After five months, I believe I am allergic to the red ink in my tattoo. It is raised and itchy, sometimes worse than other times. Is there anything topical that will make it "settle in" or just take the reaction away?

ahah....the dreaded red reaction. this is very common..my husband has this reaction and i have seen it many times!!after five months there is basically nothing you can do but ride it out. apply a non scented lotion ONCE a day and hopefully it will go away quickly...ive seen it take six months to five years to completley heal. if you have a regular tattoo artist the next time you go in request a diffrent red made by another company...hopefully it works.good luck

yeah i have a reaction to mine too. i only got mine a week ago though so im not completely worried. my boyfriend has had the same reaction. mine is starting to spread a little but im hoping it will go away as the healing process is almost over.

i have heard antihistamines can sometimes help... "it may make it feel better and reduce swelling"

i've never heard of antihistamines but i suppose it could work...AFTER THE SCABS ARE GONE.........imperfect,is it oozing or anything because if it is you can put a TINY bit of alcohol on the spots that are doing it on the red and that can speed up the healing time.

u take a pill smart one (it will help)

quote:

Originally posted by everythingends515:
i've never heard of antihistamines but i suppose it could work...AFTER THE SCABS ARE GONE.........imperfect,is it oozing or anything because if it is you can put a TINY bit of alcohol on the spots that are doing it on the red and that can speed up the healing time.

no it wasnt oozing at all. everything healed up fine. no problems. some minor spots where color pulled out but i know why that happened (not due to reaction). i am going to get it finished tonight. ill post my finished piece up when i get home.

Well I guess this happens more than I thaught. I too had a tattoo about five and a half months ago, and a couple of weeks ago my tattoo started to itch and swell, but it happened to the black ink. All of the outline and the letters are raised. The red (which is a big area is alright). I didn't know what was wrong. I had nver heard of this happening before.

this reaction is common in some people being allergic to certain brands of tattoo inks. Like the other posters have stated there is no deffinite cure for this other than requesting you artist to use a different brand.

The reaction can also be caused by use Triple anti-biotic Ointment, and scented/non-scented lotions, The best thing to use for your tattoo is A&E Ointment that doesnt have a petrolium base to it like Vaseline. arefully smear a thin layer over your tattoo every 8 hours and before bed. The natural A&E vitamins in the ointment will heall your tattoo quicker and cause less irritation

(This information brough to you by the manager of Knoxink.com)

Thanks for replying. I will definitely give it a try.

I had a nasty little red reaction, got a nice infection and lost most of the color. You never know, I have red in another tattoo and had no problems. I had my tattoo done 3 years ago and it's still slightly raised.