Tattoos?

I have a few tattoos and for years I've wanted to get more ink. BUT, the reason I don't is two fold. One is that when I get in my pre-trance state and can start feeling every little bump, I notice that my existing tattoos get extremely itchy. I have one bump inside part of a solid piece of work, and I never touch it, again, don't want to ruin art (as if our bodies, our faces, aren't enough reason, or aren't enough to consider "art" on their own?). And like you, I've "apprenticed to sling ink" as well and I did that for a few years prior to this whole thing (it helps when you're dating a tattoo artist who is exceptionally good, and has done tattoos on a lot of famous rocker musicians, artists, and actors. But I felt comfortable around him talking skin, I could relate. Now, I am married ten years and don't have that same comfort level. I've avoided getting ink because the skin on my body has been scarring in bright raised purple keloids that just get worse and worse. If that's any indication, combined with the fact that pre-trigger time, when my skin feels like it's stretch or swollen and is causing pressure on my pores and hair follicles, when I swear I am so in touch, in tune, with my skin, I can feel everything,....and it feels like my skin either swells up pushing in on all the pores to push the white crap and black crap up through the pores. Or my skin is tightening and forcing my pores to open and causing stretching of my sores and scabs, either way, making me more aware of the defects. It sounds nuts but I swear I truly can feel my skin, even my hair grow (re: that I mean, in the places I've picked that I thought were blackheads but were hairs trying to creep out, and being female, not wanting those random 7 or 8 stray black hairs on my chin, jaw line, and corners of my mouth on my upper lip),...THOSE hairs that I've "had at it" before, I can feel. Not my regular hair. I wouldn't do it now, afraid of how it'll heal since essentially a tattoo is an applied scar. I've never picked at any of my tattoos. But I'll be damned if I'm going to get another tattoo only to have it scar over into this bright purple raised keloid. It's a trade off. Biggest thing is you MUST be free from picking. I'd recommend a year. If you can go one year without it, then try with something small that is either in a different place, or something you can incorporate into your tree. I'd recommend something small that's in a discreet location. For the record, if you do pick, it doesn't make at all,...way LESS than the picking WE all refer to when talking about digging at ourselves. With a tat, the scab is relatively less by comparison because a tattoo is "controlled damage" not random meelee on your skin singling out hair follicles and pores to destroy. As such, a tattoo will be your biggest test because they're easier to pick at while healing (they feel like less of a challenge, like an easy pick) but during this healing time, you remove scabs, you remove the ink, and you end up with loads of holidays (white spots) in your tattoos. If they try to fix it, they'll never match the ink (even if it's done in black, the whole thing), because whatever was done first will be a different shade (from life, picking, healing, and age of tat)....difficult but not impossible to cover holidays. But if you've slung ink you know that we can't tattoo over a scar. Most artists won't because of liability. Risky decision especially if they see active lesions elsewhere on your body.