How long after a tattoo can I go swimming?
I want to get a half sleeve for my birthday, but I am also training for a triathalon. How long do I have to wait until I can get back into the water for a long period of time?
Is there a way I can start the tattoo (outline) and still train then get the shading done after the triathalon?
Skin & Body
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7 Responses to “How long after a tattoo can I go swimming?”
Themocracy
ummm….i had to wait for like a week or two…i only
freaked out though && didnt want to ruin it… mine was small
too…how big is the tat you want??
I have 9 tats… and you really should wait at LEAST a week before getting into chlorine….. make sure the “open wound” is HEALED.
If it’s fresh pond/lake water – be very careful… lots of bateria in this kind of water. Ocean water – even worse – the salt will leach out the tat ink faster if the wound isn’t healed.
Also – after you get the tat and it’s healed… make sure you cover it with sunblock to keep it from fading (especially a tat with lots of color). I ride motorcycles a lot in the summer and I have to remember this too!
i have plenty of tattoos so i can answer this question. you can get it done in two parts, and you can go swimming right after. just grease it up with vaseline. vaseline is the perfect gel, it keeps whats in, in and what is on the outside on the outside. let me know how it works for you.
you can do the tattoo in 2 parts, i just did my rib cage piece in 2 sessions. I’d wait at least a week, up to two before doing the swimming, make sure it’s healed so it doesn’t fade or get infected
I think the outline would be OK to go swimming, but wait to be safe. You dont want to pay for it twice.
2 to 4 weeks to be on the safe side. Even once the scabs are gone, the skin is still sensitive. You will also want to avoide direct sunlight for the same period of time. If you cannot, then I suggest a really good sunscreen with a high spf rating. That is how you can take care of what you got. How ever back pieces are a bitch to apply this stuff to, so good luck with your sleeve.
Not really. It takes a tat three weeks to heal, and you still have to wait four before you can swim.. I was going to get mine one night from my friend, (he does super awesome work btw), anyway, it got too late to do the work so we waited tiln the next week. I went swimming with his girlfriend(my best friend the next day) and I mentioned it was a good thing I didn’t end up getting the tats. She about fell over, “You have to wait four weeks!” she yelled it so loud everybody turned their heads. When you swim, the chlorine gets into your skin and it makes the ink get rejected by your body. Same reason you don’t want to use Neosporin, it makes the ink grow out. I’d wait til after the triathlon, have it as a birthday and victory tat all-in-one.