Hogrider

I can't relate, I've never had that. However, I've heard it's pretty common. Have a drink, sit back, relax and enjoy your tattoo.

None of my tattoos have "meaning." They are cool art. If you want to get something that has meaning to you, go for it. Don't except it to mean anything to anyone else.

It takes 4 - 6 weeks to heal. You don't know what it will look like until it's healed. You have thin lines on thin, delicate skin which is the most prone to blow-outs. as @Dan said, put away the microscope and enjoy your tattoo.

"omg what will it look like when you're older" Probably the thing I hate to hear the most. I always say, "And you think your cellulite- ridden, saggy, mottled, PINK skin is going to look good?

The tattoo business is not for the thin skinned. If you want to be a tattoo artist, you do what you need to do. Nobody else is offering you any job and you don't know if you want to take this one?

As moist as possible? I'd keep it clean and just a bit of cocoa butter. Sounds like you're over moisturizing it.

Looks nice. Kind of ballsy getting your lower arm tattooed at 18. Not every industry is tattoo friendly.

You don't know anything until it heals. I've had lines that looked blown out that were actually fine. The bruising made them look blown out.

I thought people had to be over 13 to post on this forum??? 🙂

First, you won't know anything until it completely heals - 4 to 6 weeks. Second, even if you do know something, you CAN'T fix a blow out ... not now, not in six weeks, not in a year, not in ten years. You got thin lines on thin, delicate skin which gives you the highest chance of a blow out.

I can't wait for the airing of grievances!

That has nothing to do with your tattoo, if the tattoo is 9 months old. How long have you had the scratch? Is it oozing? Does it smell bad? Is it hot to the touch? Is it painful? Those are signs of an infection. The fact that the wound is on your tattoo is irrelevant.

You're overanalyzing everything. No tattoo is perfect. If you closely examine ANY tattoo, especially an entire sleeve, you'll find something "wrong" with it. My artist taught me that early in the game, now I just look at the big picture and enjoy my tattoos. With all of the shit tattoos people run around bragging about, I don't know how you can even think that your tattoo isn't awesome. Take two bottle of wine and call us in the morning.

Very common. I've never had it myself, but I guess a lot of people get the anxiety. Put away the microscope and enjoy your tattoo.

First, no chemicals are going to lighten the tattoo. If such a thing existed there would be no laser industry. Second, if someone wanted to start working in on a tattoo that's a cover-up of a cover-up after only 4-6 weeks old I'd find someone else. You say you're not in a hurry, but this coverup isn't even healed and you're looking at monkeying with it again and you are setting a one year time line for finishing your sleeve. Each time you get a tattoo, scar tissue forms as part of the healing process. This will be the FOURTH time you're working that skin. You don't want to hear it, but that skin needs to really heal and it's going to take time to see how much the tattoo lightens up. If you just jump right into this you'll be back on here in a year asking how to fix the cover-up of the cover-up of the cover-up of the bad tattoo.

Act in haste, repent in leisure. People think, "It's just a little letter." Thin lines on delicate skin are not easy, it takes skill to do something like that well. As @SStu said, you won't know what it's going to look like until it heals. Save the tears and look at this as a good life lesson. You can't fix it, removing it isn't like the movies, and a cover-up is about your only shot if you don't like it when it heals. Don't cheap out and don't go to the nearest mall tattoo shop. Do your research and find someone that knows what they are doing. It won't be cheap.

You need to talk to whoever is going to cover it up. You'll need to laser that to lighten it up. Don't cheap out and don't be in a hurry. Every time you cover up or laser off you are traumatizing your skin. Fixing that isn't going to be cheap or quick if you want it done right.

Either people aren't listening or tattooers are doing a poor job educating their clients on the healing process.

What's your hurry? When you have a tattoo, you create scar tissue, it's not going to heal any faster second time around. "The whole thing?" What did it take, like 5 minutes?

What's wrong is that your tattoo artist didn't educate you about the healing process.

Tattoo take 4-6 weeks to heal. You won't know what it looks like until then. Sit back, relax, there is nothing you can (or should) do until it heals.

Yes, it's a VERY bad thing. There is no such thing as a perfect tattoo and if you go over your tattoo with a magnifying glass you'll find all kinds of things "wrong" with it. Better to just love it from a distance.

"I tend to be super observant"

Millions of people are walking around with a lot of ink. If this was a pervasive issue, I think we'd know by now. I believe that the reason for the perception is that when 10 million people get white ink and don't have a problem, none of them post. 10 people have a problem and 9 of them post. All of a sudden people think there is some widespread issue.

I've never seen that, but the skin looks over moisturized. I'd stop putting anything on it and just let it dry out.