Alcohol and Tattoos: What You Should Know About Their Incompatibility

Getting a tattoo on your skin seems to be a great reason to celebrate. But drinking alcohol can turn a beautiful piece of art on the skin into a health hazard. Alcohol is not recommended for a few days before tattooing, as well as after.

Most people assume that under the influence of alcohol it will be easier for them to get a tattoo, so to speak, “relieve their suffering.” But it is not always the case. Everyone is different, while some feel that the alcohol they drink reduces pain, others definitely feel that the pain gets worse when they are drunk. The generally accepted opinion that drunk alcohol prevents unpleasant sensations with the repeated piercing of the skin is a myth. The process remains quite painful, and the paint lays down unevenly. Therefore, in order to obtain a high-quality result, it is necessary to refrain from drinking drinks not only after the imaging procedure but also in advance of its use.

In general, it is not recommended to drink alcohol and get tattoos, these things are incompatible. Drinking alcohol after getting a tattoo is also not recommended. Let us discuss the reasons why you should avoid drinking before and after getting a tattoo. However, if you feel like not drinking before and after the session will cause you a lot of inconveniences, check out the types of aa meetings on AddictionResource — maybe you will need a consultation.

Alcohol is dangerous

Alcohol dilates blood vessels, blood circulation increases. Any tattoo is a medical procedure in which the needle penetrates the skin, touching the capillaries and blood vessels. The body of a person under the influence of alcohol can react to a puncture of the skin. Blood in this state coagulates more slowly, which means that if bleeding occurs, it will be much more difficult to stop it than bleeding in a sober person. Experienced tattoo masters say that if a client still turned to a non-professional, and he agreed to fill a tattoo for a drunk person, the result can be doubly disappointing.

Another reason why it is not recommended to drink alcohol after getting a tattoo is the washing out of the ink along with the blood from the wound. The more alcohol you drink, the more ink will be flushed out of the wound. As a result, about 50% of the color you originally wanted will remain. The tattoo will become much lighter, and in order to return the desired color, you will have to contact the artist again.

Courage and alcohol

It is a medical fact that alcohol affects the human body in different ways. Someone becomes calmer and more complacent, someone more aggressive, others become brave, sometimes it comes to completely reckless actions. You should not decide to get a tattoo while intoxicated, because it is possible that tomorrow it will turn out that it was not so necessary to get a tattoo. Or the selected image will not seem so attractive in the morning.

Think carefully about the design of the tattoo you want, its size, and location. You also need to make sure that you really like the sketch the master made for you. In addition, you need to listen carefully to the instructions before leaving the salon, which are essential for your comfortable healing. And even if the desire to get a tattoo visited you in a state of intoxication, you can realize it when you sober up.

Master’s reputation

A professional master working in a specialized salon will never take up work with a drunk client. Experienced tattoo artists value their reputation. They have a responsibility to inform clients about the consequences of drinking alcohol prior to the procedure. This is done so that resourceful clients do not try to mislead the master.

Drinking after the session

Drink alcohol safely only when the damaged area of ​​the skin is completely healed. And the duration of this process is different for each person – from a couple of days to a month, and it depends on the following factors:

• the client’s age – the older the person, the longer it takes for the skin to regenerate due to slow metabolic processes;
• experience and skill of the master;
• localization of the pattern – tattoos in the neck, buttocks, on the wrist, chest and abdomen heal for a long time;
• personal immunity;
• skin type;
• the quality of care of the applied tattoo.

Therefore, reliable forecasts of the duration of the recovery period can only be made by the tattoo artist, having inquired in advance about all the nuances concerning the client. On average, this period is 5-10 days.

The main sign that alcoholic beverages will no longer have a harmful effect is the formation of a thin matte film on the image surface. This means that the skin lesions are healed, and the risk of bleeding is no longer at risk. The pigment is tightly fixed under the skin and is not excreted through its damaged areas.

You also need to remember that just a tattoo done is practically an open wound that requires special care. A tattoo made to a drunk client takes longer to heal, complications are possible. Considering all the above reasons, it is better not to take risks and come to the tattoo master absolutely sober and in a good mood.

If it is not easy for you to stop drinking and you feel uncomfortable during the days when you don’t consume alcohol, probably you should get some information on alcoholism development at aa meetings. AA support groups not only do give all the information needed but also help get rid of the addiction in the most comfortable way. Just ask yourself, in how many days would you feel cravings for alcohol? And if it is a one-digit number, better look for AA meetings USA.