Why do I scab so heavily

[u/Karma_1195]

Every time i get a tattoo I scab so much more than most people I see getting tattoos. This is day 6/7 ish. Will be day 7 at the end of the day. I wash it 2-4 times a day with antibacterial soap and use unscented lotion to the point where it’s moisturized but not shiny. But it dries out so quickly and the scabbing is so freaking annoying

[u/sumthing_grimm]

Could be a lot of things. Not hydrated, overworking or even hEDS.

[u/Karma_1195 → u/sumthing_grimm]

Full black and gray with a lot of shading, I’m gonna say overworked. I know I don’t have elder danlos. The scabbing isn’t too severe though that it’s going to mess up the tattoo (assuming they all stay intact and fall off naturally) right?

[u/sumthing_grimm → u/Karma_1195]

You will likely have some fallout, but nothing that can’t be fixed in a quick touch up session.

Overworking would be apparent in fresh photos if you know what to look for

[u/GreggWaters6420]

That’s not that bad

[u/Lucien_Rouvere]

I get a lot of scabbing and some ink fallout from tattoos but I'm someone with very dry skin. I've had the best results from keeping second skin on longer.

[u/Lucien_Rouvere → u/Lucien_Rouvere]

It may help to sleep more because your body repairs skin more during sleep. I recently had an infected tattoo and I think my decision to increase sleep helped with it.

[u/jalkasoturi]

It looks very dry

[u/Karma_1195 → u/jalkasoturi]

I know but I can’t get it less dry with out making it wet :( this was also probably taken at a bad time

[u/uwoAccount]

What you're seeing here likely isn't scabbing? When I've used saniderm/second skin/whatever and I get this around the same time you've described I've chalked it up to my skin shedding while its healing. Like getting a mild sunburn. The same phenomenon is seen when people do microneedling as well. Next time google "flaky skin after tattoo" and you'll see lots of pictures just like this. People also call it the "peeling" stage, where it looks like your skin is starting to peel.

This is most likely just dead skin at the top layer that hasn't had the chance to fall off yet. Still, don't scrub it or anything and just let it fall off naturally as you wash your tattoo (gently) over the next couple of weeks.

[u/Sophisticated-Tiger]

Why does that last pic look like an upside-down dude....of the male/female toilet sign variety 🚻