What happens in your skin when you get a tattoo?

Medically speaking, you get injured during tattooing. Usually, the needle with the ink penetrates the skin about 2mm deep until it reaches the dermis.

The skin is made up of two different layers, which in turn consist of different tissues. The outer layer is called the epidermis and the layer beneath it is called the dermis. The outer layer consists of dead, highly flattened cells that provide extra protection. The tattoo is placed under this difficult-to-penetrate layer of skin.

When the ink reaches the dermis, something strange happens. Your body is startled by the unfamiliar substance and immediately wants to remove as much of it as possible. The pigment particles are, of course, far too large to be removed by 'the body's own scavenging cells'.

To 'protect' you, the dermis encapsulates the ink.

This protective reaction literally creates ink spheres, which cause no further damage and ensure that the colours remain beautiful and permanent in your skin.

In the article How long does your tattoo healing take? You can read how your tattoo healing process works:

Your skin tries to protect you against bacteria and forms a scab.
Your body protects you against the tattoo ink and repairs your wound.
This can make you feel a little sick.
Your tattoo might become a bit swollen and red.
After ± 1-2 weeks, your tattoo will start to peel.

Do not underestimate the healing of your tattoo! Do not leave the healing to chance. Help your tattoo heal with tattoo aftercare that suits your skin.

A blowout occurs when the tattoo needle goes too deep into the skin or is applied at the wrong angle. Then the ink ends up in the area below the dermis. In the so-called subcutaneous tissue, and that can cause unwanted shadowing, or a blowout.

A blowout can just happen, after all, it's manual work. Your artist will always do everything to make your tattoo look as good as possible and see what he or she can do to 'repair' the damage to the skin as much as possible.

Why do tattoos fade? Sometimes it has to do with the choice of ink, but the sun is the biggest culprit for your tattoo fading. Sometimes your tattoo is simply in a place where it fades faster, such as on your finger or on your foot.

All tattoos eventually fade. For some more and faster than for others. You can easily protect your colours with a nourishing cream with UV filter.

TIP: Regularly scrubbing your tattoo prevents accumulated dead skin cells. This will make your tattoo look fresher anyway.

Yes. That can happen if the tattoo was applied too deeply. But especially if you don't take good care of your tattoo during the healing process, leading to inflammation or thick scabs. Inflammation and thick scabs are not good for your tattoo. Especially not if you pick at it. That can seriously damage your tattoo.

You can largely prevent scabbing by regularly cleaning your tattoo thoroughly and, above all, not letting it dry out. If you do get more scabs, try to leave them alone. Let your tattoo heal calmly.

Also read Cleaning your tattoo. Why is it so important?

Also discover our other blogs about tattoo aftercare:

Questions about tattoo care?
Feel free to check out our tattoo aftercare blogs. Do you have questions or just want more information? Feel free to contact us.

Original publication date: 2017-06-26
Last updated on: 2024-03-08

What's happening in your skin?

What happens to your skin when you get a tattoo?

What is a blowout?

Why do tattoos fade?

Can you get scars from tattooing?