Scar tattoos are an increasingly common way to hide surgery or burn marks. When the scar is no longer fresh, i.e. after at least 6 months, there should be no contraindications to cover it with the selected design.
What should you know before making a decision? In this article, I will try to answer the most common questions related to scar tattoos.
If you are looking for inspiration before your first foot tattoo, check out my portfolio – you can find my works and projects here – on Instagram.
Pain during a scar tattoo – do a scar tattoo hurt a lot?
Some of the clients did not complain of pain at all while tattooing on the scar or felt less pain during the tattooing process. However, a lot will depend on the location of the scar on which the tattoo is made.
This is an individual matter, in some cases, the pain on a tattooed scar may be greater. Below you will find a map of the parts of the body where the tattoo hurts more or less, a scar may slightly reduce it in some cases, but there is no guarantee for this.
If you are really afraid of the pain you can ask your tattoo artist for numbing cream, we are currently using this one that you can get on Amazon – Ebanel 5% Lidocaine Topical Numbing Cream Maximum Strength, 1.35 Oz Pain Relief Cream Anesthetic Cream Infused with Aloe Vera, Vitamin E, Lecithin, Allantoin, Secured with Child Resistant Cap.
If you would really need something like that at home from my experience I would advise this one, especially that kids should not have contact with the cream and this one has a child-resistant cap 🙂
How much does a scar tattoo cost?
The price of the tattoo will not change when the tattoo is on the scar. When asked about the price of a tattoo, each tattoo artist will answer you – it depends. Most often on the size, and thus the time needed to make it.
When calculating the price of a tattoo on a scar, I must take into account that even with a small design, certain activities while preparing the body and the design itself are independent of its size.
How long does it take before you can get a tattoo on the scar?
Most scars take 6-9 months to heal, but not all. Therefore, if you are planning to get a tattoo on the scar, be sure to wait a little longer, so there will be no risk that the scar will change, which could affect the shape or color of the tattoo on it.
Some dermatologists recommend waiting up to two years before getting a tattoo on a scar.
From my experience with my C-section scar, for the time needed to fully heal the scar before you can have a tattoo on it I can advise the use of a cream or gel, like this one that you can get from Amazon – Mederma PM Intensive Overnight Scar Cream – Works with Skin’s Nighttime Regenerative Activity – Once-Nightly Application is Clinically Shown to Make Scars Smaller & Less Visible – 1 Ounce.
A tattoo on a fresh scar
You should not get a tattoo on a fresh scar, wait at least 6-9 months for the scar to heal. Otherwise, we risk that the tattoo will change over time, after the scar has healed, there is a good chance that the color of the tattoo on the scar will change.
How to get a tattoo on a scar?
We do a scar tattoo in the same way as any other tattoo, but you have to be careful what design and colors you choose – usually black and colors on the scar itself may be more saturated than on the skin around, so you need to be careful about it and possibly dilute the ink properly if the design requires it.
What scars can be tattooed on?
Most often, scar tattoos are done after a variety of injuries such as cuts, burns, or specific locations such as the abdomen in a cesarean section or appendectomy.
Where and on what scars are tattoos done? It is possible, among others:
- tattoo on a burn scar,
- tattoo on the scar after vaccination,
- tattoo on a cesarean section scar,
- tattoo on the scar after surgery.
Scar tattoo for free
Sometimes it is worth contacting a tattoo artist whose work you would like, sometimes as part of a promotion or pro-bono activity, it is possible to get a tattoo for free or in exchange for covering the costs of needles and ink.
How long does a tattoo on a scar heal?
Usually, tattoos on scars take about 3-4 weeks to heal, but it takes up to three months for complete healing under the skin.
If you would like to help your skin to heal faster you can use also tattoo aftercare balms and moisturizing lotions, I have tested quite a few and now I am advising this aftercare kit to my clients, it is something you can find for sure in a good studio or here on Amazon – Tattoo Goo Aftercare Kit Brighten Colors & Soothes Skin.
The tattoo aftercare kit includes:
- Healing Balm,
- Moisturizing Lotion,
- Deep Cleansing Soap,
- Renew Enhancing Lotion with SPF 30.
Some of my favourite designs, tattoo books and aftercare products, selected for you
Thank you for reading my article, I hope that you have found it helpful. If you would have trouble finding ideas for your tattoo, wonder what is meaning of design that you have found or what to buy for aftercare, to make sure that your tattoo will be healing quickly and easily, here are some of my favorite products in one place, hope that this will also help.
Deasign and tattoo ideas
For some ideas you can have a look at those 3 books with hundreds of designs that I use with my Clients, they are available on Amazon for Kindle or in classic, paper version (links below):
- Great Book of Tattoo Designs, Revised Edition: More than 500 Body Art Designs (Fox Chapel Publishing) Fantasy, Celtic, Floral, Wildlife, and Symbol Designs for the Skin by Lora Irish,
- The Big Book of Small Tattoos – Vol.1: 400 small original tattoos for women and men by Roberto Gemori,
- Tiny Tattoos: Over 1,000 Small Inspirational Artworks by Rebecca Vincent.
Tattoo meaning
If you would like to read more about the meaning of different tattoo styles and designs before you will decide what you would like to have, I can recommend a book that was really useful for me when I was starting my tattoo adventure – it’s “Conscious Ink: The Hidden Meaning of Tattoos” by Lisa Barretta (through the link you can find it on Amazon for around $10).
Tattoo aftercare
The skin at the tattoo site often dries out. To prevent it and speed up healing for my Clients, I usually recommend one of those tattoo aftercare balms (you can find them on Amazon):
Looking for more info about tattoos? I might have them covered!
I have written almost 100 articles about tattooing – with details about each body part, problems that you might have with your tattoo, designs, styles, aftercare, and much more.
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