Kind of freaking out

[bostonlucy]

Hey, I was in yesterday for a back tattoo and have a question. I did something stupid and went to the gym today and laid on the mats and the bench press without thinking (my tattoo was not covered). Then my friend mentioned MRSA so I freaked out and put some Purell on the tattoo. Obviously not a great idea. I ran home and washed it with antibacterial soap. The Purell was on for maybe 25 minutes. Should I be worried about MRSA or the Purell?

[Graeme]

Worrying isn't going to help anything at this point, but it is going to stress you out so don't worry about it.  You're going to need to let the tattoo heal and judge from there what, if anything, needs to be done. If you have any questions about healing the best person to answer them is the person who did the tattoo.

[Dan]

1 hour ago, bostonlucy said:

Hey, I was in yesterday for a back tattoo and have a question. I did something stupid and went to the gym today and laid on the mats and the bench press without thinking (my tattoo was not covered). Then my friend mentioned MRSA so I freaked out and put some Purell on the tattoo. Obviously not a great idea. I ran home and washed it with antibacterial soap. The Purell was on for maybe 25 minutes. Should I be worried about MRSA or the Purell?

.like was said,it's too late now,

.

considering how dirty and germ infested public gym/fitness centers are,

..

all you can do is wait and see if it got infected or not and deal with that at the time.

.

and yes, I agree with you,that was a pretty bad idea.

there is a great reason why every one says to "keep it clean".

put it down as "live and learn".

Edited August 3, 2016 by Dan

[Hospitelli]

The first thing you absolutely need to do is take a few deep breaths and try to relax. Worrying and driving yourself crazy with anxiety over it is only going to lead you to a panic attack. You applying Purrell is a direct result of you over thinking this. After you calm down you should seriously smack your friend upside his head for mentioning to you the absolute worst case scenario. 

The possibility of contracting MRSA from a gym bench is highly unlikely. A majority of MRSA infections happen in hospital type settings. Gyms are routinely cleaned and offer sanitary wipes to patrons to wipe down equipment before and after each use. In reality the bench that you laid on was most definitely wiped clean at one point or another by someone. It's not like the bench was constantly being used for months without it being cleaned so thinking logically I'd say that your in the clear.