Can You Tattoo Over Stretch Marks

Tattoos Over Stretch Marks: Background

Stretch marks occur as our bodies grows, especially when gaining weight. During pregnancy, women develop stretch marks extensively and other parts of the body in order to accommodate the baby. You certainly can cover stretch marks with tattoos, although you need to take few precautions to ensure your tattoo is done properly.

The skin area on which stretch marks appear is basically broken, which is why fresh stretch marks appear more visible in red, purple or pink color. With time, the stretch marks heal and start to fade.

As with other tattoos meant to cover up scars such as self harm ones, it is imperative that you look for a professional tattoo artist that specialize in covering stretch marks.

Are More Stretch Marks Likely To Appear In The Same Area

If the tattoo is going to be placed in an area where more groups of stretch marks are likely to appear, you need to be prepared for the possibility that the tattoo may become damaged. This damage may be minor or extensive depending on the size and exact location of the emerging stretch marks. Getting a tattoo while pregnant would be an example of when things probably wouldnt go as well as youd like.

Losing weightcan also affect the visual appearance of a tattoo, as can gaining weight, and even putting on muscle.

Along with the list above, another huge factor in deciding how well your tattoo will come out depends on the actual artist you choose to pick.

You should ensure youre as diligent as possible when it comes to deciding who does your tattoo. You will want to pick somebody highly experienced, and the more work they have done with scars and stretch marks previously, the more likely it will be that theyll be able to do a great job on your own body.

Its Okay To Tattoo Over Newly Formed Stretch Marks

People who want to get tattoos over their stretch marks are often concerned about whether they can be done on newly formed ones. However, if the ones you have are still very red or purple and raised, it presents more of a challenge for the artist to do their job.

In general, your stretch marks are still going to fade and heal over time. If you get a tattoo with consideration to the color of your marks and the parts where its raised, the look of your piece might change as the marks heal.

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Can I Drink Alcohol After Tattoo

Drinking before or after Drinking before and after getting a tattoo is a no-no. Alcohol thins your blood, which means excess bleeding. When you bleed more than normal, it can cause visibility issues for the artist, potentially compromising the quality of the design. Excess bleeding can also thin the ink.

People Also Ask How Do Stretch Marks Affect Tattoos

If you have a tattoo in an area that lends itself to stretch marks usually the breasts, abdomen, thighs, buttocks, and upper arms the tearing dermis will indeed affect the integrity of the tattoo. Repairing an affected tattoo may be accomplished by a skilled tattoo artist once the stretch marks have faded.

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What Should I Expect When Getting A Tattoo Over A Stretch Mark

Everyones skin is different, and not all skin heals or ages stretch marks the same way. Some people will experience dark red or purple stretch marks for years, sometimes permanently. It all depends on the amount of damage the skin sustained from the stretching .

Another issue is the overall sensitivity and elasticity of each persons skin, as is the location of the stretch marks on the body as these factors can contribute to the likelihood that they will fade on their own and become less noticeable over time.

An experienced tattoo artist like those from Chronic Ink can help you determine the best options for your particular situation and which types of tattoos, styles and color schemes might be best.

From matching your natural skin tone to make stretch marks nearly indistinguishable, to camouflaging them with artistic designs, the options are endless.

New Stretch Marks Can Still Form Over The Tattoo

Tattoos dont prevent new stretch marks from forming over the same spot. This is something you can discuss with your artist beforehand to ensure that the tattoos integrity isnt compromised if or when new marks happen to form. However, if this is something that you arent able to prepare for, you can always go back to your artist so they can figure out how to fix or rework the tattoo so that its not warped from the stretch marks.

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Can You Tattoo Over Scar

One should wait until the scar is fully healed prior to getting a tattoo. It should be done in a sterile fashion and done by someone who has experience with tattooing over scars to get the best results, adds Dr. Shari Sperling, board-certified dermatologist. I would say wait a full year before tattooing over a scar.

What Color Are The Stretch Marks

Aged stretch marks generally take on a light or whiter tone from your regular skin color, and these are usually easier to tattoo. Red or purple stretch marks are a challenge to conceal, and take green toned ink to fully hide them. Unless youre willing to commit to a green tattoo, you may put yourself through a lot of pain tattooing red and purple stretch marks for no effective reason.

Dominique Bossavy, a permanent makeup artist, says, Once there is no color, no melanin, and no future production of melanin in the area, we have a clean slate to layer the color back onto the damaged skin.

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Common Tattoos To Cover Stretch Marks

Stretch marks can cover an extensive area and the tattoo, thus, needs to be elaborate enough to cover the entire area effectively.

The most common tattoo designs for stretch marks are flower cover up tattoos with elaborated petals , which are very easy to use and design for long scar or stretch marks areas.

Tattoos have certainly transformed from being just body art to a functional way used to cover up many types of scars.

Tattoo artists have mastered the art of helping individuals with tattoos to cover stretch marks resulting from surgery and naturally occurring to beautiful ink designs. So, can you tattoo over stretch marks? Yes! If you are sure that what you want is a permanent tattoo over stretch marks, you should go for it.

When done properly on healed stretch marks, your tattoo will be a beautiful piece of art to behold and you will no longer have to see those marks on your skin.

When tattooing over stretch marks, the artist needs to figure out how to work along the marks and never against them. The idea is to make the tattoo blend-in with the stretch marks.

The tattoo may need to have a deeper color and texture to camouflage the stretch marks, which requires the artists to go over the area several times.

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What To Expect When Getting A Tattoo Over Stretch Marks

There are several elements you need to know and anticipate when getting stretch marks inked:

• As a tattoo ink crosses through your dermis or the second layer of skin next to the epidermis, it lingers there for life. There are blood vessels, nerves, collagen fibers, glands, and dermal cells in the dermis of your skin. They play a vital role in healing. In the epidermis, cells are continuously dying. As a result, a tattoo that transmits only on the epidermis will disappear.
• Approximately 50-3000 times per minute, the tattoo needle stings your skin.
• In the tattooing process, the tattoo artist plunges the needle into the ink and then starts the tattoo machine. Typically there are three to 25 individual tattoo needles. The idea of needles with fewer ends is to emphasize and outline, and the direction of needles with more ends is to color and shade.
• Whether you will feel pain or not depends on how perceptive you are to pain. A notably minor sensation of stinging is customarily experienced. Ordinarily, the pain is not unbearable or uncomfortable.
• When creating a design, the artist usually uses a stencil to draft out the outline before working on it.

Stretch marks are most often portrayed as part of traditional tattoos by declining them into the design as if they were tangible. Another technique, called camouflage tattoos, conceals the scars by compounding them with your skin. This gives you a steady representation.

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Can Tattoos Cover Stretch Marks Everything You Need To Know

A lot of people, especially women, fight the everlasting battle against stretch marks throughout their lives. Stretch marks are generally an aesthetic issue for the majority, and people are always looking for a way to cover or conceal the mark partially or completely.

One increasingly popular way of concealing stretch marks is tattoos. Sometimes stretch marks simply come in the way in certain body areas where people want to get a tattoo in general. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, tattoos have become a popular trend for concealing stretch marks, for sure.

So, in the following, well take a look at everything you need to know about tattoos and stretch marks can tattoo cover them, and should you utilize this method as a way to conceal your stretch marks? So, without further ado, lets get started!

The Best Ways To Take Care Of Tattoos On Your Stretch Marks

• After employing petroleum jelly and covering the tattoo with a bandage, the tattoo artist will apply a layer of petroleum jelly over the tattoo. Dont dislodge it until 24 hours have passed. Talk to your tattoo artist about how to take precise care of the tattoo afterward.
• Remove the bandage from your hand by completely washing it. The idea is to check germs from getting onto your new tattoo. Make certain you remove it the right way as well. Be cautious not to split it.
• Use mild antibacterial soap and lukewarm water to rinse the affected area. Make sure not to wipe the area with a washcloth. You should let it air dry. Clean the area multiple times a day.
• The tattoo should be administered with an antimicrobial cream once it has withered.
• Make sure you moisturize the area on an everyday basis. You must keep it hydrated at all times.
• It is expedient for your tattoo to scab when it begins to heal. You might also regard that it creeps. If that happens, do not scrape the tattoo.
• After you get your tattoo, wear loose clothes for a few days or until it heals. Clothes that are too snug may exasperate your tattoo.
• Dont squander too much time in the water . While the tattoo is healing, avoid exhibiting it to sunlight as this could disparage it.

Although you may take a lot of care when tattooing stretch marks, there are some hazards associated.

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The Size Of Your Stretch Marks

This is a crucial factor in determining whether a tattoo can adequately cover your stretch marks or not. If the stretch marks are wide and long, the tattoo may not cover it properly.

The size of your tattoo will depend on the length and width of your stretch marks. You may want a specific tattoo design of a specific diameter, but if your stretch marks are bigger than that, you may have to go for a bigger and broader tattoo design.

Talk to a doctor and an expert tattoo artist before getting a tattoo done over your stretch marks. Here are a few things to keep in mind if you are new to the process.

How Do You Tell If A Tattoo Is Going To Scar

Distortion Or Pitting Of The Skin Tattoo scars are generally not always completely flat and uniform, and can sometimes make the tattoo look like its slightly distorted. Instead of rising above the surface, some scars actually go inwards and make it look as though there is a small pit within the skin.

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So Who Should Cover Their Stretch Marks With A Tattoo

As we mentioned, it is possible to get your stretch marks tattoos, but only if theyre fully healed, non-raised, non-colored, and relatively narrow and small.

So, who should get their stretch marks tattooed?

We surely recommend people with stretch marks on their stomach, thighs, and buttocks to get a stretch marks tattoo in case the stretch marks are fully healed and the color of the skin. Also, if they dont plan on any drastic body changes, there is no reason not to get such a concealing tattoo.

However, if such people have fresh stretch marks, which are red or purple, or raised, they should not get such a tattoo, at least unless the marks have fully healed.

If someone plans on gaining or losing weight or starting a pregnancy, then it would be best to postpone the tattooing of the stretch marks. During weight gain or loss, the stretchmarks change they can become wider, narrower, bigger, or smaller. In such a case, a tattoo would be completely disrupted due to stretch marks change.

So, what you need to do before deciding to get a stretch marks-covering tattoo is the following

• Identify whether your stretch marks have freshly appeared or if theyre fully healed
• Identify whether the skin is raised or sunken
• Identify the color of the stretch marks
• Identify the size and the width of the stretch marks
• Identify the cause of their appearance
• Identify if youre planning on weight or muscle gain/loss in the future

How To Care For Your Stretch Mark Tattoos

You can expect some swelling and redness post-procedure, according to Shapira. Forty-five to 60 days is the full healing process, but the swelling and redness should only last about five to seven days, she explains. She adds that during the healing process, the tattooed skin will go from pink and swollen, to a scabbed red-brown color, and thenonce its fully healedto the camouflage color.

Shapira also recommends clients avoid working out for two weeks post-treatment, in addition to avoiding swimming, steam, and sun, which can all slow the skins healing process. When it comes to bathing, you must take a quick shower without over-soaping or over-rubbing, and absolutely do not use a loofah for at least 60 days, she warns.

Harsh exfoliants and chemicals like glycolic or salicylic acids should also be shelved during this time, since these can remove the pigment of the fresh stretch mark tattoo. And if youre into laser hair removalor any other laser treatments, for that matterplan to avoid those too, since according to plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Law, laser hair removal devices are searching for pigment and can therefore remove the pigment it finds in the tattoo. He adds that this can cause damage to the skin including burning, blistering, hypopigmentation, or hyperpigmentation.

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Severity Of Stretch Marks

Skin type, elasticity, size, and color of your stretch marks make a big difference. If there is little variation from the surrounding skin then it may be a relatively seamless procedure. The more raised and the greater the variation however, the less consistent the tattoo will appear, and therefore you should not consider a design that depends upon that consistency across a given area of the body.

Also, you need to identify whether or not the stretch marks have run their full course. In other words, have they fully healed? While color change from reddish/purple/brown to a more even tone is an indicator, your physician can help you make that determination, especially if the scarring is the result of pregnancy, surgery, or other significant body changes. Only after the stretch marks have fully healed should you seek out a tattoo studio for a cover up.

How Do Celebrities Have No Stretch Marks After Pregnancy

In laser stretch mark removal, concentrated rays of light are directed at the stretch marks, stimulating new growth and smoothing the scars. Laser treatments are considered skin resurfacing treatments, helping your skin to heal and create a smoother texture. Laser treatment is more successful on newer stretch marks.

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Applying A Stencil On Curved Surfaces

Usually, stretch marks occur around the hips and stomach, which means youll be tattooing on a curved surface of the body. To get a stencil to curve with the body, youll need to cut little slits in it to make it easier to bend. The more flexible the stencil is, the easier it will be apply, despite any curves or dips.

It Is Important To Work With A Great Artist

Making tattoo over stretch marks is highly possible and everybody can get it. However, since it is not as easy as making tattoos on a healthy skin, it is important to work with a great tattoo artist. A great tattoo artist can create amazing art following the condition of the stretch marks. Most importantly, they know how to make a great design that can improve your confidence. So, if you are determined to get a tattoo over your stretch marks, do some researches first to find the best tattoo artist in your area.

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