This “tattoo flu” is pretty common and should fade into memory in a few days (unlike your new tattoo). Your body's immune system is making you feel wiped out while it attacks potential threats to your bod. Be on the lookout for a mild fever, chills, fatigue, and some tummy discomfort.
Feeling tired after getting a tattoo is normal, and it's nothing to be too concerned about. The physical and mental toll of getting a tattoo can cause fatigue and exhaustion, but it's a temporary side effect that will go away with time.
In fact, you'll actually burn calories during a tattoo because your metabolism speeds up in response to tension. Carb loading is a great way to make sure you'll have enough energy to get through your next tattoo appointment.
In the immediate aftermath, and for the next few days, the site of a new tattoo can feel stingy and sore, maybe a bit like sunburn or a light graze. Slight inflammation and soreness is normal for skin that has been broken and needs to heal.
This “tattoo flu” is pretty common and should fade into memory in a few days (unlike your new tattoo). Your body's immune system is making you feel wiped out while it attacks potential threats to your bod. Be on the lookout for a mild fever, chills, fatigue, and some tummy discomfort.
The first 24 hours
“Some swelling, redness, and general irritation is all normal after a fresh tattoo (after all, you've just had foreign particles stabbed into your skin repeatedly). However, this goes down relatively quickly within the first 48 hours,” Liv says.
Tattoo blues is a thing, it's the come down after the high of having a tattoo. When you have that tattoo your body is flooded with endorphins which helps with having a tattoo, but when they leave that's when the body crashes. Tattoo mental health is important.
Scratching pain.
Getting a tattoo is often compared to a cat repeatedly scratching you. Though it's not the most intense pain ever, it might make you wanna hiss – especially if your artist uses multiple needles, like when shading. This also tends to happen away from bony or ultra-sensitive areas.
What to eat to speed healing. To speed the healing process of the skin, you should consume foods rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, such as omega-3. Foods with the most antioxidant properties include tomatoes, red fruits, citrus fruits like orange, and herbs such as garlic, onion and saffron.
But, Whitney Marie Donohue, artist at Rise Again Tattoo in Billings, MT, suggests “bringing little candies to keep your blood sugar up” during the session so that you don't feel faint from the sight of needles, blood, or you know, from not eating at all.
"When it comes to weight loss or weight gain, tattoos can be slightly affected if the change is very drastic. A few pounds here and there won't make much of a difference, but let's say you went from 450 pounds to 150 pounds or vice versa, there could be some distortion with a tattoo design," Paulino says.
Be sure your artist covers your new tattoo in a thin layer of petroleum jelly and a bandage. Remove the bandage after 24 hours. Gently wash the tattoo with antimicrobial soap and water and be sure to pat dry. Apply a layer of antibacterial/Vaseline ointment twice a day, but don't put on another bandage.
When you get a tattoo, your body releases endorphins. Endorphins are naturally occurring chemicals that are produced by your body to relieve stress and pain. When released, they cause a euphoric feeling not dissimilar to a class of drugs called opioids.
Contrary to what you might expect, many people report that the shading hurts significantly less than the outlining of the tattoo. If you've already made it through your line work, pat yourself on the back. You've likely conquered the most painful part already.
It has been shown that women have a lower pain threshold and a lower tolerance than men to most types of nociceptive stimuli; therefore, women report increased pain sensation and further greater sensitivity to both clinical and experimental pain [21].
In fact, 1 in 4 people who made a spontaneous decision to get a tattoo, regretted it within a few days. That said, there was still a small fraction of people (5 percent) who spent years thinking about getting a tattoo and regretted it within days.
Approximately 25% of people with tattoos experience some level of tattoo regret.
Usually, you should remove your tattoo bandage after 3-4 hours. Carefully wash your new tattoo with a professional tattoo cleanser or mild antibacterial soap and lukewarm water. Pat it dry with a fresh paper towel. Always wash your hands before cleaning or touching any skin near the fresh tattoo.
After usually no less than 5 hours, it is safe to remove the bandage and wash the tattoo. After thorough hand-washing, a person can gently wash the tattoo with hypoallergenic soap and warm water using their fingers.