Tattooing has become widely fashionable in the Western World, particularly among young people.
Along with the rising popularity have come studies (such as this one and this one) reporting on adverse side effects, including infections and allergic reactions.
Commonly, an inflammatory response (swelling, redness, soreness) develops around the tattooed area immediately after the tattoo procedure. To the body, a tattoo is basically an injury. A needle rapidly and repeatedly pierces the skin to deposit ink below the epidermis. The bruising and swelling effect generally goes away after one to four weeks, depending on the extent and location of the tattoo, however, problems may persist.
Although we haven’t studied grounding and tattoo healing we have received feedback suggesting that Earthing can make a difference both during and after the procedure.
Among the comments we have received are these:
A tattoo artist in Las Vegas told us that Earthing results in significantly less pain and faster healing.
A Southern California tattoo artist who does mainly permanent eye liners, lip liners, and eye brow tattoos has seen the same effect.
A woman in Australia reported the following recovery: “I had cosmetic eyeliner tattooing performed. I have sensitive eyes & expected some inflammation & swelling. By Day 2, my eyelids were a little swollen, but I had noticeably puffy bags under my eyes! Ice packs, sleeping with 2 pillows the first night (& with a resultant neck ache). Anti-inflamatories helped a little. I started using a grounded pillowcase on Day 2. Then….after 5-6 hrs sleeping grounded, I awoke with most of the swelling…. GONE!!! Being honest, I expected a little improvement, but these results were amazing!! A week later, I was experiencing a pulled muscle in my shoulder. I slept with my grounded pillow under the affected area that night….awoke with it completely gone!!!”
An Earthing enthusiast in Belgium told us the following story: “I told a friend of mine about Earthing and she started grounding herself using a recovery bag. She had been sleeping grounded for a month or so, when she got a rather big tattoo on her back: 12 inches wide and something like 10 inches high. It took more than 4 hours. She did not earth during the process but immediately afterwards wrapped the recovery bag around herself. She came to visit me 24 hours later and it was not at all inflamed at the edges like I have seen on other people. She was totally amazed at how well and fast this tattoo engraving healed.”
A young man on the East Coast of the U.S. shared the following after undergoing a three-and-a-half hour tattoo procedure two days before: “I brought my Earthing mat with me. Both my tattoo artist and I were blown away with the results during the session, and I am blown away by the accelerated healing process. I typically get really tense under the needle and my tattoo artist has felt a lot of bodily resistance from me (twitches, etc), but while Earthing I was completely calm. It still hurt the normal amount, but I wasn’t tensing and flexing inadvertently as I usually do. For instance, my shoulders are usually sore from being so tense for so long, and I had none of that from this last appointment. As to the recovery, I felt like my tattoo was already one-week-healed the day after. And last night I slept on my left side (right on my tattoo) which I usually don’t do for weeks after I get work done. Today I feel two-weeks-healed. There is hardly even any swelling!”
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Tattoo artists provide clients with recommendations for post-procedure healing. We strongly recommend considering grounding during the procedure and continuing afterward.
There are obviously many Earthing options. During the procedure, we believe that Earthing patches placed on both feet (at the K1 acupuncture point) or on the palms of the hands may significantly reduce pain and speed healing. Afterward, patches can be used during sleep, as well as Earthing mats, and pillow and mattress covers.
Featured photo by Lucas Lenzi.
