Can I Put Neosporin On My Tattoo While It’s Healing?

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Can I Put Neosporin On My Tattoo

Everyone these days understands that Neosporin is great for minor cuts but not the best option for healing tattoos. People usually recognize the importance of a highly professional and skilled tattooing expert. Your tattoo artist will maintain the best design of the tattoo, but their job is mostly finished once the tattoos are inked on you. Now, it’s your responsibility to keep the skin of the tattoo protected and feasible for healing. Many tattoo lovers have questions regarding the aftercare of inked skin. One of the recently famed questions is; can I put Neosporin on my tattoo while it’s healing? Now we all know the question is valid and understandable since Neosporin is a great wound ointment, and tattoos are a type of wound due to skin piercings. So, let’s find the answer to this question together. 

Most people are not interested in the prescribed methods for tattoo aftercare simply because they are much more time-consuming and tiring. This provides an unethical platform to non-experts and misleading people who recommended various products to the users without paying much attention to the actual usage and domain of that product. Hence, we must be responsible and ethical while answering the question. So, to remove any confusion or doubts, we decided to ask professional tattoo artists and medical doctors to help us understand the usage of Neosporin ointment. 

Neosporin Antibiotic Ointment:

Neosporin Antibiotic Ointment

Without wasting any of your precious time, let’s get straight into the definition and usage of Neosporin. It is a self-medication, triple-effective antibiotic ointment manufactured to protect and enhance healing wounds. Users are not required to have a medical prescription from a doctor before buying Neosporin from nearby stores. While the Neosporin antibiotic ointment is useful for minor cuts and wounds, you shouldn’t apply it directly to peon wounds and severe injuries. 

Using Neosporin on Your Tattoos:

It might be considered simple to some tattooed people and amateur tattoo artists to recommend using Neosporin wound ointment for tattoo healing. The reality is far from this assumption, as professional and skilled tattooing experts do not recommend Neosporin for healing tattoos. The narrative of tattoo artists is not based upon a bluff because there is strong science backing their remarks regarding using Neosporin for tattoo healing. 

  • Firstly, Neosporin is not a wound-healing ointment to start with; the main usage and function of Neosporin are to act as an antibiotic product for cuts, wounds, and bruises. 
  • Secondly, most medical experts have found that Neosporin is not an intensely functional healing ointment; it is manufactured to deal with small cuts, bruises, and wounds. 
  • Thirdly, the nature of wounds from tattoos is considered to be open wounds. Such major healing wounds are not cured or fixed using moderately impactful healing products. 
  • Lastly, Neosporin and even the most specific tattoo healing product are not advised to be used while the tattoo is in its initial healing stages. Once the tattoo starts to heal after dealing with the wounds and piercings, you can apply prescribed tattoo aftercare products. 

Effects Of Using Neosporin On Tattoos:

We have already discussed that Neosporin might seem a good match for healing tattoos, but it’s only targeted for general uses. If you use Neosporin, it is less likely that it will help your tattoo during its healing or other stages. But some researchers have analyzed the healing ointment well about the tattoo healing process and found important features. We have gathered some after-effects of Neosporin healing ointment when it’s used on open wounds like pierced and inked tattoos. 

Following are some of the effects of using Neosporin on tattoos:

Extra Hydration:

Hydration is necessary for the proper healing of a tattoo, but this doesn’t mean in any way that the tattooed surface has to be moisturized all the time. For example, Neosporin is an antibiotic cream that causes unwanted hydration and moisturization on its applied surface. This causes skin tissue blockage, which is unsuitable for healing wounds. So, extra hydration and moisturization are inevitable outcomes of using Neosporin on a healing tattoo. 

Redness And Irritation:

There are several skin types, and sometimes people are sensitive to allergies to certain products on their skin. For example, Neosporin is not considered a highly reactive product, but if your skin is very sensitive, it might cause redness and irritation to the tattooed skin. The reasoning behind that is pretty simple: the Neosporin layer on the skin will irritate sensitive skin, ultimately leading to redness. 

Risk Of An Infection:

Every effect of using Neosporin mentioned above leads to a simple conclusion that your tattoo is highly likely to get infected if you use unprescribed products. There is no denying the functionality and benefits of Neosporin healing ointment, but it is not meant to be used on open wounds and intense piercings like tattooed skin. The best strategy is to avoid using Neosporin ointment and look for alternatives. 

Dullness And Scars:

We have mentioned earlier that Neosporin provides unwanted hydration and moisturization to the skin, which causes dampness on the tattooed surface. Consequently, if you continue applying Neosporin ointment on healing tattoos, the skin wouldn’t receive the required sunlight and oxygen. Both flows of oxygen and gentle, direct sunlight help healing wounds soothe and regenerate faster. Using thick layers of Neosporin blocking oxygen and sunlight for the skin will increase the healing time for dull and scarred skin. 

Conclusion:

By reading all of the uses and effects, you will know that applying thick layers of Neosporin healing ointment is not the best option. Hence, now when someone asks can I put Neosporin on my tattoo while it’s healing? You can let them know the proper usage of the product and its effects on newly healing tattoos. The baseline is Neosporin was neither formed nor recommended to be used for major wounds and piercings like tattooed skin. It is meant to be used for small scrapes, cuts, wounds, etc. if you still are confused about using Neosporin on your healing tattoo, the best solution will be to consult a professional tattooing artist or a medical expert. Thanks for reading.

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