Nobody really warns you about itchy tattoos before you begin getting tattoos — and I’m not talking concerning the stage within the healing process whenever you start flaking and scratching against your will. Healed tattoos, even ones which are years old, can feel itchy seemingly out of nowhere. And whenever you scratch them, they will often feel raised, just like the ink is attempting to jump out of your skin.

I’m covered in large, colourful pieces from head to toe, and my tattoos range from as recent as a 12 months old to so long as a decade old. But none of my tattoos are exempt from the itch. It is a sensation that is difficult to elucidate to individuals who haven’t got tattoos (or, as I wish to call those people, blank canvases). Thankfully for us, we’re not losing our minds or doing anything flawed; for probably the most part, experts say that itchy tattoos are normal — there are only just a few key caveats to look at out for.

• Melanie PalmMD, a board-certified dermatologist in San Diego
• Shari MarchbeinMD, a board-certified dermatologist in Latest York City
• Mona GoharaMD, a board-certified dermatologist in board-certified dermatologist in Hamden, Connecticut

• Why do my tattoos itch?
• Can you be allergic to tattoo ink?
• How to soothe an itchy tattoo
• When to see a doctor about itchy tattoos

Whether or not they be old tattoos or latest ink, all tattoos could be classified as a skin injury, despite the fact that they may not appear like what you picture a skin injury to be (like a burn or an open wound). And, as San Diego board-certified dermatologist Melanie PalmMD, explains, a tattoo can lead to a “hypertrophic scar or keloid” because it heals. That is just one in all the explanations tattoos may cause perpetually itchy skin.

Just take it from Latest York City board-certified dermatologist Shari MarchbeinMD: “When the skin heals [from a new tattoo] and scars, a selected inflammatory cell called a mast cell becomes more distinguished on this area of the skin, and these cells can release histamine, the identical substance which causes allergies, hives, and subsequent itchiness,” she says. “This helps to elucidate why scars and areas of skin injury usually grow to be itchy.”