Tattoo Safety Tips: How to Care for Your New Ink Smartly

Body art in the form of tattoos has been around for centuries. But for as long as people have been getting inked, they’ve been getting tattoo removal. After all, who hasn’t had a night of too many drinks where they end up with an embarrassing tattoo they regret?

However, if you are going to get a tattoo, it’s crucial that you follow these proper skin care methods for tattooed skin from the American Academy of Dermatology to ensure your tattooed skin stays healthy. Some of the most important points include:

• Apply broad spectrum SPF 30 on top of your tattoo to protect it from fading.
• If your skin starts reacting, consult a board-certified dermatologist immediately.
• Make sure any new tattoos you are considering getting are not on top of any moles. Tattoos or any body art can make detecting a cancerous mole very difficult. It’s important to see  a board-certified dermatologist for an annual skin cancer screening every year.

Some tips to keep in mind so you can possibly avoid tattoo removal in the future. Think twice before inking your current flame’s name onto your skin. Celebrities such as Pamela Anderson and Melanie Griffith have both been seen with tattoos of their exes fading to varying degrees. The hardest tattoo ink colors to remove are blue and yellow and if you smoke, your tattoo is even more difficult to remove. Tattoo removal with a Q-Switched laser is the gold standard method of ridding of tattoos.

Before getting a tattoo, think long and hard about if you really want this design permanently etched onto your skin.