Cracking scabs

Well I have a large tat on my left arm. It is a cover up for an old one, http://tagworld.com/mariegoodwin/World/MyWeb.aspx there is pix there... I thought a couple of the green spots were infected and they were a red around the edges and kinda pussy, but mostly gooky..Well I called my tat guy and he said to not put anything on those spots and keep it dry so it can dry up and scab. So I did that and its looking better already. If I put anything on it, it stays wet and wont dry scab, and it wont heal. Well today I woke up and one spots scab slid off while I was sleeping, so I freaked out and it was all red and weird looking so I went up there. He said it looks fine its scabbing good. It will turn out great, and I might, JUST might need some touch ups. But it should be fine. SO I am not freaking out anymore. The place I am going to is very reputible and very clean and never ever had any problems. I made sure of that before I went. The artist has been doing tats for over 15 years, and I am happy with the work and definatly would never think it was something happening to my tat from what he did. If anything it is to much after care. You cant do TOO much for your tat or it wont heal right. Its a hard thing to do to leave a pussy spot alone, but you have to let it dry and heal. No ointment and no water. One good washing with an antimicobile or antibactirial soap a day. Thats all he said to do. But yeah I am glad its not an infection.. Marie

Well you are basically right...but you should not use antibacterial soap on a fresh tattoo it contains harsh chemicals that can attack the pigment.

Well its not fresh really anymore.Outline was done 2 weeks ago today, and some color done 1 week ago today. Its done peeling and it just has some scabbing. So soap is okay...And its only one time a day. No more no less... Marie

you shouldn't use antibacterial soup anyway. When you wash your hands, the friction from rubbing them together with the soap there is enough to take the germs away. With the antibacterial soup, it creates a problem. If there are any germs left on your hand, arm, etc, they are only those germs that are imune to the antibiotics. Then, any germs that they produce are imune to the antibiotics. If you use regular soap, there is a chance of those that are left are not imune to antibiotics and if they reproduce with the germs that are imune, there is a chance the new germs will be suseptable because one of the parent cells were. So, if we keep using antibiotic soaps, we'll just be left with a bunch of germs that we can't kill :)

i never heard of antibacterial soup ...sounds gross