I cannot stress enough how crucial aftercare is for your tattoo. There are a lot of things you have to do and some things you have to avoid to keep your tattoo safe during the healing phase. During the healing phase, your tattoo can very easily get faded, damaged, blurred, or distorted. One thing that can easily fade your tattoo is submerging the healing tattoo in water. Prolonged soaking of a healing tattoo can fade it by making scabs fall off prematurely and ink dilution. So you may think can your sweat ruin a tattoo? Because sweat can soak your tattoo just like water does, and you may get scared that this sweat may end up fading your tattoo.
Sweat is necessary for our body to function properly. But at times it may create some issues for us. Like sweat can promote bacterial growth, acne, bad odor, etc. Sweat is a liquid that can soak your skin and healing tattoo, that is why it is natural to worry if it would fade or damage your healing tattoo or not. Today I will elaborate on the effect of sweat on your tattoo and more.
Key Takeaways
- Sweating in moderation cannot ruin a tattoo.
- Excessive sweating and not taking proper care of tattoos after sweating can lead to irritation, itchiness, tattoo fading, etc.
- The Apocrine and eccrine are the two glands that create sweat in our bodies.
- A few possible negative effect sweat can have on your tattoo are infection risk, color fading, irritation, itching, etc.
- A few positive effect sweat can have on your tattoo are moisture balance, faster healing, reduce inflammation, getting rid of toxic elements, etc.
Sweat On Ruining a Tattoo
Sweat cannot ruin a tattoo. As long as you keep the amount of sweat in moderation and take proper care of your skin and tattoo then sweating would not affect your tattoo at all. That said, sweat can have multiple negative effects on your tattoo if you do not take care of your tattoo. An excessive amount of sweat during the healing phase has a slight chance of causing fades. Because during the healing phase, your skin would have multiple big holes in it and excessive sweat may cause some ink to disintegrate. This can happen in rare cases, so just make sure to keep your sweating in check.
I get the fear you may have regarding sweat ruining your tattoo. Because you may think sweat would cause ink dilution and cause ink leaking and fade the tattoo. In reality sweat itself can not cause ink dilution or cause tattoo fading. But yes, because of too much sweat, you may rub the healing-sensitive area too much which could lead to tattoo fading. Not taking care of your tattoo while you sweat excessively could lead to infection. Moist-healing skin that is not taken care of has a high chance of attracting infection. This infection may lead to tattoo distortion. After sweating too much if you don’t clean the area you may feel itchiness or irritation. As you can see there are quite a few negative side effects, but you will only face these side effects if you do not take care of your tattoo properly. Cleaning the area gently after sweating, and avoiding excessive sweating can ensure you don’t face any negative effects of sweating on your tattoo. You might get surprised to know that sweat has quite a few benefits too, such as it can reduce itchiness and inflation of your healing tattoo, fasten the healing process, get rid of the toxins on the tattooed area, etc.
Understanding Sweating Function
It might be a bit difficult to understand how sweating cannot directly ruin your tattoo but it may lead to issues if you don’t take care of it. Taking care of your tattoo while you sweat may seem like a hassle to you and you may think sweat is an unnecessary process. That is why in this portion I will elaborate on how the sweating function works and why we need sweating to stay healthy.
So, picture this: You’re out and about, doing something active like exercising, dancing, or just enjoying a hot summer day. Your body starts to heat up because you’re working hard or the weather is playing tricks on you. That’s when the magical process of sweating kicks in. Sweat glands are responsible to release sweat. We have around 4 million sweat glands in our body. You have sweat glands in your palm and feet too.
There are two sweat glands which are:
- Apocrine
- Eccrine
You can think of these two sweat glands as tiny factories that produce sweat in your body.
The sweat gets produced by these glands and then they get released on the surface of your skin. After getting released they come in contact with air and start to evaporate. And that’s how your body gets cooler. Your body temperature may rise because of the environment or because you did something physically. If you did not have this natural cooling system on your body, you would not be able to cool off after the temperature of your body rises. Not being able to cool off your body could lead to serious health complications. Sweating does have a few bad sides which we would get into the next portion, but not being able to sweat would be very bad.
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5 Possible Negative Effects of Sweat On Tattoos
As I said sweat cannot directly ruin your tattoo, but it can have some negative effect on your tattoo. I have listed a few negative effects of sweat on tattoos below.
1. Infection risk
Excessive sweat, particularly in the first few days after getting a tattoo, can increase the risk of infection. Sweat contains salts, bacteria, and other substances that can potentially irritate the healing tattoo and introduce harmful bacteria to the area. This can lead to infections and trust me you don’t want any sort of infection while your tattoo is healing. Infection during the healing phase can ruin or distort a tattoo. So make sure to clear your tattooed area properly and don’t let excessive sweat build up on the healing area.
2. Color fading
Sweat itself can not fade the color of your tattoo but when you have excessive sweat and keep whipping the area vigorously with something then there is a chance you may whip some tattoo ink. Until the tattoo is healed primarily the first skin layer cannot work as a proper protective wall. So during this healing phase, excessive sweating may dilute the ink a bit and you whip the area multiple times and cause some tattoo ink to get whipped too and lead to mild color fading.
3. Irritation and itching
Sweat, when mixed with dead skin cells and other substances on the skin’s surface, can contribute to itching and irritation around the tattooed area. Especially if you don’t wash or clean the tattooed area regularly. So make sure to wash the tattoo twice a day with a gentle soap that is not harmful to sensitive skin.
4. Tattoo distortion
Excessive sweating and not washing the tattooed area regularly can cause itching. Now if you scratch the sensitive area by mistake you may peel off some scabs prematurely which could lead to tattoo distortion. So make sure not to scratch the area, and if you feel too much itchiness you can tap the tattooed area gently which would help with itchiness and won’t harm your tattoo. You can also apply soothing healing cream to get rid of the itchiness.
5. Skin condition
Some individuals may be prone to skin conditions such as sweat rash or dermatitis, which can be aggravated by excessive sweat around a fresh tattoo. If you have such a skin condition then excessive sweating can cause redness, swelling, irritation etc.
4 Positive Effects of Sweat On Tattoos
Apart from a few negative effects, sweat can have multiple positive effects on your tattoos. Such as:
1. Moisture balance
Sweat can help maintain a balanced level of moisture during the healing phase of your tattoo. Proper hydration and moisture are essential for optimal healing, and a slight amount of sweat can contribute to keeping the tattooed area moisturized without excessive dryness. Trust men, you should avoid the dryness of your healing tattoo as it can slow down the healing process and can lead to tattoo cracking or distortion.
2. Faster healing
Sweat has the ability to mildly moist your healing tattoo. And mild moisture can fasten the healing process of a tattoo. On the other hand, dry tattoos can take much longer to heal. So in that sense, you could say sweating may contribute to faster healing.
3. Reduce inflammation & discomfort
Feeling some level of discomfort or inflammation during your tattoo heals is normal. Sweat has a cooling effect, so sweat can provide a soothing feeling to your tattooed area and reduce inflammation and discomfort.
4. Toxin removal
Sweat can aid in removing toxins and waste products from your body. While the primary function of sweat is thermoregulation, it also carries trace amounts of metabolic byproducts and impurities. Sweating during the healing process can contribute to the elimination of these substances from the body, potentially promoting better healing.
FAQs
After getting a tattoo how long should I wait to sweat?
Well, you should avoid doing any physical activity that could lead to sweating for at least 2 days after getting a tattoo.
What if I sweat under cling film?
You will see there is ink and plasm a getting stored under your cling film, so sweat getting stored would not matter. As you will be taking off the cling film after 4 to 12 hours of getting the tattoo and washing the area clean.
When is it safe to sweat after getting a tattoo?
Normal sweating is fine, but avoid doing any extensive exercise that could lead to excessive sweating within a week after getting the tattoo.
Final Thoughts
Even though there are some possible negative effects of sweating on tattoos, I would like to say don’t stress over it. If sweating could ruin tattoos, you would see faded or ruined tattoos all around you. Because we all sweat, some may sweat a bit more and some may sweat a bit less. Sweating is unavoidable and it is a natural process to regulate our body temperature. So we cannot stop sweating, but we can moderate the amount of sweat by avoiding extensive physical activity during the healing phase, especially within 7 weeks after getting the tattoo. Excessive sweating, not cleaning the tattooed area properly after sweating, or whipping the tattooed area vigorously multiple times after sweating could lead to tattoo fading or tattoo distortion. Just make sure to take proper aftercare of your healing tattoo and avoid excessive sweating until the tattoo heals primarily. And for the first 2 days try your best to avoid any physical activity that could lead to sweating. Because for the first day or two after getting the tattoo your body releases ink, plasma, and other bodily fluid which may create a messy sticky situation after getting mixed with sweat.
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