背中
Back pieces, sleeves and sessions a month apart
How to live with a piece that is healing in one place while the next session is being planned in another.
5 min read
Healing in layers
A back piece is tattooed in layers: outline, black, colour, touch-ups. Each session goes over skin that healed a month ago. That skin is fine to work on; skin from the last two weeks is not. That is why sessions are spaced the way they are, and why we will move a date if the previous session is still healing.
Sleeping and sitting
Back and thigh work makes sleeping awkward for a few nights. Clean sheets, loose cotton, and a towel under you if the piece is still weeping. For the first three days after a back session, avoid chairs with hard backs and avoid rucksacks.
Sleeves: keep the arm out of bath water and out of the sun. Long sleeves in loose fabric, not tight compression.
Between sessions
Once the surface has healed, treat the area like any skin: moisturise, sunscreen, no sunburn before the next date. A sunburnt back cannot be tattooed, and we will send you home. Eat and sleep well the day before; sessions are long.
The piece tracker shows what is planned for the next session and roughly how long it will take. Read it before you come so you know what will be sore afterwards.