1. Remove dressings after half an hour and wash with warm soapy water.
2. Apply Protat™ or Bepanthen™ as advised until healed.
3. Keep the tattooed area out of the sun.
4. Avoid swimming or soaking for 2 weeks.
5. Do not pick and scratch the tattoo while it is healing.

GETTING A TATTOO AT A MATE'S PLACE TONIGHT?

PLEASE READ

So you and your mates have been watching the tattoo shows on TV and you all know the names of the artists, and you feel you know how to tattoo. Your mate has a tattoo machine and they can draw, so you think it should be ok?

PLEASE THINK BEFORE YOU INK

Tattooing isn't just putting a picture into the skin, it is a lot more. I won't go into the artistic elements, the technical aspects, or even the appropriate tools that professional tattooists are trained to use. I will only dwell on the hygienic issues of tattooing.

Before you sit in your mates lounge, kitchen, or garage and wait for them to tattoo you, think about what's actually going to happen - is the needle new and sterile? Does that tattoo machine have a cross contamination bag covering it? Is the top and grip on the tattoo machine sterile? Is there a sterilizer machine (Autoclave) in the room where they could have sterilized their instruments? As washing in an antiseptic solution will not sterilize the instruments and make them safe for use. Will they were gloves in all procedures? Remember if body art isn't done properly you can suffer nerve damage, scarring, or infections.

This is why we have Health Departments, who monitor all professional tattoo studios in Australia. All States are different, some studios have to be licensed, others must be registered with the local council, but in all instances a professional studio must ensure that all tattoos carried out are done in a clean, hygienic environment with sterile equipment.

These regulations are not put in place to give you a hard time, they are there for a good reason - to protect you.

DO NOT PLACE YOU HEALTH AT RISK

Go to a professional tattoo studio/premises where tattooists are trained to work with high standards of infection control, workplace disinfection, equipment sterilisation, and the premises are monitored by the Health Department.

Below are some of the documented infections that you may, or can, contract if you go to an amateur for a tattoo.

BACTERIAL INFECTIONS;

There are a number of bacterial infections that can be spread by poor hygiene practices, un-sterile equipment or cross contamination, by an amateur tattooist, or by you not being told the right aftercare instructions.

HEPATITIS B;

This is transmitted by blood to blood, so there can be a risk of infection if the equipment being used isn't sterile. This is a viral disease and is curable, however a person can take years to fully recover. So ask yourself again as you sit in your mate's place to get a cheap tattoo, is it worth the risk? This virus has an effective vaccine available.

HEPATITIS C;

This virus is also carried in the blood, like hepatitis B. Those who contract it can pass it on to others, their partners and their children. So equipment that hasn't been sterilised or bad instrument hygiene standards by an amateur can pose a major risk. There is no cure and no preventive vaccine.

HIV/AIDS;

This is also a blood to blood transmitted infection. So if the equipment being used isn't sterile, and is contaminated with infected blood, it can pose a risk of infection. There is no vaccine or cure.

SO PLEASE, THINK BEFORE YOU INK

Is a cheap tattoo worth the risk to your health? Don't go to an amateur.

VISIT A PROFESSIONAL TATTOOIST, IT IS WORTH THE PIECE OF MIND AND YOUR HEALTH