MediTatu ® Dry Tattooing
Graphic images on this page, viewer discretion is advised. Some of the following images are immediately after treatment. The area will be red and swollen as blood has been brought into the area, how much varies by person and area treated. Effective numbing creams are used
Scar & Stretch Mark Treatments in Manchester
Am I on the right page ?
- Prevention – RégimA Scar Repair & Anti-Stretch
- Less than 3 months old – RégimA Scar Repair & Anti-Stretch
- Alternative treatment – RégimA ‘Peel & Heal’
- Over 3 months old – Scars – Stretch Marks
- Many years old – Scars – Stretch Marks
- Tattooing Scars & Stretch Marks – You’re on the right page
- Learn to Dry Tattoo – Courses & Workshops
It’s well known within the tattoo community that when you tattoo over scars and stretch marks they change, but they also don’t take pigment well, scar tissue resisting pigment and stretch marks swelling
Preparing your skin for tattooing
MediTatu ® Dry Tattooing (also known as MCA Micro Needling, Collagen Induction Therapy, Needle Abrasion, Needle Dermabrasion, Micro Needle Therapy or Digital Skin Needling) for scars and stretch marks uses a digital tattoo machine, to help smooth and firm the stretch marks, and gently breaking up scar tissue in preparation for tattooing
- No pigment used
- Numbing cream is used
- RegimA Scar Repair to boost healing and results
- 1, 2 or 3 sessions of dry tattooing and skin will no longer swell when being tattooed
- Scars behave more like normal skin
- Get your skin ready while waiting for your artist !
Tattooing Scars
Most tattooists recommend you don’t tattoo over scars. However after 1, 2 or 3 dry tattooing sessions the skin begins to respond more normally. Scars don’t always swell, but pigment doesn’t implant easily or cleanly, and if it does the colour usually heals differently, darker or cooler, or the pigment can reject completely
After dry tattooing the scar tissue improves as normal skin has grown within in, it begins to smooth and becomes less noticeable. After a few dry tattooing sessions scars become more suitable for tattooing
Tattooing Stretch Marks
Most tattooists recommend you don’t tattoo over stretch marks. This is because when a stretch mark is tattooed it swells, making clean pigment implantation pretty difficult, if not impossible
During the first dry tattooing session stretch marks will indeed swell up, however on the second session they swell less, and the third session hardly swell at all. This is because normal skin has grown within the stretch marks, making them now more suitable for tattooing
Can my artist dry tattoo the area instead of you ?
Long established tattooists will know the effect dry tattooing has on scars and stretch marks, but are you visiting them for the quality of their work, or for a medical treatment ?
It’s very wrong for any tattooist to offer scar and stretch marks treatments with no training, and think about it, if a tattooist is good enough and busy enough, they won’t have time to offer you dry tattooing
Being right or wrong aside, there are minimum training requirements for anyone to offer skin needling treatments. Those already trained to offer permanent makeup with a machine, NVQ Level 4 in Advanced Beauty, existing skin needling training, nurses and doctors can learn dry tattooing. They’re even working on new rules to raise this minimum training even higher – So it’s not a case of have a tattoo machine can dry tattoo !
How many sessions ?
I normally recommend 3 sessions for best improvement without any tattooing, but here we’d be doing treatments until the scar or stretch marks stops swelling, loosens or fills enough to be tattooed. Expect to need 2 or 3 treatments over a period of 2 or 3 months.
A good way of spending time while you’re waiting for your artist to be available !
Before & After One Session – These raised and soft scars became firm and smooth within 6 weeks and after just one session. A second session was carried out
Immediately after first session. Unfortunately I forgot to take the freshly tattooed photo after the second treatment, but the treated scars were flatter and much more red
Note:
The following images are used to illustrate how the treated area differs when treated the first time to being treated again
Immediately after first session
Immediately after second session
Immediately after first session
Immediately after second session
What is Dry Tattooing, and a word of caution
If anyone has heard of skin needling as a beauty treatment, like the derma roller or derma pen, they make micro holes in the skin which causes your body to begin the wound healing process.
During wound healing, if inflammation is minimised and the skin fed (by using specially chosen aftercare products), new skin forms and fibrous scar tissue is loosened.
When improving scars and stretch marks, more precise and intense skin needling is needed, to break up the scar tissue, to wake up the stretch mark. Using a digital tattoo machine to do this makes perfect sense. I’ve not tried it with a coil or traditional tattoo machine, but the strokes are likely to be too soft, catching the tissue, and more risk of overworking the already damaged skin.
For most people, Dry Tattooing with no aftercare gives less than impressive results, and they’re slow. You may even cause more scar tissue, extra redness due to capillary overgrowth, or hyperpigmentation (skin going dark on treated areas).
Use the wrong aftercare and just like after tattooing, you’re highly likely to get a reaction, inflammation and then an infection.
Dry Tattooing is not a new service, I call it Dry Tattooing so the public gets a better idea of what it is and understands why it works (by understanding about skin needling).
The proper name for Dry Tattooing is MCA Micro Needling and it’s been used by specifically trained cosmetic and medical tattooists for over 30 years.
I’ve had a trade stand (not tattooing) at the Brighton Tattoo convention for the past 4 years talking about this treatment, and I’ll be there again next year. I invite the opportunity to educate, and caution.
Skin after it’s been Dry Tattooed looks brutal, the person being treated needs to be very prepared for this. If you know about blood lining, imagine those lines being a 1cm wide, raised and swollen !
I’m very aware calling the treatment Dry Tattooing will create many a reaction, but for as long as I can I hope those reactions are ultimately positive. And now I’ve branded to Meditatu ® I hope the caution to untrained people with a tattoo machine is heard
About Me
Whilst I may have the needle skills for cosmetic and medical tattooing, I can’t draw to the standard I like to be tattooed, so I don’t tattoo body art
I’ll have a trade stand again at the 2017 Brighton Tattoo Convention, so if you’re there, come and say hello as I’m happy to chat about this treatment
Stretch Mark Treatment, Scars, Dry Tattooing, Permanent Makeup, Saline Tattoo Removal in Manchester 