Whoops!! - Chlorine does serious damage to a fresh tattoo. Usually, it is pretty obvious when someone has been in a pool while their tattoo was healing because their is a white sheen all around the tattoo. It ends up looking awful. Also, you risk getting an infection, which can also ruin your tattoo. You do not have to wait 4-6 weeks, only until it is fully healed. Most people that properly care for a tattoo will be fully healed within a week. If you wait until the tattoo has stopped flaking, and the skin over the tattoo is completely smooth, swimming at that point will be fine. You could try covering it with a water-proof bandage, but if some water seeps in, it will affect the tattoo. If you damage your tattoo while swimming, you will likely have to pay to have it fixed. Most artists will not touch-up a tattoo for free if they see you did something to screw it up.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 09:14:41 +0000