SumChic discovered after the fact that she’s allergic to red tattoo ink…
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213 responses to “Swollen Red Ink”
Hello, I got a tattoo about 5/6 weeks ago and while the regular dark blue ink healed fine where my red flowers are it is extremely itchy and raised and kind of hard like scar tissue perhaps. I went to a dr as no scar takes 6 weeks to heal! They said it is probably an allergic reaction and that I could take steroids and/or antihistamine and to follow up with a dermatologist because in worst case it may have to be removed! Total bummer. Some good news is that I noticed that the top flower is actually healing and seems to be almost fully healed and not really itchy anymore but the lower flower which gets a lot of friction from my clothes is more raised and still itchy. So I think that overall the red ink can take longer to heal especially if it is a cheaper ink (which i’m sure is the case for me) Also friction can prolong it even more. Since the body is reacting to the ink as foreign I have decided to exfoliate the flowers to try to rmv some of the red and I put bacitracin or Neosporin and alternate between aloe vera. Also if the itching is too bad put some cortisone cream and take an antihistamine. Keep it clean and medicated with cream and avoid friction and it should heal. Unfortunately it will just take a little longer than the hypo allergenic inks. As for me I won’t be getting anymore tattoos. I love my tattoo and am very proud of it but this experience has been enough for me. Here’s to hoping that these red inks heal soon. Happy Healing!! 🙂
“What a shame, it’s a nice tattoo” “that’s too bad, what a cool design.” Are we looking at the same tattoo here? The fucked up looking puzzle piece with the 2 stars? It looks like an amateur tattoo. The lines aren’t even straight! U people must be high. Oh lord…..
“What a shame, it’s a nice tattoo” “that’s too bad, what a cool design.” Are we looking at the same tattoo here? The fucked up looking puzzle piece with the 2 stars? It looks like an amateur tattoo. The lines aren’t even straight! U people must be high. Oh lord…..
“What a shame, it’s a nice tattoo” “that’s too bad, what a cool design.” Are we looking at the same tattoo here? The fucked up looking puzzle piece with the 2 stars? It looks like an amateur tattoo. The lines aren’t even straight! U people must be high. Oh lord…..
Eternal crimson red and Eternal light red – both caused itchy swollen bumps. Seven months later and if I have a hot shower or my forearm is exposed to the sun the swelling starts. Lasts for about a month and then subsides.
Just chatted with a top 10 studio & they suggested dry needling with a water-alcohol solution. I’m going to see what one other studio suggests before I do anything. My dermatologist recommended immediate laser removal. I’ve got a whole sleeve and only red on the forearm – would look retarded to laser just the forearm off.
I read two medical articles and it is the metal in the red ink that a lot of people are allergic too. There are 4 types of allergies – one will just cause the skin to water blister, two will give itchy bumpy reaction in heat/sun, the last will casue the skin to try to shed to get rid of the irritant. It’s normal to have more than one type of reaction. Only a skin graft test can tell what is causing the reaction.
Doctor suggested I patch test any further colors on an inconspicuous area and let them heal half a year before I go ahead with covering a large section. To test for reaction response get a small 0.5cmX1cm block done on inside of leg & sit in a sauna and expose to sun aprox 4m after healing.
Hope that helps.
If they water-alcohol needling helps I’ll post back here and let the community know.
Eternal crimson red and Eternal light red – both caused itchy swollen bumps. Seven months later and if I have a hot shower or my forearm is exposed to the sun the swelling starts. Lasts for about a month and then subsides.
Just chatted with a top 10 studio & they suggested dry needling with a water-alcohol solution. I’m going to see what one other studio suggests before I do anything. My dermatologist recommended immediate laser removal. I’ve got a whole sleeve and only red on the forearm – would look retarded to laser just the forearm off.
I read two medical articles and it is the metal in the red ink that a lot of people are allergic too. There are 4 types of allergies – one will just cause the skin to water blister, two will give itchy bumpy reaction in heat/sun, the last will casue the skin to try to shed to get rid of the irritant. It’s normal to have more than one type of reaction. Only a skin graft test can tell what is causing the reaction.
Doctor suggested I patch test any further colors on an inconspicuous area and let them heal half a year before I go ahead with covering a large section. To test for reaction response get a small 0.5cmX1cm block done on inside of leg & sit in a sauna and expose to sun aprox 4m after healing.
Hope that helps.
If they water-alcohol needling helps I’ll post back here and let the community know.
Eternal crimson red and Eternal light red – both caused itchy swollen bumps. Seven months later and if I have a hot shower or my forearm is exposed to the sun the swelling starts. Lasts for about a month and then subsides.
Just chatted with a top 10 studio & they suggested dry needling with a water-alcohol solution. I’m going to see what one other studio suggests before I do anything. My dermatologist recommended immediate laser removal. I’ve got a whole sleeve and only red on the forearm – would look retarded to laser just the forearm off.
I read two medical articles and it is the metal in the red ink that a lot of people are allergic too. There are 4 types of allergies – one will just cause the skin to water blister, two will give itchy bumpy reaction in heat/sun, the last will casue the skin to try to shed to get rid of the irritant. It’s normal to have more than one type of reaction. Only a skin graft test can tell what is causing the reaction.
Doctor suggested I patch test any further colors on an inconspicuous area and let them heal half a year before I go ahead with covering a large section. To test for reaction response get a small 0.5cmX1cm block done on inside of leg & sit in a sauna and expose to sun aprox 4m after healing.
Hope that helps.
If they water-alcohol needling helps I’ll post back here and let the community know.
OP here!
10+ years later…here’s a short update:
The reaction got worse! It itched like hell. I couldn’t stop scratching it and therefore it scabbed over. It definitely reacted more when exposed to sunlight. This really sucked because I lived in Australia in 2008. I did see a doctor, and he prescribed an ointment (which I no longer remember the name of) and it never really helped.
Fast forward 6 years later…The red is almost completely faded and it is permanently scared/raised. The scarring isn’t as bad as the original picture, but you could feel it when you rubbed your finger across. In hindsight, I now believe it was not actually scarred, but the red ink was still reacting to the sunlight. Around this time, I decided to get the tattoo fixed/covered up. The original was mediocre at best, but I loved it because it has a meaning connected to. So I decided to just add color to the puzzle and change the color of the stars. Now the stars are blue and black and the right star’s pattern has been corrected. The background with orange/yellow fade.
Present day….The tattoo no longer reacts to the sun, and no longer itches. The new colors stuck well and have not faded. And best of all…the scarring appears to have disappeared.
OP here!
10+ years later…here’s a short update:
The reaction got worse! It itched like hell. I couldn’t stop scratching it and therefore it scabbed over. It definitely reacted more when exposed to sunlight. This really sucked because I lived in Australia in 2008. I did see a doctor, and he prescribed an ointment (which I no longer remember the name of) and it never really helped.
Fast forward 6 years later…The red is almost completely faded and it is permanently scared/raised. The scarring isn’t as bad as the original picture, but you could feel it when you rubbed your finger across. In hindsight, I now believe it was not actually scarred, but the red ink was still reacting to the sunlight. Around this time, I decided to get the tattoo fixed/covered up. The original was mediocre at best, but I loved it because it has a meaning connected to. So I decided to just add color to the puzzle and change the color of the stars. Now the stars are blue and black and the right star’s pattern has been corrected. The background with orange/yellow fade.
Present day….The tattoo no longer reacts to the sun, and no longer itches. The new colors stuck well and have not faded. And best of all…the scarring appears to have disappeared.
OP here!
10+ years later…here’s a short update:
The reaction got worse! It itched like hell. I couldn’t stop scratching it and therefore it scabbed over. It definitely reacted more when exposed to sunlight. This really sucked because I lived in Australia in 2008. I did see a doctor, and he prescribed an ointment (which I no longer remember the name of) and it never really helped.
Fast forward 6 years later…The red is almost completely faded and it is permanently scared/raised. The scarring isn’t as bad as the original picture, but you could feel it when you rubbed your finger across. In hindsight, I now believe it was not actually scarred, but the red ink was still reacting to the sunlight. Around this time, I decided to get the tattoo fixed/covered up. The original was mediocre at best, but I loved it because it has a meaning connected to. So I decided to just add color to the puzzle and change the color of the stars. Now the stars are blue and black and the right star’s pattern has been corrected. The background with orange/yellow fade.
Present day….The tattoo no longer reacts to the sun, and no longer itches. The new colors stuck well and have not faded. And best of all…the scarring appears to have disappeared.
Hello sumchic
Do U have a picture of what the tattoo looks like now, after re colouring please
Hello sumchic
Do U have a picture of what the tattoo looks like now, after re colouring please
Hello sumchic
Do U have a picture of what the tattoo looks like now, after re colouring please