Hi ! So I've never seen anyone discussing getting a tattoo with dermatillomania and never read tips other than "don't get a tattoo if you're going to pick at it !" and "just don't pick at it omg !!"
So as there is no real advice provided anywhere, here's my own guide about my personal experiences with tattoos and dermatillomania/dermatophagia in no particular order :
- Even if you recovered from it, chances are you will relapse. This happened to me. I only got tattooed when I felt ready for it, when my skin picking urges were under control. But when my first tattoo began healing and the skin started flaking and falling off, all my progress disappeared. I began picking at it like crazy.
The thing that helped me overcome my urges was skin care in order to avoid dry skin and imperfections to pick at. But with a tattoo there is no way to avoid that. You will see flakes of drying skin, maybe thicker scabs, there's no way around it. Be prepared for that.
- Consider talking about it with your tattoo artist beforehand. Maybe they'll tell you to not get a tattoo if you're not being able to care for it, maybe they'll provide you tips. They know how hard it is to resist picking at a new tattoo, even without suffering from the disorder, and can share some advice with you.
Also, listen to their aftercare instructions and keep an ear out for the "dry healing method", which is what my tattoo artist told me to do. Basically it tells you to only wash your tattoo with antiseptic soap a few times a day and otherwise keep stay away from it. No lotion, no moisturizer. I followed his instructions but it only made my urges stronger because it means your skin is really dry, and dry skin is one my triggers. I know I'm much less likely to pick at it if it's wet. If your tattooist uses the dry healing method, ask if there's any way you could go around that.
- Don't be afraid to go overbroad with precautions. I know that only physical restrictions can restrict me, if there's a way to do it I will ultimately find it. Just telling myself that I shouldn't do it never works. I've litterally picked at my tattoo while reading about how I shouldn't do it.
So do everything you need to in order to restrict yourself. Keep loose clothes on the area so it can still breathe but you won't be able to touch it. Then find a way to keep yourself from removing the clothes.
It seems ridiculous, but when I got my thigh tattoo I had to put a lock on my pants and put the key somewhere in my house not easy to access so I only fetched it when I needed to and got the chance to think about it. I tightened the bottom of my pants (using pins) so I couldn't lift it up from the bottom and get to my tattoo. I had to put gloves on when I undressed or went to the bathroom. For my arm or chest tattoos I had to get a bodysuit with long sleeves and a tight neckline so I couldn't get my hands inside from the top. Then I locked my pants as well and tied the sleeves to my bracelets.
All that to say that I learned that I won't do something if there are too many steps to it, if it seems too difficult, it applies to everything in my life. So I learned to use that against myself to prevent picking at my skin.
- Never look at it. The worst thing for me is that picking at it only triggers more picking. Here's how it goes : I picked at it once. I cover it up, I think about it, I regret it, I'm afraid I ruined my tattoo. I undress to look at the damage, and bam, trigger. I pick at it even more. And on and on again.
So stop looking at it. You will look at it once it's healed. You already picked, so the potential damage is already done and there is nothing you can do about it. You won't know if it's damaged until it's completely healed anyway. So there's no point in looking at it beside when you're doing the aftercare, which is washing, drying and applying lotion if instructed. While you're doing that, just check to see if there are no signs of infection or injury and otherwise stay away from it. There's nothing you can other than that. You won't know what it'll look like until it's healed. Stop worrying about what you picked and how it affected it. Maybe some color got stripped away, but you won't know it until it's healed and able to go back for touch-ups.
- This is an anti-advice, but maybe you will need to focus your picking on another part of your body again. Maybe you'll have to intentionnaly relapse in order to refrain from messing with your tattoo. I know it's an unhealthy advice, but it can be necessary. Your skin can grow back, your hair as well, but a ruined tattoo will never be the same again. I love my tattoos, and prefered to destroy other parts of my skin so I didn't damage them.
My tattoos caused me to get urges again, so I redirected my urges somewhere else, even if I had healed and recovered from my dermatillomania. I relapsed really hard, but at least my tattoos didn't suffer too much from it. I even had to cause myself harm so I had scabs to pick at.
- Once it's healed, go for touch ups if needed. Most tattoo artists give them for free, but I've heard they can tell if you picked at it so maybe they'll make you pay if they see you didn't care for their work properly. Also, once it's healed, I go back to my skincare routine to keep my skin clear and usually I can recover again. I've never messed with a healed tattoo because clean skin doesn't trigger me.
This is what was in my head for now, but I will probably add to this list from time to time. Hope it can help some peeps out there :)
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