Pounded Ink

It’s been a long time coming but I am finally complete.  My alien dissection rib, armpit, quarter sleeve is finished.  It’s taken a ton of time to complete this piece and I am very happy with the final product.

I didn’t keep exact notes, but I figure I have about 50 hours into the entire piece and it cost around $3000 total.

This was by far my most painful tattoo experience.  The abdomen and armpit are extremely sensitive.  Even with the use of EMLA cream, there were times where I just wanted to jump off the table.

There isn’t a lot more I can say about this piece.  You can follow the step by step completion on my previous entries.

My Quarter Sleeve Tattoo Step By Step
My New Tattoo – An Extension Really
Alien Dissection Rib And Abdomen Tattoo Step By Step
A Few More Sessions On My Ribs And Armpit Tattoo

It feels so good to complete a tattoo this large and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.  Click on any of the images in this post to see the full size photo.

I was sitting at the local bar earlier this week and noticed a girl sitting across from me who was constantly playing with her lip piercing.  It was obvious that she constantly played with it by the deep redness that surrounded the jewelry.  Not only was this irritation aesthetically unpleasant, she was opening the door to a slew of possible complications.

In this article I will try to stress why you should never “play” with your piercings.  Nothing good comes from constant movement of the jewelry and failure to leave your piercings alone can cause nasty scars and complications.

By constantly moving a piercing, weather it’s healed or not is counterproductive to the healing process.  Jewelry should not be moved while healing and the more you irritate the surrounding skin the easier it is for infection to creep up on you.  In the same aspect jewelry should never be changed before the healing process is complete and when replacing jewelry the process should be completed as quickly as possible to avoid closure of the hole which can happen rapidly.

In the event that you don’t take my advice and insist on playing with your new piercing.  When your piercing starts to become irritated or infected you will need to either treat the affected piercing or remove it.

From The Association Of Professional Piercers

What is Normal?

• Discoloration
  • Can be reddish, brownish, pinkish, or purplish
  • Can remain for many months with certain piercings, such as navels
• Swelling/Induration
  • Localized
  • May be significant with oral piercings such as the lip or tongue, and may last several days immediately following the initial piercing
• Excretion
  • Exudate of plasma, dead cells, etc.
  • Should not be copious in quantity, malodorous, or green
  • Will form a small amount of crystalline-appearing cruston the jewelry at the openings of the piercing

Things to consider when treating a troubled piercing or considering jewelry removal from a piercing:

The majority of troublesome piercings can be resolved without the piercing being lost.

• Advice to simply “take it out” is likely to be met with resistance from the piercee, and if infected can lead to the formation of an abscess (see below)
• Changes in aftercare and/or jewelry size, style or material may resolve the problems for the piercee/patient
• Inappropriate placement can also be the cause of problems. In this case removal is often required, and if done timely will prevent further problems
• Even momentary removal of jewelry from a healing piercing can result in amazingly rapid closure of the piercing, and make reinsertion difficult or impossible

Infected Piercing:

• Problem: Piercing has been contaminated by pathogenic microorganism(s)
• Causes:
  • Most Common: Piercee has touched piercing with dirty hands or otherwise contaminated piercing (exposure to bodily fluids, dirty water, etc.)
  • Piercing done with inappropriately sterilized tools, needles, jewelry
  • Piercing done with unclean, ungloved, and/or contaminated gloved hands
• Indicators:
  • Piercing exudes thick, green, malodorous pus
  • Piercing and surrounding area is warm/hot to the touch (more so than other skin)
  • Piercing site is swollen, red, and painful
• Treatment:
  • Increased mild sea salt soaks (for minor infections)
  • Oral/topical antibiotics, as prescribed by a physician
  • Removal of jewelry in the presence of an infection may result in an abscess. In the event there is a localized, draining infection, quality jewelry should be left in place to allow for passage of matter to the surface
• Complications:
  • Abscesses are usually site specific. An exception is the chest where the duct system can result in the abscess being formed inches away from the piercing site

Many complications from a piercing can easily be avoided by leaving the piercing alone. Don’t cause undue trauma to your body by using your piercing as a time killer. Not only will you make your new piercing look like hell, you are running the risk of further permanent complications.

Increasingly states and municipal governments have been imposing quite a few regulations for the tattoo and body piercing industry.  Are these rules and regulations really necessary?  Tattoo shops have been around for hundreds of years, why would we need to start regulating them now?

Types Of Regulation

There are several different types of restrictions the government imposes on tattoo and body piercing shops.  There are basically two categories these regulations fall into; regulations on tattoo artists, and zoning regulations on tattoo shop locations.

Tattoo Artist Regulation

Many existing and proposed laws regarding the tattoo industry focus on the actual person applying the tattoo.

In Iowa… A tattoo artist must be certified by the state (nothing more than another fee) and have completed either high school or have a GED.

In Hawaii… A tattoo artist must be licensed which requires a test at the local health department consisting of roughly 70 questions, including questions on microbiology, sanitation, and definitions for terms that they provide.  There is no real test of tattooing procedures, so as long as you get the answers correct, you’re a tattooist.

In New Jersey… The Tattoo And Piercing Regulation Bill is 18 pages long and requires, among other things, that a tattoo artist have at least 2000 hours of experience, submit 10 photo’s of tattoos they have performed, and provide evidence of completion of a blood borne pathogens course.

In Maine… You can become a tattooist with only $100, the only restriction is that your shop will be inspected once a year.

As you can see, with the exception of New Jersey, that most of these regulations don’t tell you a thing about the prospective tattooist and the only real difference between being a hack job and a real tattooist is a piece of paper that funds more government.

Tattoo Shop Restrictions

Mercer County, IA banned tattoo shops completely when tasked with inspecting them.  When the state mandated the inspections Mercer County’s answer was to just do away with the service completely.  What would happen if they needed to start inspecting day care facilities or churches?

Many municipalities throughout the United States have regulations on tattoo shop locations.  Some require tattoo shops not exist within X amount of feet from a school, church, etc.  This restricts “Joe Tattooist” from opening a successful business that is in no way illegal or immoral.  He would be paying taxes just like Kinko’s down the street and adding to the diversity of the neighborhood, not bringing it down.

My Personal Thoughts

Thomas Jefferson once said “That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.” I’m a strong believer in that statement and I don’t think that tattoo artist or tattoo shops should be restricted because they are not mainstream enough for lawmakers.

The industry polices itself quite well and has since it’s inception.  A poorly skilled tattoo artist will soon run out of customers and the guy down the street that is actually engulfed in his job will pick up that clientele.

I don’t see a problem with requiring a tattoo artist to have a blood borne pathogen course or something similar, but the general direction of these laws is simply money.  Fees for licensing and permits feed government pork.

We don’t need more laws and we shouldn’t restrict a small business because it’s not “Chucky Cheese”.  If you don’t like tattoo shops, don’t walk in the door.  We don’t hunt “mainstreamers”, plus we only come out at night…

Tomorrow is the 4th of July and I’d wager a good amount that most of you will be outside in the sun at one point or another this weekend.  Do you wear sunblock every time you go outside?  If you have exposed tattoos, you should.

The suns rays are one of the most harmful things to a tattoo.  UV rays will break down your colors in as little as one sun burn.  Some colors will fade others can change shade rapidly, creating a tattoo that has lost its luster.

Lisa Gets A Tan And Sees The Light

Don’t believe me?  How about a little show and tell.  The tattoo of the female holding a skull included in this article belongs to my dear friend Lisa.  The tattoo is less than a year old.  This is her first color tattoo that has really been affected by sunlight, but as you can see there is a definite difference in the tattoo within just  a few months.

As you can plainly see the colors have faded and seem to bleed into each other.  Notice how the contrast has virtually disappeared?  This loss of contrast makes the tattoo look flat instead of retaining the origional textured look.

Compare the before and after photo’s and you will see the obvious differences, particularly in the hear, clothes and hair textures.  The tan in her skin makes the yellow that was applied to the tattoo almost invisible.

Luckily my friend Lisa has seen the light and now applies sunblock to her tattoos religiously.  Sadly the damage to the tattoo may have already been done.  With as little as one bad sunburn or dark tan certain tattoo colors can become forever damaged.

Yellows and blues will loose their “brightness” quicker than others, whites can become yellow, reds turn brown and the crispness of your shading will be gone forever.  It may seem like a hastle but it is essential that you keep your tattoos out of the sun.

Highlight Your Tattoos

I have also included some photos of my tattoos which I apply sunblock to religiously and never ever tan them.  I do get some sun but I make sure that my tattoos are always covered with clothing or sunblock.

I think that tattoos look the best during the summer if you use sunblock.  They actually jump off your skin due to the natural contrast your untanned skin gives compared to your tanned skin.  The whites and bright colors will contrast even better against the background of your tanned skin.

In these trying times it’s a welcome sight to find a publication offering relevant content for free.  If you want to keep yourself current on the latest trends in tattoos and piercings then you need some Prick.  Don’t let the price fool you, Prick is on the same level as other top tattoo magazines that are not free.  Every month new issues are published featuring top tattoo artists, convention reviews, celebrity interviews and anything tattoo or body piercing related.

You don’t need to wait for your Prick.  Every single issue of Prick magazine is available online in PDF format for immediate download.

You can also get the magazine sent directly to your doorstep.  The magazine is free but sadly the postage is not.

Go Ahead, Get Your Prick On!

Want a tattoo really bad?  Short on cash and thinking of doing it yourself?  I urge you to reconsider. There are countless reasons not to tattoo yourself but we’ll just touch on a few of the most important ones for this article.

How Many Tattoos Have You Done Before?

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of tattooing is the ability to accurately apply a design to skin. If you’ve never tattooed before I can guarantee that your first tattoo will look like crap. Every tattooist’s first tattoo looks like crap even with the best equipment available. If you plan on tattooing yourself and you’ve never done it before be prepared to have a horrible looking tattoo for the rest of your life.

Homemade tattoo equipment is also generally of poor quality and the chance of seriously damaging tissue and creating scars is a real possibility. If you decide that your tattoo was a bad decision later in life and get it removed by laser, scar tissue does not go away. You may be left with a perfect scar of your previous home made tattoo.

Doing tattoos yourself with substandard ink could also cause your tattoo to prematurely fade leaving you with a blurry picture or a tattoo that looks old well before it’s time.

Risk Of Infection

Now that I’ve explained why you can’t tattoo yourself Ill try to stress the factor of sterilization and disease.

You need an autoclave to sterilize equipment properly. Do you have an autoclave? If you answered no, mark another check in the column for why you shouldn’t be trying to tattoo. Without an autoclave you can not guarantee complete sterilization of equipment. If needles are used more then once you risk contracting any virus the person who was tattooed before you possibly had. This means AIDS, Hepatitis, or one of a thousand other afflictions that could be present or grow on unsterilized equipment.

If you do manage to avoid contracting a life threatening virus you’re still at a high risk for developing an infection in your new tattoo. Infection can come from virtually anywhere and you should do everything you can to reduce the risk of contamination. Homemade tattoos are much more likely to get infected then a professionally applied tattoo in a sterile work environment.

My 2 Cents

I’ve seen tons of homemade tattoos and can honestly say I’ve never seen one that was really good. Even tattoos with a unique feel and design can be made into a horrible abomination of body art when someone decides to take the tattooing process into their own hands.

In hopes to broaden my own knowledge as well as providing even more relevant content here at Pounded Ink, I have added a forum to the site.

The forum contains several sections to discuss any form of body modification. There is even sections where you can upload pictures of your own modifications for the world to see.

Registration is free and only requires confirmation of your e-mail address to activate, so you can start posting right away.

In time I hope to build a strong helpful community devoted to every aspect of body modification. No procedure is too extreme to talk about.

What are you waiting for? Click here to see what all the fuss is about.. Stop by, say hello, and tell the world what you think. The more the merrier. See you on the forum!