What Happens If I Get A Cut On My New Tattoo?

The long-awaited sittings have finally come and gone … after waiting for what felt like a lifetime, your new tattoo is finally complete and in the healing process. Accidents do happen, though. An unexpected jagged edge, a fall on the sidewalk, or even a small, disgruntled animal, and before you know it your new ink is scraped! Cut! Abraded!

The scrape that has violated your fresh art is naturally upsetting, but is your inkwork damaged forever? As is the case with any important question, there are multiple variables affecting an assortment of possible outcomes. Everyone talks about the importance of “aftercare” because those first few weeks really are pivotal in the longevity of your newest investment. If you’ve been taking good care of yourself and following your artist’s directions, chances are good you’re positioned for the best possible end result.

First, be ready for longer healing time. While your tattoo is a work of art and your one-of-a-kind form of self expression, you should remember that it is also an open wound. Your body is already working overtime to heal the breach, and an added cut has just upsized the workload. If you’ve been keeping up with your aftercare and taking care of your tattoo, this shouldn’t necessarily cause any additional worry. Continue to gently wash and care for your tattoo as your artist instructed, and drink plenty of water and remember to eat a balanced diet so your body has everything it needs.

H2Ocean’s Extreme Tattoo Care kit is the perfect solution for your tattoo aftercare needs, especially if you tend to be around precarious situations where it may be more likely for you to injure yourself inadvertently. This ointment based set of products was created to encourage healing in harder to heal areas like elbows and areas where the skin bends and for those that are more active. The specialized formulas keep applied areas moisturized for longer and keep tattoos bright and beautiful for many years to come.

The newer the tattoo is, the more vulnerable it is to damage. During the first several days, your skin is still raw and traumatized by the needles, so an abrasion in the first few days is potentially more damaging. As time passes, your skin regenerates its traumatized layers, covering and protecting the inked stratum. A surface cut to a fully healed tattoo may look bad, but it has very little chance of affecting the actual tattoo as long as it doesn’t scar.

Scabbing during tattoo healing is par for the course and isn’t normally cause for concern. If the accidental injury was deep, then more scabs can be expected. Let the scabs do their job and protect your body while it heals. Don’t wear scratchy clothing or lay on the damaged area, and do NOT scratch, pick, or pull at anything. This breach creates an opportunity for bacteria to enter, and bacteria can mean infection.

All that being said, let’s get to the bottom line. What’s the possible damage? What effects could all these variables have on your tattoo? Visual blemishes can happen, and are most likely if the tattoo was new enough and/or the cut was deep enough to reach the inked area. If there was scarring or if bacteria were able to get in and cause infection, the resulting imperfections can include the popular “that tiny thing?”, pitting, patchiness, fading, or gaps in the art design. If your body is good at healing, that bodes well. If you’ve always had a difficult time recovering from injuries, consider consulting a doctor and running your would care by your tattoo artist.