Tattoos are in trend according to an Ipsos (a market research company) poll in 2019, where thirty percent of Americans got tattoos. You may want to be a part of that trend and get yourself a tattoo. While getting one isn’t that complex, it requires some basic rules to be followed. Such as preparing before getting the tattoo, break between tattoo sessions, and aftercare. Among these rules, breaks between sessions can a bit tricky. And if this is your first time getting a tattoo then it becomes essential for you to know how long between the tattoo sessions you should wait.
Thanks to modern electronic tattoo machines, there are tattoos that can be done in a single session. Especially small tattoos such as 8-inch ones. But many tattoos require multiple sessions to complete. And you have to follow strict session breaks, you can’t just keep getting the sessions done every other day. The break between sessions gives you time to heal, getting a tattoo session done on unhealed skin can damage the skin and potentially distort the tattoo. In this article, I explain how long the break should be between tattoo sessions and more.
Key Takeaways
- In general, the break between tattoo sessions is 21-28 days.
- Many factors can affect the break time such as the size of the tattoo, healing time, the strength of your immune system, etc.
- Break times are crucial for reasons like immunity build-up, healing the tattoo, and pain management.
- You can do a few things like hydrating the tattoo, eating healthy food, and boosting the immune system to decrease the break length between your tattoo sessions.
Breaks Between Tattoo Sessions
The break between tattoo sessions should be around 21-28 days. That said, there are multiple factors that can affect break time. In some cases, you may need to wait more than a month to get your next tattoo session done.
To break it down to you, the break is for your skin to heal. At least the first layer or epidermis layer should heal before the next tattoo session. So if your first layer of the skin heals within 14 days it may be possible to do your next tattoo session. But if it takes way longer to heal, nothing you can do about it, your next tattoo session has to wait too.
If it is your first time getting your tattoo, I know you had to gather quite a bit of courage to go through this process. And after the first session, you may be booming with confidence that you feel like going through the session rapidly! Maybe mentally you are prepared but trust me, physically you aren’t. Your body requires some time to heal during the sessions. This break time can vary depending on multiple factors and one of them is your immune system. If your immune system is weak then rushing to get another session done without waiting enough can cause multiple issues. So regardless of how you feel, maintain proper breaks between tattoo sessions to avoid any possible risks.
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9 Factors That Determine the Length of Breaks Between Tattoo Sessions
As I said there can be multiple factors. You will need to talk to your tattoo artist to know exactly how long you should wait to get your next session done. Here am listing 9 factors that will help you make an estimate of how long you may have to wait.
1. Tattoo size
The size of the tattoo plays a big role in how much time it would take to heal. And you cannot go to your next tattoo session before healing.
So tattoo size can be a factor to determine the break between your tattoo session. A small tattoo like an 8-inch tattoo may get completed in a single session. On the other hand, a 12-inch tattoo would require multiple sessions and longer breaks between sessions.
2. Complex design
A complex design requires multiple tattoo sessions and longer session breaks as it takes longer to heal.
A complex tattoo design may require multiple colors, color shading, being very detail-oriented, combining multiple designs to make it more dynamic, etc. As a result, it puts more strain on your skin and causes a longer healing period.
3. Healing time
This is probably the most crucial factor that determines the break length.
The healing process of a tattoo is never nice. You will face discomfort, mild inflammation, redness, itchiness, and scabbing during the healing phase.
The longer the healing phase stays the longer your break length will be.
4. Pain threshold
Even the toughest guy or tattoo enthusiast feels pain when the tattoo needle pokes into their skin a few hundred times. That’s just the beginning of the pain, you have to bear pain and discomfort through your healing phase.
During the healing phase doing a simple task may be difficult because of the pain and tightness in the tattooed area. You will face itchiness and swelling, and sometime you may feel your whole body is in distress. And all of these discomforts are normal during the healing period.
So physically and mentally getting over all these discomforts will take some time. That is why the break between sessions can be a bit more or less to ensure the client is in peak health condition to get the next session done.
5. Immune system
Our immune system is responsible for healing any sort of wound. And the tattoo is more or less like a wound on our skin. So if you have a weak immunity system it will take a longer period of time to heal the tattoo. On the other hand, if you have a strong immune system your tattoo will heal much faster. Not to mention immune system protect your wound from any possible infection. A weak immune system won’t be able to protect your tattoo from infection and you can bet getting an infection would delay your next tattoo session by a lot. Hence you can expect a shorter break between your tattoo session if you have a strong immune system and vice versa.
6. Financial reason
Let’s be honest, tattoos are not cheap. Especially if you go for a well-known professional artist, then the fees could go off the roof! You may have started the tattooing procedure out of a rush of adrenaline but when it comes to attending sessions you may lack the green. So you may take more time to gather the hourly fee before you go for the next session.
7. Your availability
We live in a busy world. Does not matter what type of profession you are in you may face some urgent work at the time of your session. It is very difficult to maintain a schedule because of the uncertain load of work. Not to mention you might get sick or face some other personal issue. For whatever reason, if you fail to attend the session then you will have to make another appointment for the session. Which would prolong the break between your tattoo session.
8. Availability of your tattoo artist
If you go for a professional artist, then good luck getting an appointment in a short time. It is next to impossible to fix an appointment before a few weeks or even a month for a tattoo session.
Don’t forget your availability is equally crucial. So the availability of your artist and yours must meet, or else it will get delayed by a lot.
Just because professional artists are busy and take more time to book appointments don’t go for a cheaper or unprofessional tattoo artist. If you do, trust me you will regret the decision down the road.
9. Physical condition
You are supposed to be in your peak health condition before each session.
Getting sick, not feeling well, or even drinking alcohol before the session can be considered you are not in peak health condition hence the session can be delayed.
3 Reasons Why Breaks Between Tattoo Sessions Are Crucial
There are many reasons why these breaks are so crucial. I have listed the top 3 reasons below:
- Immunity rebuilding
Your immunity heals your tattoo. If you try to make frequent tattoo sessions, you exhaust your immunity which would lead to a delayed healing period and may even face tattoo infection. That is why it is good to give some time to your immunity to rebuild itself so that it doesn’t have to overwork and get exhausted. - To Heal the tattoo
You cannot get a tattoo session done on an unhealed tattoo. It will cause more pain and trauma to the skin. So your tattoo artist will suggest you a period of time as a break between your tattoo session so that the skin can heal. The outer layer of the skin which is the epidermis takes about 14 days to heal. So it is difficult to get a break that is shorter than 14 days. - Pain management
Even the toughest dude goes through similar pain when getting a tattoo. And the healing phase is even worse when it comes to pain if you ask me. In the healing phase even though the pain is not intense but it is very discomforting. You will feel pain whenever you try to do your daily task. Not to mention the tattooed area will be itchy, and tightened and you will get scabs. It will cause you mental and physical distress. You cannot attend a tattoo session with such healing phase issues. So the break between sessions is crucial for your body to become normal and for you to do pain management.
4 Things You Can Do to Shorten the Break Between Tattoo Sessions
If you want to shorten the break length as much as possible without facing any risk, then follow the steps below:
- Hydration internally and externally
You have to hydrate the tattoo by applying healing ointment or lotion to speed up the healing. You can use an aloe vera-based lotion to moisturize and speed up the healing. Make sure to choose a lotion that is fragrance-free as it can cause harm to your tattoo. When applying lotion make sure to not overdo it as over-moisturization can do the opposite. Drink plenty of water because dehydration will slow down the healing process. - Eat Healthily
Eating healthy food can help your body recover from the trauma that has been caused by the tattoo. Try to include various fruits, vegetables, and protein sources in your daily diet. A malnourished body won’t be able to heal a tattoo, not to mention you will be prone to get an infection. - Boost Immune System
Your immune system is directly responsible for healing your wound. So by strengthening your immunity you can speed up the healing process and shorten the break length between tattoo sessions. - Plenty of Sleep
Sleeping at least 8 hours at night could speed up the recovery of your healing tattoo. As a result, you will have a shorter break length.
What if You don’t Take a Proper Break Between Tattoo Sessions
If you don’t take a proper break between sessions, you won’t have enough time to heal the tattoo. Getting a tattoo session done over an unhealed area can cause many issues. Such as unbearable pain, inflammation, swollen skin, tattoo distortion itch. Tattoo distortion may happen because the outer layer of the skin will be damaged badly, it may expose the dermis or second layer of the skin where the ink resides. And as a result, some ink may leak and distort the tattoo.
FAQs
Can I do back-to-back tattoo sessions?
No, you cannot. You have to discuss this with your tattoo artist and he will recommend a certain amount of time break between your session.
Is a 6 hours tattoo session long?
Yes, any tattoo session that goes longer than 4 hours counts as a long session. It is recommended not to go through such long sessions unless the person already got a tattoo before.
Final Thoughts
Maintaining a proper break between your tattoo session is as crucial as your aftercare routine. Both can make or break your precious tattoo. Many factors can affect the amount of time you may need to wait before attending your next tattoo session. Like the size of the tattoo, your immune system, etc. In general, it takes around 21-28 days break before getting to the next session.
There are many reasons why you should follow the recommended break time. For example, it helps with healing the tattoo and pain management. If you don’t follow the recommended time break then you may face issues such as irritated skin, severe pain during the session, and distortion of the tattoo. So make sure to discuss with your tattoo artist thoroughly to get a break length that would suit you.
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