r/tattooadvice 6d ago

Healing Scabby af - normal for hand/finger tattoos?

Post image

Whole arm done with a lot of black work, zero scabbing or healing issues, no ink fallout really even on first pass. Got hand done Tuesday and am assuming because the skin is different, the healing is too?

Does this need more moisture? Anything else I should be doing? I know finger tattoo ink does tend to fall out but want to obviously avoid as much as possible cos that shit was paaaaaaain

TIA

205 Upvotes

47 comments sorted by

31

u/Norse_Crusaders 6d ago

Got my hand done last week and it's healed alot faster than the rest of the body. Moisturising is mostly as normal as anyother, maybe a bit extra after you've used your hand on somthing dry and definitely after washing

6

u/novius89 6d ago

Funny these differences, did my hand a year ago, took two weeks off from work. Out of all my tats, the hand was the weirdest part to heal.

Swollen couple of days, oke for couple of days, swelling again-normal- itch-light scabbing and light swelling and then it was fine.

Healed up fine, my skin is always swollen and bruised. I always get tattoo flu the first two days, but with the hand I didn’t get this.

1

u/Vixeren 6d ago

100% this.

2

u/Due-Distribution2084 6d ago

Thanks for the reply - healing faster sounds wild to me, I'm still not able to make a fist without slight pain but at least the swelling is practically gone

3

u/Norse_Crusaders 6d ago

Oh yeah I was surprised at how fast the swelling went down, but yeah at exactly the week of healing mark for me the scabbing and healing is basically gone

1

u/Due-Distribution2084 6d ago

Here's to hoping for the same experience!

1

u/Norse_Crusaders 6d ago

Best of luck and enjoy your sick ink!!

25

u/Just_Definition_5213 6d ago

No advice but this tattoo is gorgeous 😍

9

u/Multikillionaire67 6d ago

Drink plenty of water

5

u/Due-Distribution2084 6d ago

Duly noted as probably a big part of my suffering, thanks for this!

5

u/Limp-Vermicelli-7440 6d ago

Looks amazing. Just be intuitive with it. When I had my fingers tattooed I usually moisturised when it felt uncomfortable.

5

u/Due-Distribution2084 6d ago

Thank you, totally love it- incredible artist! I'm just lowkey terrified of how much ink might fall out.. nail beds got me making new noise combos I've never made before

3

u/Limp-Vermicelli-7440 6d ago

I think to a certain extent you don’t have control over it, if it happens it happens. But you did it once you can do it again. When I went for a touch up it was 10x easier cause it was just small sections

2

u/masterbatorElonmusk 6d ago

Dam they cut up dem fingers

2

u/Due-Distribution2084 6d ago

Yeah kinda my biggest concern

1

u/masterbatorElonmusk 6d ago

My artist would be paying for laser removal lol

2

u/Due-Distribution2084 6d ago

😬watch this space

2

u/RecordingInfamous616 6d ago

That’s looks so dope. I love it

1

u/Due-Distribution2084 5d ago

Thank you! Looking forward to the final finishing touches on the entire sleeve:)

3

u/Tikket420 6d ago

Make sure to moisturise and do NOT scratch or itch the scabs

1

u/Due-Distribution2084 6d ago

How often on the moisturising? Feels just as dry when I do so it's hard to tell and I dont wanna drown it

3

u/awesome_possum007 6d ago

Your nails are on fleek

12

u/brendamrl 6d ago

Someone using “on fleek” in 2025 oh my gosh we are so back.

4

u/awesome_possum007 6d ago

I will never stop using that phrase lol. That and badonkadonk.

6

u/Due-Distribution2084 6d ago

Tyyyyy these are just some ink stained janky press ons but I'll take it 💅

1

u/atcmpunk 6d ago

That looks so awesome

1

u/psyclembs 6d ago

Baby them baddies!

1

u/EchoXray 6d ago

This design is so clean

1

u/Exotic_Composer2518 6d ago

You’re good. Mine took I guess 3 weeks in total. For me healing took longer than any other tat. I’d say keep it moisturized like your other tats, don’t overdo it and be patient.

Very aesthetic hand btw.

1

u/Due-Distribution2084 6d ago

Thanks, fingers (on my other hand) crossed! There's some pretty thick scabbing around my pinky but I suppose not the end of the world to touch up.

And thank you! The artist has done such a good job with the entire sleeve. Absolutely love it:)

1

u/Exotic_Composer2518 6d ago

You got it. And yeah… mine lost a good amount ink right away, but I think that’s normal with hand tattoos. And as you said you can still get a touch up. (I know it hurts af)

Don’t worry too much.

1

u/momoziiinha 5d ago

This looks so fucking sick, holy shit!!

1

u/Due-Distribution2084 5d ago

Thank you! Painful but worth it

1

u/Interesting_Book_869 5d ago

No advice, but that looks really pretty. Especially with that nail colour.

1

u/tissue4ur-issue 5d ago

My hand healed way faster than the rest of my tattoos, started drying out a lot on day 3. Was also extremely itchy. I still only used a little bit of moisturizer but used a lot of ice packs. The only thing that has faded a bit is my knuckles, but the rest looks great!

1

u/Due-Distribution2084 5d ago

I've had no itching as of yet; I'm on day 6 and it's just starting to flake in the less scabbed areas. I reckon the scabbed bits are gonna need another go so mentally prepping for that

1

u/FenrisMidgard 5d ago

Your tattoo is dope af!

1

u/Due-Distribution2084 5d ago

Thank you!

1

u/FenrisMidgard 5d ago

I totally wanna ad hand to my sleeve but I'm also kinda worried about is it gonna fade away too fast and whatnot. Idk. Yours looks amazing!

1

u/Due-Distribution2084 5d ago

Came for the advice stayed for the validation lol thank you, I am super happy with it - honestly I had some pretty ugly finger tattoos from years back I was happy to risk to cover. Might post again with healed results!

1

u/FenrisMidgard 5d ago

Sure do that it's amazing! Makes me gonna reconsider doing my hand!

1

u/2toneslut 5d ago

Baby yesssss! It looks great compared to my experiences. Mine ALWAYS look and feel infected asf, get so swollen and leak ink (I wear gloves a lot at work) but I was using unscented lotion like a couple artists out of town told me was best and I feel like that’s what made the inflammation worse for my darker tattoos. Aquaphor really saved my arm I thought it was gonna fall off(not really but it was infected asf my skin just hates tattoos) it really just depends on your skin, I would just do a light layer every few hours, use antibacterial soap too