38 thoughts on “Tattoo Gone Bad”

  1. my red and black star scabbed exactly like that. It was the worst experience of my life (well, maybe that’s not true…). The scabs got really, really think and I ended up cutting them off because I couldn’t stand it anymore (yeah, I know). Somehow it healed and I have a nice looking red and black star…. But I totally feel this person’s pain. And I think the tattoo is more honest with the ugly scabs than without… 🙂

  2. he scratched didnt he?..

    Actually (well for the heart part) it looks almost nice.. it brings out the redness…

  7. ive seen the same thing from working the skin way way to much and some reds are thinner and go in kinda blotchy and dont know the artist but if hes not experienced it could be from overworking way to much also known as “pitting” its common on shins when doing solid color

  8. most certainly an allergic reaction to red ink. that’s more common that people think… the “ink allergy” entry on BME’s dictionary has a photo of my wrist after it healed from a severe allergy that was treated by a great dermatologist: it still had the red ink, but in a distorted and clear way very distant from the pretended result… and it was HELL to take care of =/

    and copper_wire, i strongly agree with the tattoo being more honest like that part 😉

    all the luck to the person this tattoo belongs to.

  9. bodymody i am going through the same thing with my ankle i was tattooed by an apprentice and its torn up pretty well

  11. it almost looks like a surface infection…i had an intense one on my zombie my little pony….i was told they just happen sometimes….it pulled all the color out and it was really awful looking. Maybe it’s just one of those?

  12. i dont think “keeping it dry enough during the first week” is the cause. i just healed 6.5 hours on my sleeve by keeping wrapped under saran wrap for four or five days straight so it did nto dry out. it also did not scab up at all. wel, except for this one spot near my armpit dugout, i think the artist may have overworked the spot because it did scab up there and looked like it had “holes” in it.

  13. and i was getting worried about my reaction to red ink…it was just a little bumpy, no where near this! (if that’s what it is)

  14. it looks like a staff infection. i got one when a guy grabbed my fresh tattoo. the entire thing got hard and under it was all pus, the whole thing fell out and there was a crater in my arm. luckily it healed up and with some mederma i was able to get it retattooed and you would never know it ever happened.

  16. my red-ink tattoo did that – not quite as bad because i rushed myself back to the artist and my doctor for advice as soon as it wasn’t healing right. it never dried up, it took EIGHT days, just to stop weeping tissue fluid and red ink, and then another six weeks to heal.

    had a treatment of using antibiotic, antihistamine and excema creams on it, not all at once but applying a different one morning, midday and night; and keeping it covered with gauze to keep the dirt/irritants off.

    [antibiotic cream to prevent infection – but it irritates; antihistamine cream to help the irritation/allergic reaction – but it slows healing; excema cream to improve skin healing – but can harbour bacteria. so all three are cycled]

    Am left with patchy pale red with blank spaces where my skin had just fallen off in chunks – but it’s healed now, and the tattoo is salvageable!

  18. That looks like it hurts like hell…

    But at least there is that awesome little pirate flag with the skull & crossbones below it!

  22. U can tell by the line work that it wasnt dont by a top notch artist to begin with.Some ink companies use shady as shit in thier inks like plastic etc ..Just another example of work gone bad . At least this person was smart an went and got mediccal atention on this one .Me personally i wouldnt run any more ink through that area I might think about doing a nice skin removal cutting out of the heart. I ve done what number #12 said wih the seran awrap just becuse I was sitting 3 day straight on the inside of my arma dn arm pit and didnt want the area to heal up while still doing work on it.Other than that I wouldnt keep that wrap on more than a couple of hours and then just let leave it for afew days then apply some good clean hypo lotion (lighlty i could feel when it gets dried out and pulls other wise I stopped goopin shit on my work years ago).SANITATION dont touch , or let some 1 else touch it.wear protective clothing if your going public( i got a real staff infection once after having soem real nice work doen and then getting arrested and picking up some crazy ass staff infection from the jail walls and shit fuck those nasty hoes ).and wash,wash,wash hands b4 ever touching that area . Fuck i feel 4 yaon that one !

  23. P.S. it may fall under more extreme types of work but when I had my skin removal work done on the advice of both my dad (who being diabetic deal with wounds allot my mom who has lots of cosmo work done .she went and had her doctor presibe me a antibiotic to take take to make sure that things went smoothely which only made sense to me on a huge open wound area. I dont really think that after care is talked enough here at mod blog .2 me it should be one of the number one things talked about here.

  24. My ex has two black and red nautical stars on his collarbone and he had problems with them… they always itched and were raised up from the reaction but they still looked awesome.

  25. I was talking to my artist tattoo artist friend JImboand from what he understands eventually the skin will push out the ink but it can be helped along by running a tattoo gun/needle through the work with just plain watter.but yeah bbad reaction really are past sucking they swallow!!!

  26. man, this is the worst tattoo i’ve ever seen, they do a better job with jailhouse machines.

  28. ouch ouch ouch. god, i hope i’m not red-ink allergic, or whatever. I might have to think of a new color for my flowers when i go to get them filled in. I think i would cry if that happened.

  29. no deber ser una experiencia linda pero no temas la tercera es la ganadora!

  31. I got a tattoo 4 days ago on my foot. I’ve noticed it scabbing which I guess is normal. On one of my pedals of the flower it looks like a real light pink. I know he used a bright pink and red mixture. I was just wondering if the regular color would come back once it is completely healed?

  32. Can anyone tell me what a red ink allergy looks like when it first happens? I have red cherry blossems on my forearm around a koi fish that also has red in it. This part of the tattoo was done four months ago. The flowers have small bumps on them that itch. The red in the koi fish looks perfect and has no bumps and is totally healed. This rash has just happened four months after the fact. I have been keeping it moisturized with non scented lotion (lubriderm)because I have been adding to this tattoo and it is easier to just coat my arm with lotion rather than just the new tattoo spots. Since noticing the rash I have not used lotion on the old part of the tattoo. Should I be worried about anything?

  33. This is nothing more then someone over working the skin. The person who did the tattoo is just a bad tattooest please give me a break why does everyone always have to try and read more into it then it really is. JUST BAD TATTOOING NOTHING MORE.

  34. check what kind of ink was used? what are the heavy metal levels….is it bad ink? mine was bad ink …it has been recalled since work was done…..check it out

  35. I just got part of my sleeve worked on 6 days ago. Everywhere there’s red ink has a raised hard-scab with clear fluid underneath. So far it’s been a pretty painful experience- even to lengthen and bend my arm causes some discomfort. I asked my tattoo artist what was going on and he stated that it might be a red reaction. Well, thanks to this site and a few others, I suppose it really is an allergic reaction to the red ink. Definitely unlike any other tattoo experience I’ve ever had. Atleast now I have a smidgen of hope that my ink will heal up ok!

  37. could be a red ink allergy. I had a half sleeve done 5 weeks ago, 50% of which was using dark red ink (eternal ink brand). The red parts healed very slowly, and were VERY raised and bumpy to begin with. I consulted my tattoo artist and he said i had a skin allergy to red ink which isnt too common, but it happens. The tattoo scabbed over as normal after approx 1 week using Bepanthen. When the scabs came off naturally, the red areas remained very bumpy, sore and itchy, more itchy than normal, and it was very flakey, like dandruff on your arm. The rest of the tat healed up fine, but the red didnt. for anyone experiencing somthing similar, DONT PANIC, heres what to do – AFTER scabs have come off naturally using Bepanthan or whichever method u prefer, take some anti-allergy tablets containing antihistamines (pirotin or whichever brand) this will help reduce swelling and itchyness.Next, buy an Aloe Vera plant (very common and easy to find house plant) snap off small portions of the chunky leaves and squeeze the liquid on to your skin, its quite slimey like egg white, but its incredibly good for your skin, much better than any cream with Aloe vera ‘extract’. Let it dry naturally and absorb into your skin.Do this twice a day. Also, buy some decent Vit E skin cream from a store, The Body Shop do a good range but whatever you can get is good, apply once a day. So, 5 weeks after my intial panic of having a messed up tattoo, its all good, it took a few weeks of what seemed like no progress, but it WILL heal up fine. If you are left with any spots of colour loss, most tattoo artists should touch it up for you free of charge.

  38. I just wanted to say I too found out that I am allergic to red ink it took over a year before it stopped looking 3D. I scabbed and was very itchy. I had no idea I could be allergic to one color of ink as this was not my first tattoo. My tattoo still flares up sometimes and raises a little but I like that it does that kinda like a brand too. 🙂

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