What is acceptable as far as pain and redness goes?

Hello All, My birthday is tomorrow, I am not ashamed to say I am going to be 52 years old. I designed my own tattoo, betty boop with angel wings. My daughter passed last July 4th, Jennifer was only 31years old. I have full gaurdianship of my wonderful grandson Nathan. He turned 10 this year. My tattoo artist is the manager of Eternal Tattoo, been doing tats for 13 years. It so happens that his Mom had passed and she was a betty boop collector. I was very happy when he raved about my design which I placed on my right calf over my ankle. This tat is dedicated to my memories of Jennifer. I was told not to move and I never did. Tony said I was a dream to work on and told his employees as well. I am not going to say it did'nt hurt because it did. The way I would describe the pain was a feeling of electricity and bee stings. However I never moved my leg, and concetrated on other things. My tat is very colorful, turqoise, pink, lilac, green for the eyes, red lips, and yellow for the stars in the sky. Tony was quite entertaining and I felt very comfortable with him. He advised me to wash the tattoo at least 4 times a day with ivory and also and an antibacteril soap. He also said to use Aquaphor for the lotion afterwards which I was able to purchase at CVS. II have followed his directions to a tee. Now to my question, I have pain like a 2nd degree burn, ( had a 3rd degree burn before so I know what that feesl like. My tat area isa very dark pink and areas all around it. It is tight, burning, and hurts to the touch. I want to know if this is normal for the first few days and how long should I expect the swelling, redness, and pain? I am leaking some plazma and notice it is crusty when i cleanse it which I am able to wash off. Since I am a newbie I want to know what is normal. If I accidently bump the area it stings for a while. On a scale of one to 10 it feels like a 7. Another way I can desribe the chronic pain is that it feels like a horrible sunburn. I would like all of your opinions on what I shold expect and I realize that my symptoms differ from person to person. Any advice from an experienced tatto artist and those of you that have tattoo's. What reactions are normal etc. After this one heals well I think I am going to get another one, once again with my own art work. Tony bragged to his employees about my art work and said I was a dream client because I never moved throughout the process. I was so flattered and happy I have my own original tattoo. Well enough of my ranting, I am just excited and happy. My only concern at this point is what considered normal. My granson is into wrestling and he wants one of Randy Orton, or John Cena lol. Cindy

Hi Cindy, I've got a full sleeve as well as 5 other tattoos besides. Some redness and burning sensation are normal. I got some work done two days ago. The burning is almost gone now, though some of that sensation most definitely remains. Unless you're doing something to constantly get your tattoo dirty being sure to wash it 4 times a day seems a bit excessive to me. It is important to keep it clean, but bar soap (such as Ivory) is known to carry bacteria from previous uses. I'd just use a liquid antibacterial soap. Also, you absolutely do NOT want to scrub the tattoo in any way! Let the soap and water do it's job and just gently apply it to the tattoo in gentle circular motions. Plasma is a normal part of the way our bodies heal, so if you're scrubbing enough to remove it you're probably being too hard on your tattoo. You want your tattoo to be clean from outside "irritants"/dirt, but plasma (although unsightly) is a natural process of the body healing itself and should be allowed to do it's job. If some comes off while cleaning the area, no biggie. But do not make a point of trying to get it off! Also, the tightness comes from the tattoo being allowed to dry. Frequent washing or not applying enough aquaphore could be the reason for this. Or rather, not so much the amount of aquaphore so much as the frequency of application. It's good to keep it well moisturized, esp. in the first few days of healing. As for how much redness and such is acceptable, it honestly sounds to me as if you might have been scrubbing too vigorously and not keeping it moisturized enough. My suggestions would simply be to be very gentle with the tattoo. Less frequent washings and more frequent moisturizing. Good luck!! ThunderWolf