It may come many as a surprise that you actually need to take of your tattoo not only after you have just gotten it but for the rest of your life. After all once you decided to get a tattoo your are making a life time commitment to your tattoo and you should continue to care for it years down the road. Many people are not aware of this and because of this their tattoo may not seem as vibrant and will most definitely fade. The steps that it takes to preserve your tattoo is nothing tendency and can be done in a matter of a minute or two. If you follow the below steps you should never have to worry about your tattoo looking dull or fading.

1. The number one after care tip for your tattoo is to keep it out of the direct sunlight as often as possible. If you are going to be in the sun be sure to put a high SPF sunscreen like 45 or 50 on it and be sure to reapply as needed. Also never ever expose your brand new tattoo to the direct sun.

2. It is important not to go swimming, get in a hot tube or take a bath after getting a new tattoo. This can cause it to not heal properly and can cause fading to occur.

3. Be sure to keep your tattoo moisturized for the rest of your life. Take two seconds in the morning after you get out of the shower and apply some lotion to your tattoo. Some people recommend using Vaseline to help from fading.

4. It is very important not to shave any areas where you have gotten a tattoo for at least 30 days after those 30 days you can but be carefully and try not to cut yourself.

5. When your tattoo is healing make sure you only touch it with clean hands.

6. Your tattoo will itch after you have gotten it and it is healing. It is very important to not pick or scratch at your tattoo. This will cause the scab to fall off your tattoo and your tattoo could end up having a bunch of white dots in it.

People who are against tattoos and have nothing good to say about them are constantly trying to find ways to prove tattoos are bad. The latest bit of news to hit the newsstands is that tattoos may help contribute to some people getting skin cancer. This claim came about when a few people reported some cases of skin cancer in the area of their tattoo. These tattoo haters claim that the metals that are some tattoo inks increases the chances of one getting skin cancer later on down the road.

However, what these people don’t realize is the these materials that are in tattoo ink like, cobalt and aluminum are not causing skin cancer. In fact dermatologist have cleared this claim, by making it known that the tattoo ink is unlikely to do any harm because it is confined to cells in the skin called macrophages, whose job is to absorb foreign material. The culprit to the skin cancer was more than likely a mole that a tattoo was tattooed over so the person wasn’t able to notice the changes in their mole.

So the bottom line is, there is no evidence to prove that tattoos lead to skin cancer. Once again all the tattoo haters are proven wrong. Tattoos are not evil things, they are a right of self expression, just like someones hair color or hair cut. People need to start realizing that just because someone may look a little different or dress a little different it doesn’t mean they are a bad person.

By its very nature, the process of getting a tattoo involves repeatedly piercing the skin with tiny pricking motions to insert ink. This raises the issue of whether there is a risk of getting a MRSA staph infection when getting ink done.

What is MRSA? MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Scary already, huh? In English, this phrase refers to a bacteria that is resistant to treatment by antibiotics that are commonly prescribed to treat bacterial infections. This is a more resistant strain of the basic staph infection referred to in most medical discussions.

Why is MRSA a big scare these days? Well, 19,000 people a year die from the infection. That being said, is has been getting more attention recently because of outbreaks in the NFL. Professional football players with the St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns have been infected with MRSA at an alarming rate. Some players have missed entire seasons while others have simply been hospitalized in the middle of the season.

MRSA generally becomes a problem when it penetrates the skin and gets into the internal blood transfer system. That being said, it is easy to kill when it is on the exterior of the skin, a place it is often found. The use of products like Hand Sanz and rubbing alcohol can usually wipe out the bacteria within 15 seconds.

So, are you at an increased risk for a MRSA staph infection if you get a tattoo? Yes, but the question is how much so? Well, let me ask you a question. If there were MRSA outbreaks in tattoo parlors, do you think we would hear about them in the news? You and I both know it would be the lead story and followed by some politician looking to shut the tat businesses down!

While there is a risk with just about anything, tattoo studios are actually very clean environments. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. It has to do with the fact that laws were passed that require the studios to focus on sterility. This includes everything from wearing sterile medical gloves to using sterile needles to cleaning the area of the body in question by sterilizing it prior to applying the tat. Basically, it is sterility from beginning to end, so the opportunity for MRSA to cause problems is pretty low. Again, it should be stated that is a legal requirement and tattoo studios are hypersensitive to keeping things clean because they know their business realizes upon it.

Is there some risk of a MRSA infection when getting a tattoo? Yes. Is it a big risk? Statistically, it is not.