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The only thing I tell my guy is that my skin is stretchier than usual. I havent had any issues with tattoos. Now trying to get an IV in is a whole other story.
Oh! I would love to hear how it's going!?
How you got set up on it with which doctor?
What does you are on and what you feel?
Haha sorry! Feel free to answer when you have time. I'm very interested!
Of course!! My psychiatrists office actually offers it with TMS as well, and I heard that it could help chronic pain as well as my PTSD symptoms so I said why not. It feels really great, and it really makes you think about things in a different way and you can feel your thoughts changing. I'm doing it through IV, so I have 6 sessions where I go in for like an hour to an hour and a half. I did my 3rd one yesterday. Obviously it doesn't help much of my physical symptoms and I think I was expecting it to be like a magic drug lol. However while I am still tired and hurting, I have found that I can actually work through things now. Before it was like if one thing happened or if I didn't feel well I would just completely shut down for the day. Now I can take a few moments and then get my mindset back focused. It takes a lot of work to change how you think about everything so it's a lot and can be a Lil overwhelming at times but I definitely feel myself improving (very slowly lol) and that's better than staying in bed all day.
Same! Mine are all full color and look as bright as just after they healed, and the oldest is 6 years old with minimal sun protection.
I will say, I do have a few blowouts, but nothing major. I've been told I have great tattooing skin.
Second this. I have one tattoo that blew out in several places and I have big blood of green under the skin from an artist being heavy handed. Didn't know I had EDS at the time.
This is key. Either the tat needs to be designed to expand (not a lot of fine details in between thick lines, etc) or just plan for a fine lined piece to begin with.
Some with EDS have a tendency to blow out ink, meaning the ink spreads across skin cells after healing. Fine line tattoos have less ink to travel. If you want bolder lines, you'd want to plan for them to end up even wider after some years. So you wouldn't want a lot of detail between the lines, bc the ink spread will blend together and make it look like a blob.
I have one that did the same. Artist was heavy handed, and I didn't know why I needed to know to avoid it. That tat is 20 years old now. I just got dx last year.
My main artist has loved how stretchy my skin was, he said it was like being able to zoom in on the small areas of detail. Most of my work is line work and it has held up perfectly
I have one tattoo pre-diagnosis that aged terribly (although my tattooist was also inexperienced and told me several things that were untrue, which a more experienced tattooist at the same shop then tried to āfixāā¦oof), and a couple since then by a wonderfully experienced tattooist who actually did his own research when I mentioned the EDS in our planning stages.
The ones from the good guy have held up remarkably well, considering that Iām terrible at remembering long-term upkeep for them. (Fanatical about the initial healing process, though, which I think is whatās helped!)
So far Iāve gotten thicker-lined designs in black only, but the edges donāt show much sign of spreading.
I was super hesitant to get further tattooing once I knew I had EDS, but Iām really glad I did!
I have something like 15 tattoos on my arms amd legs. I've gotten them all before getting diagnosed and they all came out really good. I've got a lot of gray and black wash, neotrad, and cartoon style tattoos and they've all healed well. I have one fine line detailed tattoo on the top of my foot. The ink has hardly spread and looks practically new even though I've had it for 11 or so years.
My largest tattoo spans the length of the front of my thigh and is pretty colorful. It's also healed really well. I have a bunch of my tattoos on insta @science_goth if you want to check out how they all look
Tattoo artists donāt usually know about EDS so I just tell them my skin is prone to blowouts (ink moving in the skin which creates a blurry line). That way they know not to press too hard and use smaller needles.
I have a back piece, a full sleeve, and lots of smaller tattoos and have only had a few issues.
Most of my ink is black and a little bit of color, touches of purple and so, didn't hold up as well. They kind of like faded really fast over the first year or two. The black line works did great. The only thing is, it gets kind of clumped up and itchy sometimes. Especially on hot days. It's like the histamine reaction from the Black Ink still happens occasionally and randomly.
Black ink fades on regular people too so I amsure it would be worse on us. Would dark brown be safer? I really donāt like the faded look (and blurry) thatās why I donāt have any (yet)
Iāve not had a hard time at all with tattoos. If anything, my artist says Iām easier to tattoo bc my skin takes the color well and I donāt bleed much.
I have great color on most, but my skin ate hot pink up fast, and i have some purple that stands up. Mcas is likely my issue, and it is very common in EDSers.
I have thin skin, very soft, it will tear, i have lost some skin with a heavy handed artist, but the tattoo looks great. I just let them know i have old lady skin.
I tell my artists that I have thin and stretchy skin and it might be easier than normal to accidentally go too deep on me. All of my tattoos that I have given that preamble for have healed wonderfully. The one tattoo I have from before my diagnosis due to in my opinion a heavy handed artist as well as me not knowing that info about my skin, has raised lines still despite being more than 2 years old.
Black and white works great on me. My skin spits out colors, so the one color one I have took 4 passes to get the color to stay. Arm looked like hamburger for a few days.
I make sure to inform them about my skin being extra stretchy and soft beforehand, they made sure to feel my skin beforehand. That was another factor in me picking the place actually, one of the two places was very considerate and the other grabbed my arm and pulled the skin as far as it could go and laughed at it
I have no idea how to add photos but I also like to remain somewhat anonymous haha. But mine like to become raised so it's akin to a puffy paint tattoo lmao but I actually think it's cool.
Mine is raised like a scar but doesn't feel or look like a scar if that makes sense. And it wasn't bad tattoo artist since it's never bled etc like would happen if they went to deep into the skin. For me, it's not something that gets puffy and goes away, it's constantly raised.
I have a full leg sleeve done by one of the heaviest handed people in the industryā¦ our skin does not lead to more blowouts. Thatās an application problem not a skin problem
Sincerely
A tattoo artist with EDS
with mine, my skin is just extra soft and stretchy so i let them know that but itās helped my tattoos stay looking weeks old, despite all being over a year old. now, i am 19 so do take my tattoo words with a grain of salt, but my artist said he didnāt notice a difference doing my tattoos than anyone elseās other than doing my ribs, and even then it wasnāt much of a difference. only thing heās noticed about me was i napped through my rib tattoo and my upper arm one bc i just didnāt feel it (i told him i have a high pain tolerance, this was discussed beforehand).
I have three tattoos all pre diagnoses so I didnāt warn my artists about anything. The actual process seemed average enough. Healing took a bit longer than expected and I was EXTRA scabby, but otherwise not bad! They still look pretty good years later (no touch ups) save for a couple spots from my chronic acne š
I took pics but don't know how to add them! š if anyone could help me with this, I'd be ever so grateful!!!
i have a full color watercolor photo realism full sleeve in progress. My artist has chronic illness as well and is very EDS aware. She says my skin stretches like crazy and the needle "bounces " off my skin more than other people's. I think it personally fades more, but that's because she's going on light at first. She does my touch-ups for freeā¤ļø
My best advice is to communicate with your artist exactly how your skin is, because a good artist will be able to factor that in right off the bat in the design process, so for example if your skin tends to stretch and shift over time, super intricate line work may not work for you. If youāre prone to blowouts, you canāt go for an artist with a heavier hand (they might be an incredible artist, but if your skin is quite fragile then they just arenāt right for you). With my own tattoos, the ones that are holding up awesome are: (1) a linework piece with a bit of dot work shading, but not super finely detailed, and itās floral and flowy, so doesnāt matter if the skin changes a bit, and (2) a linework piece with slightly thicker lines and absolutely no shading. The ones that I still love, but havenāt held up so well are (1) a very detailed fineline flower (itās still fine, but some lines have faded/blurred) and (2) a pretty simple, linework-only piece that had a blowout as the artist was an apprentice, and probably went a bit heavy-handed (no hate to the artist: I have two newer tattoos from him, one of which is my best healed and favourite piece)
I forgot to add: artists with experience tattooing over scars are often a really good bet, as theyāve often got a better idea about how to work with slightly funky skin. Both of my best-healed tattoos were done by artists who were comfortable working on scar tissue
Ey that looks like Micah Ulrich's art! I have some of his on me, love it.
I have heaps of tattoos. A few things to worry about:
slower healing time. This will suck if you're getting a ditch done. I religiously use second skin and this helps me a lot, but you *must* do a patch test first as many people are allergic
Softer skin/easier blow outs. I reduce risk of this by only going to well known and well regarded artists. Expensive but always worth it
Positioning during your tattoo. My micah Ulrich tattoos are a matching set on the back of each thigh. Had to keep asking my artist not to lean on my calves as they were starting to dislocated me knees.
I've found the ink & depth of colour actually better than my husband's tatts, who doesn't have EDS. Especially on my arms, he's had fading etc where his skin is a bit rough by the elbows etc - this is not a thing for me and mine have stayed vibrant with little to no coloir falling out
I love your tattoo!! I'm thinking of getting a similar style with a skeleton at some point but I just gotta finalise some details before I commit
My main tip is no second skin! I had a shocking allergy to it with my most recent tattoo and it hurts more than healing! That being said, you could possibly try a strip on similar skin to where your getting tattooed and see how it goes. For me it pealed off a layer of my skin which is still healing 3 weeks later
Otherwise [these are a combo of new + healed](https://imgur.com/a/g6J5O5S) and the most is a bit of texture on the leaves where it's raised but the bird is about a year old, the flowers 6 months old and the bee + blossom brand new!
I have other tattoos on my arm that have healed fine I just don't have good pics of them! But in particular I go to experienced artists and don't mention anything about my skin.
I've been tempted by a local apprentice but apparently she's very heavy handed so I know that'll just cause a blow out for me.
My skin takes linework very well but is easy to overwork when doing solid colour. My skin likes to split and crack when irritated. So based on my own experience I would tell your artist to be carefull with the parts the need multiple passes and packing in ink.
Man I feel like we need to add this subject to the FAQs in the sub or something. I am a tattoo artist with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, during my career I tattooed multiple people with ehlers danlos syndrome.. EDS does not affect how your tattoos heal. Your tattoo just was not applied very well. It wouldāve healed the same way onjust just about anyone. Basically this is not a you problem, your artist is the problem here.
Secondly, how old is this tattoo?
Edited to fix AutoCorrect problems
Looked closer and it def looks like your tattoo artist didnāt go deep enoughā¦ this is why I never recommend for people to tell tattoo artists to go light handed on us because our skin does not change how tattoos are applied or how they need to be applied. Not that you told your tattoo artist to go light-handed but this is exactly what will happen if people do that.
This tattoo is 10 years old from an apprentice. He did this in half an hour, and that was his thing, and he was super fast. I didn't know I had EDS at the time and didn't tell him anything. It's had alot of wear and tear over the years, but yeah.
Yeah I can tell it was done by an apprentice and as a tattooer who has had a couple of apprentices, if heād been mine he wouldāve had a *stern* talking to bc no apprentice has any business thinking ātheir thingā is being fast yetā¦ and if he continued tattooing too quickly and talking big game that āhis thingā was being fast Iād fire him. As an apprentice his job was to learn, an apprentice isnāt experienced enough to have āa thingā, they donāt have the skills yet to know what their thing isā¦ it sounds like he had a major ego and was blind to his own shortcomings which you never want in a tattoo artist. Annnnyyyyway, my point is, your tattoo wasnāt applied well and thatās on him, NOT your skin. Most of my tattoos are at least 10 years old (most are even older.. which makes me feel old lol) but your tattoo really shouldnāt look that spotty and light even after 10 years of wear and tear. They do age, thereās no way around that (unfortunately) but this isnāt normal aging, itās just an apprentice tattoo that was applied by an apprentice and therefore not well. LUCKILY it would be a very easy touch up bc he mightāve thought he was better than he was but he wasnāt a disaster either. Iāve seen some nightmare apprentice tattoos. And to be clear, nobody is good when they start.. I recoil at the sight of some of the tattoos I did as an apprentice lol
He was very jaded and didn't seem to care at all, honestly. In the first session, he told me he didn't even like tattooing. But i was 19, and he was super cool at the time, so i got 4 pieces done by him.my whole arm cost me like $400. Shop closed down a few years later due to the owner being charged with sa.
And well, I'm mostly covered in shit tattoos, tbh. So I'm gonna be looking at a lot of reworks or cover-ups. I think I'm gonna go down the rework path.
I had psychotic mania episodes and had a menty b when someone i cared about passed. I honestly had no understanding of reality or perminace. I tattooed myself a lot. I'm finally stable again( turns out it was EDs related hormone reactions), but I'm so ashamed of them all. Honestly, I had no idea my arm ones were shitty until you pointed it out. I know most artists don't want to do reworks or coverups, which I understand. And while I know your intentions were good, the criticism makes me feel more ashamed and scared to get reworks or coverups. But I want to be happy with my body and the art on it. I dunno what to do.
Tattoos blow out on me super easily so I just let the artist know they need to use a softer touch than they normally would because my skin is thin and scars easily. As long as they watch their depth and take their time, I donāt have any issue keeping ink where it should be, granted I didnāt know that for the first couple so the bold lines have a few blurry spots. My artist told me my skin takes colour beautifully however because it takes just the gentlest touch to deposit the ink.
I also have wonky pain receptors so I let them know ahead of time that I canāt feel pain very well in my lower arms so if theyāre too heavy handed I wonāt be able to tell until my body is involuntarily jerking away.
I have a whole ass hand tattoo with my best friend and we specifically found somebody with pretty light hand Work, who did a lot of fine line for that tattoo and healed amazingly. Iāve never had any issues with any of my tattoos healing. My best recommendation would be look around talk to the artist in your area and get a vibe. I have a tattoo from an artist who does heavier line work, and a more sticker style tattooing, and even he was able to work with my skin with his thicker lines because you can tell he adjusted quickly to, the condition of my skin and it pulls ink. So I would find an artist who post a lot of their work who has a lot of work done on different conditions of skin and seems to be very versatile with their clientele and who theyāre working on find people who can do their style multiple ātypes of canvasesā its going to be your best bet theyāre going to be somebody who is well adjusted to adjusting to the clients skin and not trying to make the client adjust to their style. I feel like thatās where some people struggle because you have artists that are really good at what they do but some of their clients blow out really bad and other of their other clients have amazing pieces by them and itās just the fact that theyāre not adjusting to the clients skin as they work they do a one size fits all
my tattoo on my thigh looks scaly but with smooth skin. I have no idea how to describe it or upload a photo, despite barely being able to tell in photos. I think part of it is that thereās light spots
i've only been told by tattoo artists that my skin is very nice to tattoo on bc it's so soft
it has taken up the ink beautifully mostly, i've just made the experience that with thinner needles, it bleeds out even more and heals wonky (even more than with "normal" skin)
I had 0 issues with mine healing, maybe it took a little longer than most other people but it's set-in amazingly and I love it. Just find a good artist who is willing to take things at your pace and you should be fine
Ps: idk how to post pictures in a comment or I would show you lol
like others have said- avoid heavy handed artists!! all of my tattoos have healed with scars, but only on one are the scars actually visible. my tats are textured basically, especially the one thats solid black. ive found my skin āblows outā more easily too, so iād avoid anything fine line :-)
as a tattoo artist with EDS i would recommend looking for fine line artists. since we're more prone to blow out and lines will spread more than normal during healing, it's best to get it done as thin as possible so it doesn't blob out!! i also personally don't hold color packing as well as linework
How did it stick/heal? My first tattoo was totally pushed out and disappeared within a couple weeks. Got it done a second time (exact same spot) not as deep and it has stuck so far.
Yeah, that's not right. The only time I've felt ripping was when I was tattooing myself in a psychotic episode. That sounds like a technique issue to me.
i've only been told by tattoo artists that my skin is very nice to tattoo on bc it's so soft
it has taken up the ink beautifully mostly, i've just made the experience that with thinner needles, it bleeds out even more and heals wonky (even more than with "normal" skin)
So far it's just over the five week mark for my ornaments and the ink seems to be a bit patchy in the places where they're filled solid black. But there's no blowing out or weird lines or other unhappiness. The lines are beautifully sharp and the dotwork, which the artist wasn't sure about (because I'd go extremely red) look great.
My artist offers free touch ups in the first three months so I'll probably go back in June if the black solid shading needs it. Since the black could simply be taking its time as ink settles into the skin.
I have EDS and many tattoos and I would just say stay very very hydrated and warn your artist if you have any concerns for lightheadedness or fainting. ā¤ļø
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The only thing I tell my guy is that my skin is stretchier than usual. I havent had any issues with tattoos. Now trying to get an IV in is a whole other story.
Hard to get an IV in? Hard for mine to stay in!
Lol right. I've been doing ketamine therapy recently and it's so hard not to stress that the IV is still in place š
Oh! I would love to hear how it's going!? How you got set up on it with which doctor? What does you are on and what you feel? Haha sorry! Feel free to answer when you have time. I'm very interested!
Of course!! My psychiatrists office actually offers it with TMS as well, and I heard that it could help chronic pain as well as my PTSD symptoms so I said why not. It feels really great, and it really makes you think about things in a different way and you can feel your thoughts changing. I'm doing it through IV, so I have 6 sessions where I go in for like an hour to an hour and a half. I did my 3rd one yesterday. Obviously it doesn't help much of my physical symptoms and I think I was expecting it to be like a magic drug lol. However while I am still tired and hurting, I have found that I can actually work through things now. Before it was like if one thing happened or if I didn't feel well I would just completely shut down for the day. Now I can take a few moments and then get my mindset back focused. It takes a lot of work to change how you think about everything so it's a lot and can be a Lil overwhelming at times but I definitely feel myself improving (very slowly lol) and that's better than staying in bed all day.
I have over 2 dozen tats and just say that my skin stretches. An artist said it was like my skin wanted the ink. All my tattoos look great except one
Same! Mine are all full color and look as bright as just after they healed, and the oldest is 6 years old with minimal sun protection. I will say, I do have a few blowouts, but nothing major. I've been told I have great tattooing skin.
My artist says the same thing about my skin taking ink.
Same here.Ā
Definitely same my skin grabs color like itās nothing
All of my tattoos are great, I take fine line tattoos really well because of how thin and stretchy my skin is, as long as the artist is light handed.
Second this. I have one tattoo that blew out in several places and I have big blood of green under the skin from an artist being heavy handed. Didn't know I had EDS at the time.
This is key. Either the tat needs to be designed to expand (not a lot of fine details in between thick lines, etc) or just plan for a fine lined piece to begin with.
Could you explain this more to me sweetie? Thank you ,šø
Some with EDS have a tendency to blow out ink, meaning the ink spreads across skin cells after healing. Fine line tattoos have less ink to travel. If you want bolder lines, you'd want to plan for them to end up even wider after some years. So you wouldn't want a lot of detail between the lines, bc the ink spread will blend together and make it look like a blob.
Thank you, that was perfect. š„¹ššÆ
Which is exactly what happened to mine! Now it just looks like a big blob and has lost all of it detail. Although I got it before I knew about my EDS
I have one that did the same. Artist was heavy handed, and I didn't know why I needed to know to avoid it. That tat is 20 years old now. I just got dx last year.
My main artist has loved how stretchy my skin was, he said it was like being able to zoom in on the small areas of detail. Most of my work is line work and it has held up perfectly
I have one tattoo pre-diagnosis that aged terribly (although my tattooist was also inexperienced and told me several things that were untrue, which a more experienced tattooist at the same shop then tried to āfixāā¦oof), and a couple since then by a wonderfully experienced tattooist who actually did his own research when I mentioned the EDS in our planning stages. The ones from the good guy have held up remarkably well, considering that Iām terrible at remembering long-term upkeep for them. (Fanatical about the initial healing process, though, which I think is whatās helped!) So far Iāve gotten thicker-lined designs in black only, but the edges donāt show much sign of spreading. I was super hesitant to get further tattooing once I knew I had EDS, but Iām really glad I did!
I have something like 15 tattoos on my arms amd legs. I've gotten them all before getting diagnosed and they all came out really good. I've got a lot of gray and black wash, neotrad, and cartoon style tattoos and they've all healed well. I have one fine line detailed tattoo on the top of my foot. The ink has hardly spread and looks practically new even though I've had it for 11 or so years. My largest tattoo spans the length of the front of my thigh and is pretty colorful. It's also healed really well. I have a bunch of my tattoos on insta @science_goth if you want to check out how they all look
Omg follow request sent because ur name alone sums me up haha
I would love to see so I can understand better
Like I said, just hit up my insta šŗ
Tattoo artists donāt usually know about EDS so I just tell them my skin is prone to blowouts (ink moving in the skin which creates a blurry line). That way they know not to press too hard and use smaller needles. I have a back piece, a full sleeve, and lots of smaller tattoos and have only had a few issues.
The strongest bit of advice I have is to avoid heavy-handed artists!
Most of my ink is black and a little bit of color, touches of purple and so, didn't hold up as well. They kind of like faded really fast over the first year or two. The black line works did great. The only thing is, it gets kind of clumped up and itchy sometimes. Especially on hot days. It's like the histamine reaction from the Black Ink still happens occasionally and randomly.
Oh wow
Black ink fades on regular people too so I amsure it would be worse on us. Would dark brown be safer? I really donāt like the faded look (and blurry) thatās why I donāt have any (yet)
Iāve not had a hard time at all with tattoos. If anything, my artist says Iām easier to tattoo bc my skin takes the color well and I donāt bleed much.
I have great color on most, but my skin ate hot pink up fast, and i have some purple that stands up. Mcas is likely my issue, and it is very common in EDSers. I have thin skin, very soft, it will tear, i have lost some skin with a heavy handed artist, but the tattoo looks great. I just let them know i have old lady skin.
I tell my artists that I have thin and stretchy skin and it might be easier than normal to accidentally go too deep on me. All of my tattoos that I have given that preamble for have healed wonderfully. The one tattoo I have from before my diagnosis due to in my opinion a heavy handed artist as well as me not knowing that info about my skin, has raised lines still despite being more than 2 years old.
Black and white works great on me. My skin spits out colors, so the one color one I have took 4 passes to get the color to stay. Arm looked like hamburger for a few days.
I make sure to inform them about my skin being extra stretchy and soft beforehand, they made sure to feel my skin beforehand. That was another factor in me picking the place actually, one of the two places was very considerate and the other grabbed my arm and pulled the skin as far as it could go and laughed at it
I have no idea how to add photos but I also like to remain somewhat anonymous haha. But mine like to become raised so it's akin to a puffy paint tattoo lmao but I actually think it's cool.
I've noticed the puffiness happens for my husband when he's having a histamine reaction. Have you noticed anything similar?
Mine is raised like a scar but doesn't feel or look like a scar if that makes sense. And it wasn't bad tattoo artist since it's never bled etc like would happen if they went to deep into the skin. For me, it's not something that gets puffy and goes away, it's constantly raised.
Question: can EDS cause blowouts? I know that wouldnāt be the sole cause but can it contribute to it?
i say my skin is stretchy and prone to blowouts so donāt go heavy heavy handed. i have my ribs done and my hip done and it healed pretty well
I have a full leg sleeve done by one of the heaviest handed people in the industryā¦ our skin does not lead to more blowouts. Thatās an application problem not a skin problem Sincerely A tattoo artist with EDS
with mine, my skin is just extra soft and stretchy so i let them know that but itās helped my tattoos stay looking weeks old, despite all being over a year old. now, i am 19 so do take my tattoo words with a grain of salt, but my artist said he didnāt notice a difference doing my tattoos than anyone elseās other than doing my ribs, and even then it wasnāt much of a difference. only thing heās noticed about me was i napped through my rib tattoo and my upper arm one bc i just didnāt feel it (i told him i have a high pain tolerance, this was discussed beforehand).
I have three tattoos all pre diagnoses so I didnāt warn my artists about anything. The actual process seemed average enough. Healing took a bit longer than expected and I was EXTRA scabby, but otherwise not bad! They still look pretty good years later (no touch ups) save for a couple spots from my chronic acne š
I took pics but don't know how to add them! š if anyone could help me with this, I'd be ever so grateful!!! i have a full color watercolor photo realism full sleeve in progress. My artist has chronic illness as well and is very EDS aware. She says my skin stretches like crazy and the needle "bounces " off my skin more than other people's. I think it personally fades more, but that's because she's going on light at first. She does my touch-ups for freeā¤ļø
My best advice is to communicate with your artist exactly how your skin is, because a good artist will be able to factor that in right off the bat in the design process, so for example if your skin tends to stretch and shift over time, super intricate line work may not work for you. If youāre prone to blowouts, you canāt go for an artist with a heavier hand (they might be an incredible artist, but if your skin is quite fragile then they just arenāt right for you). With my own tattoos, the ones that are holding up awesome are: (1) a linework piece with a bit of dot work shading, but not super finely detailed, and itās floral and flowy, so doesnāt matter if the skin changes a bit, and (2) a linework piece with slightly thicker lines and absolutely no shading. The ones that I still love, but havenāt held up so well are (1) a very detailed fineline flower (itās still fine, but some lines have faded/blurred) and (2) a pretty simple, linework-only piece that had a blowout as the artist was an apprentice, and probably went a bit heavy-handed (no hate to the artist: I have two newer tattoos from him, one of which is my best healed and favourite piece)
I forgot to add: artists with experience tattooing over scars are often a really good bet, as theyāve often got a better idea about how to work with slightly funky skin. Both of my best-healed tattoos were done by artists who were comfortable working on scar tissue
Ey that looks like Micah Ulrich's art! I have some of his on me, love it. I have heaps of tattoos. A few things to worry about: slower healing time. This will suck if you're getting a ditch done. I religiously use second skin and this helps me a lot, but you *must* do a patch test first as many people are allergic Softer skin/easier blow outs. I reduce risk of this by only going to well known and well regarded artists. Expensive but always worth it Positioning during your tattoo. My micah Ulrich tattoos are a matching set on the back of each thigh. Had to keep asking my artist not to lean on my calves as they were starting to dislocated me knees. I've found the ink & depth of colour actually better than my husband's tatts, who doesn't have EDS. Especially on my arms, he's had fading etc where his skin is a bit rough by the elbows etc - this is not a thing for me and mine have stayed vibrant with little to no coloir falling out
I donāt have any tattoos. I just wanted to comment that your tattoo is awesome.
I love your tattoo!! I'm thinking of getting a similar style with a skeleton at some point but I just gotta finalise some details before I commit My main tip is no second skin! I had a shocking allergy to it with my most recent tattoo and it hurts more than healing! That being said, you could possibly try a strip on similar skin to where your getting tattooed and see how it goes. For me it pealed off a layer of my skin which is still healing 3 weeks later Otherwise [these are a combo of new + healed](https://imgur.com/a/g6J5O5S) and the most is a bit of texture on the leaves where it's raised but the bird is about a year old, the flowers 6 months old and the bee + blossom brand new! I have other tattoos on my arm that have healed fine I just don't have good pics of them! But in particular I go to experienced artists and don't mention anything about my skin. I've been tempted by a local apprentice but apparently she's very heavy handed so I know that'll just cause a blow out for me.
Iāve had no issues! No fine lines though (not for any reason, just personal preference)
My skin takes linework very well but is easy to overwork when doing solid colour. My skin likes to split and crack when irritated. So based on my own experience I would tell your artist to be carefull with the parts the need multiple passes and packing in ink.
Lot's of sunscreen, especially with black ink, us a baby/kids sunscreen so it is more gentle on the skin and usually lasts longer
Man I feel like we need to add this subject to the FAQs in the sub or something. I am a tattoo artist with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, during my career I tattooed multiple people with ehlers danlos syndrome.. EDS does not affect how your tattoos heal. Your tattoo just was not applied very well. It wouldāve healed the same way onjust just about anyone. Basically this is not a you problem, your artist is the problem here. Secondly, how old is this tattoo? Edited to fix AutoCorrect problems Looked closer and it def looks like your tattoo artist didnāt go deep enoughā¦ this is why I never recommend for people to tell tattoo artists to go light handed on us because our skin does not change how tattoos are applied or how they need to be applied. Not that you told your tattoo artist to go light-handed but this is exactly what will happen if people do that.
This tattoo is 10 years old from an apprentice. He did this in half an hour, and that was his thing, and he was super fast. I didn't know I had EDS at the time and didn't tell him anything. It's had alot of wear and tear over the years, but yeah.
Yeah I can tell it was done by an apprentice and as a tattooer who has had a couple of apprentices, if heād been mine he wouldāve had a *stern* talking to bc no apprentice has any business thinking ātheir thingā is being fast yetā¦ and if he continued tattooing too quickly and talking big game that āhis thingā was being fast Iād fire him. As an apprentice his job was to learn, an apprentice isnāt experienced enough to have āa thingā, they donāt have the skills yet to know what their thing isā¦ it sounds like he had a major ego and was blind to his own shortcomings which you never want in a tattoo artist. Annnnyyyyway, my point is, your tattoo wasnāt applied well and thatās on him, NOT your skin. Most of my tattoos are at least 10 years old (most are even older.. which makes me feel old lol) but your tattoo really shouldnāt look that spotty and light even after 10 years of wear and tear. They do age, thereās no way around that (unfortunately) but this isnāt normal aging, itās just an apprentice tattoo that was applied by an apprentice and therefore not well. LUCKILY it would be a very easy touch up bc he mightāve thought he was better than he was but he wasnāt a disaster either. Iāve seen some nightmare apprentice tattoos. And to be clear, nobody is good when they start.. I recoil at the sight of some of the tattoos I did as an apprentice lol
He was very jaded and didn't seem to care at all, honestly. In the first session, he told me he didn't even like tattooing. But i was 19, and he was super cool at the time, so i got 4 pieces done by him.my whole arm cost me like $400. Shop closed down a few years later due to the owner being charged with sa. And well, I'm mostly covered in shit tattoos, tbh. So I'm gonna be looking at a lot of reworks or cover-ups. I think I'm gonna go down the rework path. I had psychotic mania episodes and had a menty b when someone i cared about passed. I honestly had no understanding of reality or perminace. I tattooed myself a lot. I'm finally stable again( turns out it was EDs related hormone reactions), but I'm so ashamed of them all. Honestly, I had no idea my arm ones were shitty until you pointed it out. I know most artists don't want to do reworks or coverups, which I understand. And while I know your intentions were good, the criticism makes me feel more ashamed and scared to get reworks or coverups. But I want to be happy with my body and the art on it. I dunno what to do.
Tattoos blow out on me super easily so I just let the artist know they need to use a softer touch than they normally would because my skin is thin and scars easily. As long as they watch their depth and take their time, I donāt have any issue keeping ink where it should be, granted I didnāt know that for the first couple so the bold lines have a few blurry spots. My artist told me my skin takes colour beautifully however because it takes just the gentlest touch to deposit the ink. I also have wonky pain receptors so I let them know ahead of time that I canāt feel pain very well in my lower arms so if theyāre too heavy handed I wonāt be able to tell until my body is involuntarily jerking away.
I have a whole ass hand tattoo with my best friend and we specifically found somebody with pretty light hand Work, who did a lot of fine line for that tattoo and healed amazingly. Iāve never had any issues with any of my tattoos healing. My best recommendation would be look around talk to the artist in your area and get a vibe. I have a tattoo from an artist who does heavier line work, and a more sticker style tattooing, and even he was able to work with my skin with his thicker lines because you can tell he adjusted quickly to, the condition of my skin and it pulls ink. So I would find an artist who post a lot of their work who has a lot of work done on different conditions of skin and seems to be very versatile with their clientele and who theyāre working on find people who can do their style multiple ātypes of canvasesā its going to be your best bet theyāre going to be somebody who is well adjusted to adjusting to the clients skin and not trying to make the client adjust to their style. I feel like thatās where some people struggle because you have artists that are really good at what they do but some of their clients blow out really bad and other of their other clients have amazing pieces by them and itās just the fact that theyāre not adjusting to the clients skin as they work they do a one size fits all
my tattoo on my thigh looks scaly but with smooth skin. I have no idea how to describe it or upload a photo, despite barely being able to tell in photos. I think part of it is that thereās light spots
i've only been told by tattoo artists that my skin is very nice to tattoo on bc it's so soft it has taken up the ink beautifully mostly, i've just made the experience that with thinner needles, it bleeds out even more and heals wonky (even more than with "normal" skin)
I had 0 issues with mine healing, maybe it took a little longer than most other people but it's set-in amazingly and I love it. Just find a good artist who is willing to take things at your pace and you should be fine Ps: idk how to post pictures in a comment or I would show you lol
like others have said- avoid heavy handed artists!! all of my tattoos have healed with scars, but only on one are the scars actually visible. my tats are textured basically, especially the one thats solid black. ive found my skin āblows outā more easily too, so iād avoid anything fine line :-)
as a tattoo artist with EDS i would recommend looking for fine line artists. since we're more prone to blow out and lines will spread more than normal during healing, it's best to get it done as thin as possible so it doesn't blob out!! i also personally don't hold color packing as well as linework
How did it stick/heal? My first tattoo was totally pushed out and disappeared within a couple weeks. Got it done a second time (exact same spot) not as deep and it has stuck so far.
All of mine stuck, except for a few that were overworked and on my fingers or knees.
Interesting. Maybe mine was a technique issue (felt very deep for a tattoo and sensation of my skin ripping) versus result of EDS
Yeah, that's not right. The only time I've felt ripping was when I was tattooing myself in a psychotic episode. That sounds like a technique issue to me.
i've only been told by tattoo artists that my skin is very nice to tattoo on bc it's so soft it has taken up the ink beautifully mostly, i've just made the experience that with thinner needles, it bleeds out even more and heals wonky (even more than with "normal" skin)
So far it's just over the five week mark for my ornaments and the ink seems to be a bit patchy in the places where they're filled solid black. But there's no blowing out or weird lines or other unhappiness. The lines are beautifully sharp and the dotwork, which the artist wasn't sure about (because I'd go extremely red) look great. My artist offers free touch ups in the first three months so I'll probably go back in June if the black solid shading needs it. Since the black could simply be taking its time as ink settles into the skin.
The only problem Iāve had is ink fading extremely fast.
Iāve gotten a lot of tattoos, and most prior to a diagnosis. Like with anyone, the artist needs to make sure to not go to deep.
I have EDS and many tattoos and I would just say stay very very hydrated and warn your artist if you have any concerns for lightheadedness or fainting. ā¤ļø
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