 May 07
I have never heard of this happening. I would be going right back to that tattoo parlor and asking for my money back. Did you do any research on the tattoo artist before going? Have any previous customers had this kind of problem?
1 person likes this
@TerryZ (22076)
• United States
2 May 07
I never heard of that happening. And Ive never had a tatoo either.LOL Ive been thinking of getting one on my ankle too. I heard its really painful thou. Is it? And is it expensive? Well thats a silly question I know its expensive.LOL I hope you get yours figured out. And I hope you dont have to pay again. keep us informed.
• United States
3 May 07
All of the tattoo artists I have dealt with would recommend strongly against using triple antibiotic ointment on a new tattoo. Any petroleum based ointment is going to cause the tattoo to be unable to get oxygen. Oxygen is what lets any wound, including a tattoo, heal. In addition to that, any petroleum based ointment is going to attract dirt to your tattoo, which is also bad for a fresh wound. The antibiotic properties of the ointment are also bad for a new tattoo, because your tattoo is not an infected wound. There is no need to fight an infection that doesn't exist. Did the tattoo parlor tell you to use the triple antibiotic ointment?
@hcromer (2710)
• United States
3 May 07
I have used triple antibiotic ointment for all four of my tattoos. The shop told me to use bacatine which is the main ingredient in triple antibiotic ointment.
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
3 May 07
Actually, I recommend Bacitracin or anything with extra zinc in it. Triple antibiotics will kepp out infection and germs but it will prolong the healing process. I'd say if you are going to use a triple type product, only use it for large areas where there is a lot of bleeding.