Tattoo Rejection?

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Thursday February 7th, 2008 @ 7:28 PM

Filed under: Tattoos

Hi there!

I did a search and wasn’t able to find a similar question so I thought I’d ask.

About 2 months ago I had a large piece on my back coloured in and completed. This is the first time I’ve had any colour work done, everything before was just black and grey.

The one colour (a light pink) still feels dry, like it needs to peel, and is very muddy looking…basically it looks dirty, like I just had the tattoo done and let it dry out.

I was diligent with the aftercare my artist gave me, and everything else healed beautifully.

I’m wondering if this is my skin rejecting the ink? and if so is there a way to expidite the process so it finally looks nice? I don’t mind if I have to go get it touched up, but I know I shouldn’t do that until it’s done, whatever it’s doing now.

Thanks!

I wouldn’t go so far as to say your body is trying to “reject” the tattoo ink, but it definitely sounds like it isn’t taking to it well. Black is almost always the easiest color for your body to heal/accept as it has the least amount of elements and chemicals in it. When it comes to tattoo ink, the color that is most-commonly problematic is red. “Light pink” is typically created by mixing red pigment with white pigment. So, chances are good that your bad is having a hard time with the red.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any way to make the situation get better faster. You may want to consult with your tattoo artist. If he/she doesn’t have an answer, a trip a dermatologist might be helpful. Seems like you might even be able to have that area treated with laser tattoo removal.

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