Tattooing and thinning skin, Am I in a race against time? Options

[Dazed and confus...]

A year ago, in celebration of my mid life crisis, I decided to have some extensive tattoo work done.

I had a pair on my shoulderblades since my late teens and I always harboured a desire to have something considerably more dramatic. So, at 43 I figured I was safely past the age where it would cause me problems socially, I was well set into self employment so no worries about it negeatively impacting on my work life and my final thought was that if I left it much longer I would be an old maid and there would be little point!

I have done 46 hours so far and my back is 85% covered, one hald arm 50% and the other half arm still awaiting its first ink. The aim is to have my back and upper arms fully inked so I reckon I probably need to be looking at another 30 or so hours, two at a time with at least two or three weeks for healing in between. It will take the best part of another year to finish.

The thing is, I have had to temporarily put it to one side because it's very expensive and I need to finance a new business venture. I have no idea how long it will be before I can resume it and an older lady that works on the reception desk at the tattoo parlour told me she would like to have one but she couldn't because her skin had thinned too much for it.

I never thought about it at the time but now I have learned that skin thinning is a strong possibility with menopause the penny has finally dropped! Now I'm worrying that if I can't resume within a year or so I will be stuck half finished!

I appreciate that there may not be many ladies here who can help me with advice about this but I'm at a loss to know who else I could ask. I think my skin has already thinned a little with age over the last few years, will being perimenopausal speed the process up? Do I need to panic just yet?

[XIII]

A year ago, in celebration of my mid life crisis, I decided to have some extensive tattoo work done.

I had a pair on my shoulderblades since my late teens and I always harboured a desire to have something considerably more dramatic. So, at 43 I figured I was safely past the age where it would cause me problems socially, I was well set into self employment so no worries about it negeatively impacting on my work life and my final thought was that if I left it much longer I would be an old maid and there would be little point!

I have done 46 hours so far and my back is 85% covered, one hald arm 50% and the other half arm still awaiting its first ink. The aim is to have my back and upper arms fully inked so I reckon I probably need to be looking at another 30 or so hours, two at a time with at least two or three weeks for healing in between. It will take the best part of another year to finish.

The thing is, I have had to temporarily put it to one side because it's very expensive and I need to finance a new business venture. I have no idea how long it will be before I can resume it and an older lady that works on the reception desk at the tattoo parlour told me she would like to have one but she couldn't because her skin had thinned too much for it.

I never thought about it at the time but now I have learned that skin thinning is a strong possibility with menopause the penny has finally dropped! Now I'm worrying that if I can't resume within a year or so I will be stuck half finished!

I appreciate that there may not be many ladies here who can help me with advice about this but I'm at a loss to know who else I could ask. I think my skin has already thinned a little with age over the last few years, will being perimenopausal speed the process up? Do I need to panic just yet?

Hi there,

It is very hard to say. Everyone is an individual and our connective tissue that supports our skin will age differently.
I am very lucky in that I have always had great elastic skin. I have had two children and my abdominal skin shows no sign of two full term pregnancies. My father is in his mid eighties and still has amazing skin.
I am now 52 and 2 years post and have seen rapid deterioration since I lost my supply of oestrogen. A bit scary really.

My aim is to try and grow old as gracefully as I can. I have realised that I must now be careful how much sun I expose my skin to. I would personally be afraid of having anything permanent like a tattoo. I used to get a superb tan very easily and it used to look amazing but these days any exposure to the sun makes my skin look dry and crepey which is not a good look. ( I have always been careful about avoiding too much exposure to the sun.)

This remains a personal choice for you but I urge you to be a bit cautious. Bear in mind that at menopause everything tends to go south quite rapidly. Forwarned is forearmed.


Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.


XIII

[kath S]

Oooh Dazed and confused, I also been wanting a tattoo I,m also 43!! Hmmm is this a significant age??

Crikey me can,t believe so MANY hours go into these tatts, mind if I do have one it would be tucked away somewhere,Wouldn,t dare go for full back one.
WOW what design are you having? If you don,t mind me asking. I think some tatts are just awesome

I,m sure Dazed another year or two won,t make too much difference,I know what you are saying though I have noticed mine a little crepe like??!! Uuuugh can,t believe Ive used that word to describe my skin

Just keep slapping on the moisturiser everywhere a good vitamin sup for skin etc may help??

K

[JZZ]

A year ago, in celebration of my mid life crisis, I decided to have some extensive tattoo work done.

I had a pair on my shoulderblades since my late teens and I always harboured a desire to have something considerably more dramatic. So, at 43 I figured I was safely past the age where it would cause me problems socially, I was well set into self employment so no worries about it negeatively impacting on my work life and my final thought was that if I left it much longer I would be an old maid and there would be little point!

I have done 46 hours so far and my back is 85% covered, one hald arm 50% and the other half arm still awaiting its first ink. The aim is to have my back and upper arms fully inked so I reckon I probably need to be looking at another 30 or so hours, two at a time with at least two or three weeks for healing in between. It will take the best part of another year to finish.

The thing is, I have had to temporarily put it to one side because it's very expensive and I need to finance a new business venture. I have no idea how long it will be before I can resume it and an older lady that works on the reception desk at the tattoo parlour told me she would like to have one but she couldn't because her skin had thinned too much for it.

I never thought about it at the time but now I have learned that skin thinning is a strong possibility with menopause the penny has finally dropped! Now I'm worrying that if I can't resume within a year or so I will be stuck half finished!

I appreciate that there may not be many ladies here who can help me with advice about this but I'm at a loss to know who else I could ask. I think my skin has already thinned a little with age over the last few years, will being perimenopausal speed the process up? Do I need to panic just yet?

Hi,

If it were me I would just stop now. Skin does lose its elasticity with the drop off in estrogen for most women. A strong thing to consider is how your own mother looked after meno. Seems like most women I know "morph" into their mothers body shape, skin tone etc after meno - no matter what they looked like or did to maintain themselves previously.

Also, I volunteer at a hospital and have seen many patients (both men and women) ask the surgeons to try and remove tattoos while having other surgery done. These were tats that they had loved previously, but had changed over the years and didn't look so pretty anymore.

I am not against tattoos and do admire nice ones on other people. Please consider how skin tone (especially upper arms on women) tend to change with age. If you don't care what may happen in the future, then just do it now, and enjoy them in the short term. No one really knows what the future holds. JZZ

[Floater]

Maybe having a very large tattoo is bad as you get older?? I never thought of it before either, to be honest. About a month ago I got my first tattoo, but it is fairly small and is on my lower leg. My mother and aunt also got one, and they are in their 60s. Again, these were small and on the lower leg. None of us considered thinning skin. The tattoo artist didn't say anything about it either.

I would think at 43 you have many years left to complete that tattoo. Perhaps make sure it is finished before you are 70!!

[Dazed and confus...]

Thanks everyone, overall then it seems I should be OK for a little while yet. I'll panic later!

One positive side effect of the stress and effort of getting my new business off the ground is that I lost weight. I was just starting to get a tiny hint of 'Bingo wings' on my upper arms but it's vanished again now.... along with a cup size or two. I don't think I need worry about the migration south on my back and I already know about that on my front but I have no plans to tattoo around there!

I'm absolutely certain that having had tattoos for so many years and only just deciding at my age to go for it full on, there is no chance at all I would ever regret it. Can't even imagine it! When I'm older I know I won't be alone or particularly unusual either, and by the time mine have aged it really won't matter very much. The good thing about 'wall to wall' tattoos is that they don't age as obviously.

Funny you mentioned tanning, it's the reason I had my first tattoo. Sun tans were a 'must have' when I was young and I'm very pale skinned, never go brown, so I figured I would have every other colour instead. My new tattooing is very colourful and bright! It's a hotch-potch of different things melded together, from roses and lilies to the Whore of Babalon riding a Seven Headed Beast (it's an Earth Mother/woman power thing!)

Will be glad to get back into it, I feel like a half read book at the moment!

[Gibbs44]

I had a large tattoo done on my lower back a few years ago on my 48th birthday. Of course, it was done in stages, but the first stage was done on my birthday. I had no problems with thinning skin interfering with the tattooing process. The tattoo looked great when it was first done, and it looks great now! I hope that you will be able to get your tattoo completed without too much delay, and will also experience no difficulties related to aging skin!

[nc53215]

my hubby calls the ones on womans back side " tramp stamps" hes such a pig !!!!

[boohoo]

OOOH, WATCH OUT! i had a tattoo 10 years ago, then my skin ""thinned out" and the tattoo faded, and it really looks bad now, at the time, it was great, i did not realize what hormones can do to the skin, i was always thin skinned, it worsened 4 years post meno,
that's just my opinion...............it is your decision and only yours, keep us informed!

luv,
boo

[boohoo]

OOOH, WATCH OUT! i had a tattoo 10 years ago, then my skin ""thinned out" and the tattoo faded, and it really looks bad now, at the time, it was great, i did not realize what hormones can do to the skin, i was always thin skinned, it worsened 4 years post meno,
that's just my opinion...............it is your decision and only yours, keep us informed!

luv,
boo

[Siaran]

OOOH, WATCH OUT! i had a tattoo 10 years ago, then my skin ""thinned out" and the tattoo faded, and it really looks bad now,

I must agree with boo. Mine is about 25 years old. It was a beautiful feng-huang, all done in blues and turquoise and white with sharp lines, now it's a sort of faded bluish gray. Whatever you do, keep your tattoos out of the sun, always !!