Japanese Tattoo Design On Damaged Skin

Japanese Tattoo Design has been around for thousands of years. From simple designs to the more elaborate such as full body suits, or torso and solid sleeve designs.The effects of such tattooing on damaged areas of skin such as scars and stretch marks are varied and can differ from one person to another, but without a doubt, it is something that should be thoroughly researched when looking for a tattoo artist to perform the work, and also to be aware of the possible out come for the area of damaged skin that you wish to have tattooed.Decorative and spiritual tattoos in Japan are thought to have been around since the Paleolithic period(10,000 BCE)and widespread over time in their history ever since.  Chinese visitors to Japan as far back as 300BCE were known to have observed and remarked on the practice Japanese tattooing.

 

From the early 1600s to the mid 1800s tattooing was only practiced by ‘Ukyo-e'(The floating world culture) and was only for manual workers and prostitutes as a sign of their status. From around 1720 to 1870 criminals were given tattoos as a sign of criminal punishment, replacing the usual practice of cutting off noses and ears.This caused the forming of a kind of sub culture of criminals and gangsters who were no longer excepted in normal society, many Samurai warriors included, and they banded together in criminal activities which later became a lead up to the ‘Yakuza’ or Japanese mafia.

 

Tattooing over scars and stretch marks is not as straight forward as tattooing a normal patch of skin.Different types of scar require different types of tattooing, and can only be done on scars that are completely healed. It is also something that will require some skill and fore thought by the artist themselves. The consequences of tattooing scars or stretch marks may well lead to a number of complications. Such as bleeding, a more then normal amount of pain, severe tenderness before during and after.

 

Also added work for the artist and the possibility that the scar tissue may become more ‘raised’ then it was before, and also the chance that the design and colors will not look exactly as was intended, because of the damaged tissue that it is being applied too. Scars are areas of fibrous tissue that have replaced an area of damaged skin, and although healed will not return to the same texture of skin as before. To tattoo this area may well cause the area to bleed, and depending on the design it may not ‘cover up’ the scar as was the original intent.

 

Japanese style tattoos such as body suits or sleeves, would probably be the best type of tattoo to cover the scar but this would have to be weighed up against the size of the scar. To work on an area of stretch marks would also be something that should not be entered into lightly. The affected area of skin allthough healed is still a form of scar tissue and as such, will be thinner and more sensitive then normal. The concept and production itself will take longer because it will require a lot more work and concentration in order to acquire the desired effect.