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Do you remember when you were in middle school and your paper would get ink stains every time you tried to write a sentence? Your writing would look all blurry because of the way your palm rubbed against the ink on the paper. Yes, that’s exactly how tattoos appear, except this time they’re not on paper but on skin. It’s not the end of the world if you’re experiencing a tattoo blowout. The good news is that tattoos can be repaired. Keep reading to learn how to fix tattoo blowouts.
WHAT IS TATTOO BLOWOUT?
Tattoo blowouts occur when the tattoo lines start to blur and appear smudged compared to the sharp and crisp images expected. These occur because the tattoo inks have been pressed beyond the epidermis, which is the outermost layer of the skin, into the dermis, subcutaneous tissues, and veins with more force than necessary. Normally, tattoos are created when ink pigments are inserted under the epidermis onto the second layer of skin which is the dermis. However, any insertion that goes beyond automatically causes the tattoo to blowout.
WHAT CAUSES TATTOO BLOWOUT?
Blowouts are inevitable when tattoos are drawn by inexperienced artists who tend to apply inks from wrong angles and do not pay attention to parts of the body that do not require as much force as others (force has never really been the answer). When inks penetrate irregular adipose cells, they begin to appear blurry on the epidermis due to the difference between the cells that make up fatty tissues.
Tattoos on body parts with thinner skin such as feet and shins, wrists, and the back of palms have a greater potential to cause a blowout if not tattooed with greater gentleness and delicacy than fleshier parts. Sometimes it occurs because tattoo artists stretch the skin to be tattooed excessively, without adequately reducing the pressure applied to such surfaces.
In most cases, a blur does not come to light until the tattoo has healed. To repair a skin rash, you may want to mask it with a covering tattoo, or remove and replace the burst tattoo (you may need some luck). Some people completely give up the enterprise and have the tattoo surgically removed. The conclusion is that tattoo stains can be repaired.
Cover-up tattoos:
Once your tattoo has healed and you notice its blurriness, the first thing you should do is ask an experienced tattoo artist to make a cover-up tattoo for you. Unless, of course, you would resign yourself to carrying around a smudged tattoo for the rest of your life (who are we kidding).
A cover-up tattoo can be a larger tattoo or a tattoo with darker ink, drawn over the smudged tattoo to cover it and also to cover the stain. An experienced artist will pay greater attention to the correct placement of the cover-up tattoo.
Removing a tattoo:
Alternatively, you could choose to remove the entire tattoo or only the blurred parts of the affected area using laser surgery (although it will be more expensive). Additionally, there is the possibility of surgically removing the tattoo by cutting it out and stitching the remaining skin together (it may hurt a bit). People usually follow this route, although not as much as getting a cover-up tattoo when there is a blur.
As previously mentioned, tattoo bursts can be caused by the inexperience of some tattoo artists and their poor tattoo placement and ink pressure. However, in some cases, these bursts can also be the result of improper or total negligence of post-therapy procedures. It is advisable to pay attention to the aftercare instructions, such as not swimming with a new tattoo, avoiding direct sunlight exposure to the new tattoo, and constantly hydrating the new tattoo to maintain it. However, if a tattoo burst occurs, you should make sure to let it heal first (usually takes up to three weeks), before undergoing a cover-up or laser removal. Doing otherwise could cause skin trauma, skin infections, or permanent scars.
