Sometimes our tattoo does not go along with our plan. There will always be some element of risk when getting a tattoo. Let’s, say you had an idea of how your tattoo should be, but after getting the tattoo it does not appear the way you wanted. It really is a bummer when it happens but it does happen. Tattoo infection, bad quality ink being used, and many other reasons could alter the way your tattoo looks. A common issue I have seen is people complaining about tattoo lines becoming thicker after healing.
Tattoos gaining thicker lines after healing can come off as a shock. But as I said, the outcome of your tattoo may not meet your expectation all the time. Now, why exactly do tattoo lines becomes thick after healing? Is it your fault or your tattoo artist’s fault? I will explain everything regarding the topic in this piece.
Key Takeaways
- Tattoo lines become thick after healing is called a tattoo blowup.
- Tattoo lines may become thick after healing because of injecting ink deep into the hypodermis layer of skin.
- You should choose a professional tattoo artist to do your tattoo and maintain proper tattoo aftercare to prevent this issue from occurring.
- You can get a tattoo cover-up or laser treatment to fix thick tattoo lines.
- After fixing it by doing a tattoo cover-up make sure to maintain a proper aftercare routine.
Tattoo Lines Thicker After Healing
Why do tattoo lines get thicker after healing? This issue can occur due to a tattoo blowout. Tattoo blowouts can happen because of an inexperienced tattoo artist. It is very rare to see a professional tattoo artist make such mistakes.
A tattoo blowout is when your tattoo artist injects the tattoo ink a bit too deep into your skin. The ink supposes to go under the epidermis layer and into the dermis layer of your skin. If the artist presses the tattoo gun with too much force it can penetrate the dermis layer and go into the hypodermis layer of your skin. Ink going into the hypodermis or the third layer of your skin is never good. Because the ink will come in contact with fat and veins in that layer and lose the shape it is supposed to have. The ink loses the shape it supposes to have because it spreads after coming in contact with fat and veins. The link will ridiculously spread and look awful if it comes in contact with spider veins. So your tattoo may appear to have thicker lines, faded or distorted.
So getting thicker tattoo lines after healing or during healing is not likely your fault. So do not blame yourself for what you are not responsible for. Tattoos are permanent forms of art so it is necessary to know how to prevent tattoo lines appearing thicker after healing or during healing before you get a tattoo. If you are reading this article the chances are you already got a tattoo and the lines look thicker after healing. Do not stress yourself, this issue can be fixed! I will elaborate on fixing the issue and more below.
3 Things to Follow to Avoid Tattoo Lines Getting Thicker After Healing
Fixing tattoo thick lines is possible but the process of fixing the issue is not so simple and sometimes limited. So it is better to take the necessary steps before getting a tattoo so that you can avoid the tattoo’s thick lines altogether.
1. Choosing a professional tattoo artist
Maine reason for the tattoo blowout or tattoo lines getting thicker during or after healing occurs due to inexperienced tattoo artists. A newbie or inexperienced tattoo artist may not know how deep the tattoo needle should go into your skin or on which layer the ink should be injected. To be honest it is a bit difficult for somebody new to know exactly where the dermis layer resides. It takes quite a bit of experience to adjust the hand and the amount of force the artist should put on the tattoo gun to inject ink into the second or dermis layer of your skin. Injecting ink into the first or epidermis layer will result in a temporary or faded tattoo and injecting ink into the third or hypodermis layer will result in a faded or thicker lined tattoo.
2. Choosing the right needle
The ideal tattoo needle should stick out about 1-2mm from the gun. A tattoo needle longer than 2mm in length will have more chance to penetrate deeper into your skin. A tattoo needle penetrating deeper than recommended can cause tattoo lines to get thicker after healing. And a tattoo needle sticking out less than 1mm from the gun can do less penetration. As a result, the ink will not go deep into the dermis layer and may fade faster.
3. Proper aftercare
Aftercare of a tattoo is crucial. Not taking proper aftercare can also cause a tattoo blowup. Your tattoo may get faded, or distorted, or sometimes your tattoo may develop thicker tattoo lines during or after the healing phase.
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2 Ways to Fix Tattoo Lines Appearing Thicker After Healing
Tattoos are a permanent form of art but there are ways you can fix a distorted tattoo. If your tattoo gained thicker lines during or after healing, then it can be fixed too. In my opinion, 2 best ways to fix such an issue are:
- Getting more tattoos
- Laser treatment
Does not matter which method you choose to fix a tattoo thick line, as long as you wait until your tattoo is completely healed. Tattoo lines may appear during the healing phase or by the end of the healing phase. So make sure the healing phase is complete till you go for a fix.
Getting more tattoos to fix thicker tattoo lines
Getting another tattoo over the existing tattoo or changing the design of your tattoo or adding color to an existing one are great ways to correct tattoo mistakes and give your tattoo a new look. Fixing tattoos like this is called tattoo cover-up. Tattoo cover-ups are more common than you might think. I do tattoo cover up at least once a week. Because many of my clients want to give their old tattoos a new look or want to fix a bad tattoo. There is no shame in getting a tattoo cover-up. Does not matter if you got a distorted tattoo your tattoo got thicker lines after healing, you can easily fix it with a tattoo cover-up.
Well, a tattoo cover-up might be a little more complex than getting a brand-new tattoo. Make sure to keep in mind the below factors when getting a cover-up tattoo to fix thicker tattoo lines.
- Existing design: You might get creative and think of an amazing design to tattoo. But make sure to explain the idea to your artist so he can tell if that particular design of yours can be done or not. Because you are not getting a new tattoo, you are getting a tattoo over an existing one. So the shape and design of the existing tattoo will play a major factor in your cover-up tattoo design.
- Size of the new tattoo: The size of the new tattoo is crucial. As it cannot be smaller than the existing one. Or else there will be no point in getting the cover-up tattoo. Make sure to discuss the ideal size of the new tattoo you want to get with your tattoo artist.
- Color of the tattoo: The color of your existing tattoo is another important factor to keep in mind. Coloring to reduce thick lines is possible but black color is extremely difficult to hide. So if you used black color ink for your existing tattoo then the artist has to come up with an idea to cover it up. He may choose a design where the thick lines can blend in well and do not appear badly. You can hide any color ink with black ink, so the black ink does have its perks. Light color inks can easily be covered up to create a new design. And colored tattoos in general are always easy to cover up.
- Your tattoo artist: After reading through the 3 factors I have mentioned above you probably understand by now that you need a professional artist for this job. Try to choose a professional artist who specializes in covering up tattoos. You may have a favorite artist or you have found an artist whose work you really love. That is great and all but does he have enough experience with tattoo cover-ups? If not, why should you take the risk? The reason you are getting a cover-up tattoo is your previous artist messed up and as a result, you got a tattoo with thicker lines. Now, if this cover-up tattoo gets messed up again because of an artist who does not have enough experience with cover-up tattoos then it will be a pain in the neck. Fixing a tattoo after getting a cover-up tattoo is extremely difficult not to mention you will have very limited options regarding getting a new design.
Laser treatment
If you are thinking to get rid of the tattoo altogether by laser treatment because of thicker lines, then hear me out first! You don’t have to necessarily get rid of the whole tattoo as it can be fixed by laser treatment. Fixing tattoo thick lines by laser treatment can be a bit more expensive as it may take multiple sessions to fix it.
The way this treatment works is, a laser beam creates heat and breaks the tattoo ink pigments on your skin. Then your body’s immune system can easily get rid of the broken pigments. By laser treatment, you can easily get rid of thicker tattoo lines. You may have to follow through multiple laser treatment sessions to fix thick tattoo lines. An ideal session break can be around 1-2 months. So you may need to wait a few months until you can fix the tattoo thick line issue.
I have to inform you that this treatment kind of depends on how severe your tattoo blowout is or how thick your tattoo lines are. Depending on the severity laser treatment may not be able to fix the issue. You have to consult with your laser tattoo remover specialist to find out if the treatment can fix your issue or not. If it cannot be fixed, then you may choose the laser treatment to completely remove the tattoo.
Things to Do After Fixing Your Thick Tattoo Lines
If you fix the tattoo thick line issue by doing a tattoo cover-up, then make sure to follow the below steps:
- Wash the tattoo
After fixing the tattoo line thick issue, you should be the tattoo within 4-24 hours. Make sure to remove the plastic wrapping of the tattoo before washing. After that, you can wash the tattoo twice daily. Use a gentle soap and do not rub the tattoo with a washing cloth while washing. - Moisturize
You can apply a healing ointment or a moisturizer that does not contain any harmful chemicals. It will fasten the healing process of your tattoo - Avoid direct sunlight
Sunlight can break down your ink pigments and cause your tattoo to fade prematurely. So avoid direct sunlight and use sunblock if you must go out in the sun. - Eat A healthy diet
An unhealthy or weak body will result in as a lengthy healing of your tattoo. So ensure you are eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and protein. It will boost your immune system and you will have a faster healing. Not to mention boosted immune system can prevent any possible tattoo infection. - Drink Plenty of Water
- Keeping the tattoo hydrated from the outside is not enough. You should drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. A hydrated body can fasten the healing process by a lot.
- No swimming or prolonged shower
Do not go swimming in your local pool, river, sea, or any other water source. As the water from such sources can have various germs that can infect your tattoo. Not to mention prolonged soaking of a healing tattoo can lead to fading. That means you can’t take a long shower at your house either. Make the shower short and only wet the tattooed area when necessary. - Do not scratch or poke
- Healing tattoo tends to be slightly itchy and can form scabs. It might be tempting to scratch the area and poke those scabs but don’t do it. So not scratch or poke at the tattoo at all. It can distort or fade the tattoo. Just apply a soothing ointment if it itches too much.
FAQs
How to fix thick tattoo lines?
You can do a tattoo cover-up or do laser treatment to fix thick tattoo lines.
Tattoo lines becoming thick goes away on their own?
No, a tattoo having thick lines after healing does not go away on its own.
Is it normal for tattoo lines to thicken?
No, it is not normal for a tattoo line to thicken during or after healing.
Is it normal for My tattoo to look blurry during healing?
Yes, it is normal for your tattoo to look a bit blurry during healing.
How much does it cost to fix thick tattoo lines?
A tattoo cover-up may cost around 100-200$ and a laser treatment may cause around 300-400$ per session.
Final Thoughts
Tattoo lines may appear thicker during or after healing. It most probably happened because of your artist. Your artist made a blunder while making your tattoo. He injected the ink much deeper into your skin which is the third or hypodermis layer of your skin. As a result, the tattoo lines are appearing to be thicker than expected. You can either fix it by doing a tattoo cover-up or by laser treatment. Laser treatment can be a bit costly and in some cases, laser treatment can’t fix such issues. So the better option in my opinion is a tattoo cover-up. You can get a new tattoo or get a new design over the existing one to hide to blend the thick line perfectly. Make sure to choose a professional tattoo artist who specializes in cover-up tattoos. Because cover up tattoos can be a complicated process and you need someone who specializes in this particular niche to fix your thick tattoo line issue.
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