What Causes Tattoo Blowouts and How to Prevent Them

What is Tattoo Blowout?

A tattoo blowout is an ink spread under the skin that makes crisp linework look fuzzy, cloudy, or out- of- focus. Blowouts permanently alter your tattoo’s appearance and will never go away on their own.

When getting tattooed, the ink can be injected too deep or simply spread through fat cells—both resulting in pigment migration.

Tattooing isn’t an exact science, but it does involve some precision from the tattoo artist to ensure certain complications don’t occur. There are several reasons blow-outs can happen, all centered around fat cells in the skin.

Common Signs of Tattoo Blowout

Tattoo blowout can look like:

• A smudge, smear, or stain (under or around the tattoo).
• A permanent, “out-of-focus” look that does not improve with healing.
• Ink migration that can travel up to 2–3 inches away
• Blurry or fuzzy lines instead of sharp edges.

What are the causes of tattoo blowout?

Tattoo blowouts can be a result of technical errors or anatomical factors in the skin. The most common reason for a tattoo blowout is poor artist application, which can be avoided by choosing an experienced artist.

Technical Causes

Tattoo blowouts can result from:

• Needle inserted at the wrong angle. Sometimes harder to reach parts of the body require an artist to move and manipulate themselves into precarious angles, resulting in a sub-optimal position to properly put ink into the skin.
• Tattooing in awkward body positions
• Overstretched skin, which forces ink to spread. Tattooing works best when the skin is stretched tightly, most commonly angled between the artist’s non-dominant hand’s thumb and forefinger. Overstretching the area can result in the ink spreading through the dermis, resulting in blow-out.
• Overworking an area with too much ink. where a tattoo artist simply spends too much time attempting to saturate the skin, resulting in an abundance of ink in the dermis.

Anatomical Factors

Blowouts are also more likely when:

• Tattooing thin or elastic skin (wrists, ankles, elbows)
• Skin has higher fat content or loose texture
• Certain placements are harder to control ink spread

How to Prevent Tattoo Blowouts

Tattoo blowouts can often be prevented by choosing the right artist and placement. Prevention is about ensuring proper technique and working with skin areas less prone to ink spread.

Choosing the Right Artist

To lower the risk of blowout:

• Review portfolios for clean, sharp linework
• Ask about experience with the placement you want
• Choose artists with professional training and hygiene practices

Best Placement Locations

• Best areas for crisp tattoos: upper arms, thighs, calves.
• High-risk areas: wrists, ankles, ribs, inner elbows.
• These zones differ because thin or elastic skin makes it harder to control ink depth.

Does Tattoo Blowout Go Away?

Sadly, tattoo blowouts are permanent when they occur. Tattoo pigment particles are too big for the body’s immune system to break down, so the blowout will remain, as if it were intended to be there.

How to Fix a Tattoo Blowout

There is no way to reverse a blowout in a tattoo, but there are two possible ways to fix it. The perfect option for you will depend on the blowout’s location, its severity, and what aligns best with your personal goals.

Fixing a Tattoo with a Cover Up

This option adds new design elements to hide the blowout. Works best for larger tattoos, but not for fine line pieces.

The most obvious way to fix a blowout is to expand or change the tattoo design through a coverup—thus hiding the blowout in the piece. The blowout can be fixed with one appointment usually but could force you to alter the tattoo design. The coverup’s cost will vary based on the circumstance, typically ranging from $75 to several hundred dollars. Depending on the location, stretching or blowout may occur again though. This is not a great option for fine line tattoos or tattoos that mostly include linework.

Skin colored ink, sometimes called camouflage tattooing is a technique utilized to fix blowouts, but it rarely ever looks natural over time.

Laser Tattoo Removal for Tattoo Blowouts

Safely removes blown outout ink while preserving the original design. Typically requires 1–3 treatments spaced 6–8 weeks apart.

Covering up a tattoo blowout isn’t always an option, especially given how it will add to the size and density of the existing tattoo. Laser tattoo removal is a great solution for blow-outs, allowing the tattoo to be fixed without any alterations. (Check out our article to learn more – how does tattoo removal work?)

It is best to wait about 12 weeks before starting laser removal treatments on a fresh blowout. This gives the body plenty of healing time and ensures the ink has fully settled within the skin.

On average, 1-3 tattoo removal treatments will be needed to remove the blowout. After each session, you will need 6-8 weeks of healing typically.

Tattoo removal cost to remove blown out tattoo ink is very affordable but will heavily depend on how large the treatment area is.

The best advantage of laser removal is that you’re able to retain the original design without adding unnecessary elements to fix it. Additionally, most tattoo removal treatments take a very short amount of time to complete, about 30 seconds to a few minutes in most cases.

The only disadvantage is that it takes time, with about 6-8 weeks between treatments for healing. It is not a quick fix, but it can deliver incredible results without changing your original design.

The FDA oversees the lasers and technology used for tattoo removal and recommends this method over every other option for safe and effective removal.

At-Home Care Guidelines

You can’t reverse a blowout at home, but you can:

• Moisturize with tattoo-safe products
• Avoid scratching, rubbing, or sun exposure
• Monitor for infection (though blowouts are not infections themselves)

Need Help Fixing Your Blown Out Tattoo?

Tattoo blowout go away on its own, but it is fixable.

Book a consultation for your tattoo blowout with one of our experts online now.