Sauna after a new tattoo: how long to wait

You've sat through hours of needles and paid good money, so the last thing you want is to spoil the result. A sauna feels harmless enough. But a new tattoo is an open wound, and hot, damp, shared rooms are one of the worst places to take it while it heals.

Why a new tattoo and a sauna don't mix

A tattoo needle punctures your skin over and over to place ink in the layer below the surface, the dermis. For the first days you have, in effect, a large graze. Three things about a sauna work against it.

• Heat and sweat. Heat brings blood to the skin and sweat soaks it, which can make a fresh tattoo swell, sting and ooze, and keeps the surface damp just when it needs to dry and close over.
• Shared surfaces. Benches, floors and towels in a public sauna are used by many people, and warm, damp places suit bacteria.
• Soaking. Most saunas come with a shower, a plunge pool, a hot tub or the sea. Soaking a healing tattoo softens scabs and lets water and germs in.

How a tattoo heals

Every tattoo heals at its own pace, but most follow a similar pattern:

• First week: red and swollen, tender to touch, often oozing a little clear fluid and ink.
• Second week: itching, flaking and peeling as the surface renews.
• Weeks three and four: the flaking stops and the itch fades. The surface looks mostly healed but may still look a little dull.
• The months after: the deeper skin carries on repairing. Cleveland Clinic says the bottom layers of the skin can take several more months to heal completely.

The sauna question is mostly about those first few weeks, while the surface is still open.

What artists and health sources say

Every studio gives out its own aftercare sheet, and the wording varies. Most say to keep out of saunas, steam rooms, swimming pools, the sea and hot tubs for the whole healing period, which they put at anywhere from two to six weeks. Some also suggest avoiding heavy sweating for the first couple of weeks.

Health sources agree on the water. Cleveland Clinic's advice is not to submerge a healing tattoo in hot tubs, baths or pools until it has fully healed. Quick showers are normally fine.

If your artist gives you a specific timescale, follow theirs. They know how big the piece is, where it is and how hard the skin was worked.

Steam rooms, hot tubs and plunge pools

If you had to rank them, a dry sauna is a smaller risk than a steam room, because the tattoo isn't sitting in moisture the whole time. Steam rooms keep your skin wet and warm, which is the opposite of what a healing tattoo needs. Hot tubs, plunge pools, lakes and the sea are the worst of the lot, because the tattoo is fully under water, often water shared with lots of other people.

That doesn't make a dry sauna safe for a new tattoo. Wait until it's healed, then enjoy the lot. If you like a cold dip between rounds, our guide to cold plunge benefits covers how to do it.

How to tell it has healed

• There are no scabs or flakes left.
• The skin over the tattoo feels smooth and the same as the skin around it.
• It isn't raised, red, sore or itchy any more.
• There are no shiny or weeping patches.

For your first session back, keep it short, sit on a clean towel, and rinse off afterwards. Our guide to what to wear in a sauna explains why the towel matters anyway. If the skin over your tattoo is dry, look after it as you would any other skin; see sauna and your skin.

Signs of infection

See a doctor, or call NHS 111 in the UK, if a new tattoo shows any of these signs, which Cleveland Clinic lists as signs of infection:

• a fever
• skin that feels hot to the touch
• a bad smell or a lot of fluid leaking from the tattoo
• soreness that gets worse instead of better
• redness spreading outwards, or red streaks running from the tattoo towards the middle of your body

Tattoos at onsen and Japanese baths

Japan has its own rule, and it has nothing to do with healing. Many onsen and sento turn away anyone with a tattoo, because tattoos have long been linked with organised crime there. In a 2015 survey by the Japan Tourism Agency, 56% of the hotels and inns that replied said they barred tattooed guests from their baths, 31% let them in, and 13% let them in if the tattoo was covered.

Attitudes are slowly changing, especially in places used to foreign visitors, and some baths allow small tattoos under a skin-coloured sticker. Our onsen etiquette guide explains the rules and the private baths you can book for yourself.

Who should wait longer

• Large pieces and heavy colour work, which take longer to heal than a small line tattoo.
• Tattoos in places that rub or sweat, like feet, hands, waistbands and armpits.
• People with conditions that slow healing, such as diabetes, a weakened immune system or a skin condition. Ask your doctor.
• Anyone who's had a touch-up. The clock starts again.

This guide is general information, not medical advice.

Saunas to try once it's healed

Once your tattoo has healed, a private sauna is an easy way to ease back in, as you know exactly who's been on the bench. A few listed on Find My Sauna:

Wildwood Sauna

Bath · Private sauna

Pool Bridge Farm

York · Outdoor sauna

Papermill Saunas

Swansea · Private sauna

Frequently asked questions