Itchiness, Flakiness, and Peeling: The Healing Process So I’m half way through the second week of healing after getting my second tattoo and all I want to do it scratch it. I don’t remember my first one itching so much. I wonder if the location has something to do with it, or if the fact that this one is color and the first one was black.
I do know that location can affect the rate of healing for any wound. The closer to the heart the better the circulation and the faster the healing. That’s probably one contributing factor to my first tattoo, on my abdomen, healing quickly. My new one is on my foot, so more than likely it’s going to take a while to heal.
I noticed most tattoo artists give the same advice for taking care of tattoos. I’ve been following my artist’s instructions as closely as I can and so far things look good. I just keep thinking about how much it hurt and how I really don’t want to have to get it touched up.
Pain is subjective and different parts of the body experience pain differently. I now know that the tops of my feet experience a lot of pain. I’m still glad I put it there. My thought is that you houldn’t choose a location without thinking about it first. I chose my design and the top of my foot near my ankle seemed like the best place for it. And an hour of pain really wasn’t that bad---now that it’s over.
It’s just the damn itchy, flaky, peeling healing process that’s driving me crazy. After reading about the healing process and how to properly care for a new tattoo I still just want to scratch it. It’s like having an itchy nose and not being able to do anything about it. It’s torturous. Since it was self inflicted does that make me a masochist? Scott Jones
Tattoos by Design Zine
www.tattoos-by-design.co.uk/zine/. [October 15, 2006]
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