The key to having the most vibrant ink after your tattoo is proper aftercare, which includes avoiding the pool. So how long after a tattoo can you swim?
You need to wait at least two weeks after getting a new tattoo before submerging it in water for a prolonged period. It’s even better to wait four to six weeks.
You should give your skin enough time to heal. Here are some reasons why you shouldn’t swim, along with some alternatives.
How Long before You Can Swim With a New Tattoo?
Typically, you can’t swim safely with a tattoo until it has completely healed. How long that takes varies from person to person, but many tattoo artists recommend anywhere from two to four weeks.
When you get a tattoo, you’ll be sent home with a bandage over it. The bandage can probably be taken off after a few hours so you can wash the extra blood and ink off.
Apply the aftercare cream after air-drying it in a clean environment and giving it a gentle wash with warm, light water and antibacterial soap using your hands.
Skin flaking and scabs will develop as the tattoo heals. A fresh layer of skin will develop as the scabs naturally flakes off and fall off. You know you can swim without danger when a fresh layer of skin has formed.
You should refrain from taking baths during the healing process for many of the same reasons, but keep the area gently cleaned, let it air dry, and apply the aftercare cream.
Related Reading: How to Prepare for a Tattoo?
Why Can’t You Swim With a Tattoo?
Essentially, a new tattoo is an open wound. You should avoid open water, hot tubs, and swimming pools while your injury heals. You don’t want any possible bacteria in the water to cause the wound to become infected, as you would with any wound.
Even though it’s uncommon, at least one case of a man who already had liver disease passing away after getting his new tattoo infected in the Gulf of Mexico is known to exist.
It’s unlikely to happen while you’re swimming laps at your pool, but as long as the wound isn’t healed, infection is always a possibility. Both the new tattoo’s design and more serious health issues can be exacerbated by an infection.
There are still some bacteria present despite the pool possibly being cleaner than many open water locations. In addition, chlorine and other substances can hurt an open wound and make it red.
To heal properly, a fresh tattoo requires air drying and breathing room. You run the risk of losing some of the ink and compromising the color if it scabs and peels off too much.
Related: Can You Put Sunscreen On A New Tattoo?
What Happens If You Swim While Your Tattoo is Healing?
The process of tattooing creates intentional injury to the skin (think of it as an open wound) and that injury creates a potential portal of entry for infection-causing microbes.
Water contamination raises the dangers of a tattoo healing. Infections can cause scarring, ruin a tattoo, and slow the healing process.
How to Tell If Your Tattoo Has Fully Healed?
It can be challenging to tell when a tattoo has fully healed. Within a few days, your tattoo may surface-level appear and feel healed.
Most tattoo artists consider the tattoo healed within 2–4 weeks, but that can vary with the location and size of the piece. The full healing process for a tattoo can take up to six months.
The speed of your recovery may also depend on your lifestyle and level of aftercare.
Once your tattoo is no longer red, itchy, scabbing, or flaking, you can consider it fully healed.
If you’re unsure, drop by the shop where you got your tattoo and have a pro check it out for you.
You Might Also Like: How Long Does a Thigh Tattoo Take to Heal?
How to Waterproof a Tattoo for Swimming?
You might want to try covering a new tattoo with a waterproof dressing if you absolutely must go swimming.
There is no way to completely waterproof a tattoo, but swimmers have tried a few different techniques, including waterproof bandages that can completely encircle and cover the tattoo, thick layers of Vaseline, and even plastic press-and-seal wrap.
If you have a fresh tattoo and want to swim with it, cover it and make sure it’s waterproof as much as you can before you enter the water. Once you’re out, take off the covers, gently wash the tattoo with warm water and antibacterial soap, then let it air dry and heal.
Throughout the recovery period following a tattoo, keep applying the aftercare cream.
Summary: How Long After a Tattoo Can You Swim
Swimming with fresh ink is a no-no for a good reason. Doing it could interfere with your healing process and ruin your tattoo — not to mention increase your chances of getting an infection.
If at all possible, refrain from swimming entirely and strictly adhere to the aftercare instructions provided by your artist.
FAQs
How Long After a Tattoo Can You Go in the Sun?
A new tattoo should generally be kept completely out of the sun for three to four weeks.
How Long After Getting a Tattoo Can You Take a Bath?
A couple of weeks after getting your new tattoo, be sure to refrain from doing both.
Can You Swim in Chlorine After Getting a Tattoo?
Fresh tattoos are particularly vulnerable to the damaging effects of chlorine and salt water because both can fade the ink from a tattoo.
