Does losing or gaining weight affect your tattoo?
Will anything be left of my tattoo if I lose weight? That's a good question!
Your skin is super flexible and stretches and shrinks as if it were nothing. In itself, this is a nice quality, but it does, of course, change the shape of your tattoo. Losing and gaining weight both have consequences for the shape of your tattoo. In this blog, you can read how to minimize damage to your tattoo if you decide to lose or gain some weight.
Will my tattoo change shape if I lose weight?
Yes, that can certainly happen. The extent of the change depends on where your tattoo is placed. Shape changes don't only occur due to weight loss; gaining weight can also affect your tattoo's shape. So, it's best if your weight doesn't fluctuate too much, so that the shape and meaning of your beautiful tattoo don't change. But that's easier said than done…
These are the areas where your tattoo is most likely to distort
Do you have a tattoo on your stomach, thigh, buttocks, or upper arm? If you lose weight, there's a higher chance your tattoo will distort in these areas.
Why? These areas have a relatively higher amount of body fat, so your body changes the most there.
How can I keep my tattoo's shape intact if I lose weight?
Don't lose weight too quickly! Slow is the magic word. If you lose weight slowly, you ensure that your tattoo remains as beautiful as it was.
How is that possible?
It's very easy to explain: if you lose weight too quickly, your body can't keep up and doesn't have time to adapt your skin to your 'new' body.
Your skin and tattoo will suffer greatly from rapid weight loss. The result: wrinkling and sagging of the skin. You can prevent this by losing weight in a controlled manner.
Do both large and small tattoos distort due to weight loss?
The answer to this question is: yes.
However, rapid weight loss has a greater impact on small tattoos than on large ones. This is purely due to the change in your body's size.
Drink plenty of water
Drinking plenty of water is important! Not only does it help with weight loss, but it's also very good for the quality of your skin… and therefore also helps keep your tattoo looking good.
Will my tattoo change if I gain weight?
Yes, that is certainly possible. It doesn't matter whether it's extra, unwanted holiday pounds or extra muscle mass from intense training.
If your muscles grow quickly, your tattoo will change
When you gain weight, your tattoo can essentially stretch. It works much like a balloon with a print. The more you inflate it, the more the shape changes. For example, if you have an arm sleeve or leg sleeve tattoo and you start exercising intensely, the design can change quite a bit.
And the more intricate your tattoo's design, the greater the chance of its shape changing.
Stretch marks
When you gain weight, you risk getting stretch marks. Stretch marks are red or white lines in your skin that can appear when the skin is stretched. Perhaps you've seen them during a pregnancy or experienced them yourself. These lines appear randomly on your skin and don't take your tattoo into account…
If stretch marks run through your tattoo, the ink pockets might break, damaging/distorting your tattoo.
How to minimize damage to your tattoo when gaining weight?
From experience, we know that weight gain has an even greater effect on the shape of your tattoo than weight loss. At least, if you grow too fast. This happens if you train super hard and use muscle-building substances.
The skin can then stretch far too quickly. Your skin then doesn't have enough time to grow along naturally. Think back to the balloon earlier in this blog. So, build up gradually.
Drink water!
Just like with losing weight, drinking plenty of water helps here too. This keeps your skin elastic, allowing it to adapt better to your body.
Moisturize your skin well
In addition to drinking plenty of water, we recommend moisturizing your skin and tattoo with a hydrating cream. The After Tattoo by TattooMed is a rich cream that cares for your skin incredibly well and also significantly reduces the chance of stretch marks.
It is always very important to take good care of your (new) tattoo and therefore to moisturize it regularly.
Want to know more about that? Read our blog 'How often and how long should you moisturize your new tattoo'!
My tattoo's shape has completely changed due to weight loss. Now what?!
A (slightly) different shape for your tattoo is not the end of the world… it doesn't have to be that bad. So don't panic!
Tattoo Touch-up
Tattoo artists are artists and always find a creative solution for your 'problem'. Depending on the distortion, they will either neatly touch up your tattoo or tattoo something else over it. This is called covering up.
Do you want to have your tattoo touched up? Preferably go back to the artist who did your tattoo. This way you maintain the same style, which is much better.
Tattoos, weight loss or gain summarized:
Losing or gaining weight impacts your tattoo. Be careful not to go too fast. Your skin can stretch and shrink. Maintain a slow pace; that minimizes damage to your tattoo. Both when gaining and losing weight, drinking plenty of water helps enormously. Drinking water ensures your skin stays elastic. Moisturizing your skin and tattoo certainly contributes to this. Don't worry too much if your tattoo distorts. Artists are experts at pimping up your tattoo again.
It is always important to take good care of your skin and your tattoo. Your skin is your largest organ, so treat it with care.
TIP: make sure you become proficient in caring for your tattoo. TattooMed shows you how to do that aftercare properly.
👉🏻 Find more blogs with useful tips on tattoomed.nl/blogs
Questions about tattoo care?
Feel free to browse our tattoo aftercare blogs. Do you have questions or just want more information? Feel free to contact us.
📅 This blog first appeared on July 15, 2020