Healing check-ins and touch-ups: a simple aftercare routine

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Follow your council's conditions and your insurer's requirements, and use your own professional judgement for each client.

On the day

Give aftercare in writing before the client leaves, and note that you did. Your council may also set what aftercare advice you must give, so a practical step is to ask them.

For a tattoo, one council's guidance includes these points (the page credits material from 2013, so check your own council's current advice): wash hands before touching the tattoo; cover it with non-stick gauze held by hypoallergenic tape, because gauze lets the skin ventilate; for a large tattoo, a sterile non-adhesive dressing may be needed at least for the journey home; and use only creams from a suitable pot or tube, bought from your practitioner or a pharmacist. It also says not to use antibiotic creams unless an infection has occurred and a doctor supervises their use. It says it is normal for the area to be red and tender for the first week or so.

For a piercing, NHS advice is to clean it twice a day with warm salty water, using a cotton bud or pad rather than cotton wool, dry it with clean paper towel, and not pick at crusting. It also says not to swim for the first 24 hours. The NHS says a new piercing may be tender and itchy, the surrounding area may look slightly red on white skin, and it may produce a pale fluid that forms a crust, and that these usually settle within the first few weeks. Your piercer's own advice on jewellery and healing time should come first, and the NHS suggests clients ask how long healing takes.

A healing check-in

A practical suggestion: a short message a day or two after the session is enough. Ask how it is feeling, remind them of the key aftercare points and tell them how to reach you. If the client reports a problem, ask them to send a photo and note what they said and what you advised.

Agree your own timings. We found no official schedule for check-ins, so choose a routine you can keep, then put it in writing.

Touch-ups

Decide your touch-up rule once. Say how long after the session you will assess a touch-up, whether it is free, and what would make it chargeable, such as a client not following the aftercare. Be fair and clear, and put it on the booking page. Whether a piece needs work is for you to judge once it has healed, and no source gives a healing time we can quote.

If something looks wrong

Tell clients in plain words what to watch for. The council tattoo guidance lists these signs of infection: swelling and redness that spreads around the wound, a severe burning and throbbing sensation, increasing tenderness and pain when touched, and yellow or green discharge with an unpleasant smell. NHS advice for a piercing lists an area that is swollen, painful, hot or very red or dark, blood or pus coming out, and feeling hot, cold, shivery or generally unwell.

The advice then differs by case:

• Tattoo: speak to the practitioner or get medical attention straight away if there are signs of infection or an allergic reaction to any product used.
• Piercing: the NHS says to get immediate medical help if you think it is infected, by asking for an urgent GP appointment or using NHS 111, and to leave the jewellery in unless a doctor says otherwise.
• General advice, not from the sources above: a pharmacist can be a sensible first stop for questions about creams. The sources we read do not say a pharmacist treats an infection, so send anything that looks infected to a GP or NHS 111. If it feels like an emergency, call 999.

How we help

The Finisher sends an aftercare email from 30 minutes after the appointment ends. Two days after a client's first visit, it emails to ask how it is healing. For a tattoo, about five weeks on, if they haven't booked again, it sends a touch-up check with a link to book one. You can change that timing, or switch any of these emails off, in your back office settings. See our page for your craft.

Do this next

1. Write a one-page aftercare handout for tattoos and one for piercings, using your council's advice.
2. Choose when you will check in, and word the message.
3. Write your touch-up rule in two sentences.
4. Write a short "when to get help" box and check it with your insurer and council.

Sources

• Torbay Council, tattoo aftercare guidance (credits Public Health England material from June 2013; no update date shown)
• NHS, Infected piercings

Last checked 22 October 2026. General guidance, not legal or tax advice.

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