Surgery, Scarring and Tattoos

Luckily when I broke my wrist early December and went through a surgery I didn’t have anything done that affected my tattoos but it’s certainly not unheard of. Lots of people go through things in life like a surgery where the tattoo may have become deformed but hope is not lost. Of course your options for cleaning up a tattoo after something like this will depend on the tattoo and scarring, good news is artists are extremely creative! Tattoos can also be a great way to reclaim your body after something like a surgery. One photo I’ve seen that sticks out to me is a man who lost a good bit of this hand and got the resulting end of his arm tattooed to look like a shark!

The biggest thing that affects this kind of tattoo work is scarring. Scar tissue reacts differently from regular skin to tattooing; and like regular skin everyone’s is going to be different. The big thing with scar tissue is that it has a tougher time holding ink. Sometimes it holds great the first time, sometimes it needs a few touch ups, and sometimes that scar just won’t take ink. Even different scars on the same person will react differently to tattooing, it’s hard to tell until you take the chance but you can book a consult and have an artist give you their opinion if you’re unsure.

Artists are great at finding ways to rework and fix up tattoos to keep them looking rad whether they’ve just aged or gone through something like a surgery they can almost always do something to help you! Some people opt to use the scarring in their design and some want the scar covered all together. Art has such a range of versatility, as long as you’re open minded the tattoo can be salvaged.

Saved Tattoo also has a great article on tattoos and scarring I’d encourage you to check out as well. I was going to paraphrase and use them as a source but they put it so well it’s worth reading in full.

Photos:

• https://www.savedtattoo.com/tattooing-over-a-scar/
• https://www.demilked.com/scar-cover-up-tattoos/
• https://nextluxury.com/mens-style-and-fashion/hammerhead-shark-tattoo-designs-for-men/

Gatekeeper

Hi there! I'm Taylor, you may know me as Sterling Skull reception, or gatekeeper, or most recently Tater (thanks Chris). I love writing, creating and I love tattoos; so what better way to use my passions than to bring you a personal experience of our studio via a blog! Welcome, please stay a while!