Soreness, Redness, Inflammation

Typical Antibiotic Reaction

Q: Oh can someone give me some advice please?

I got my first tattoo (on the side of my leg, all black ink) on June 2. Everything was going great until it started to get small red bumps all over it. Now, as of this morning, its got infected bumps, plus blister looking things on it. The tattoo artist said to keep using the ointment. I am putting a warm rag on it for very short periods of time to draw out infection, which is what instinct tells me to do, lol. It's awful and I am very scared. I have taken care of it, I don't know why this is happening. It looks like more than a hair follicle infection. Has this happened to anyone else? If so, could you tell me how yours came out after it finally healed??? I am thinking of going to the doctor. I would greatly appreciate any info.

Thanks, Becca.

A: Dear Becca,

If you are using an antibiotic ointment (bacitracin, polysporin, neosporin or similarly packaged "tattoo" brands) stop now, and switch to a VERY mild lotion such as Dermassage, Curel, or Vaseline Intensive care in the yellow bottle. The logic being that this sounds to me like an antibiotic reaction.

What makes me think this is an antibiotic reaction? The fact that it looks like a follicle infection, a rash made up of tiny pimples.

If symptoms do persist, you may want to try Hibiclens surgical soap 3x a day until symptoms subside, I have seen this stuff kill infections in tattoos and piercings, though be careful, it can irritate the skin. Infections may occur after antibiotic reactions, because the skin is healing slowly. While infections are rarer than antibiotic reactions, one of these two methods or both combined, which is also safe, should get rid of your problem.
The quicker you take care of this, the better your tattoo will look when healed.Antibiotic ointments are not effective for very long, and should not be used longer than a week. I would bet dollars to donuts you have been using an antibiotic for way too long.