For a moment, forget about the alluring design hanging on the wall that you can’t take your eyes off of and focus on a couple of points that might help you avoid serious infection.

Your tattoo will be created on your skin by an electric powered tattoo gun with a needle that punctures your skin about 2,000 time a minute, leaving behind a drop of ink in each puncture. If any part of the equipment or the area around you hasn’t been cleaned with a disinfectant before you even sit down, you are in the wrong place. What you are risking if you don’t pay close attention to the procedures your tattoo artist uses to ensure your good health, is a secondary infection from anyone who sat there before you.

Expert tattoo artists will wear gloves and treat your new tattoo like a wound, which it is until it heals. They will clean it as they proceed with the application and apply an antiseptic ointment when they move on to another section of the tattoo. When they finish, your tattoo will get cleaned once again and a new layer of antiseptic lotion will be applied before the entire design is covered with cellophane or some antiseptic tissue.

Now that the scary stuff is covered, here’s how to take care of your new tattoo.

You have to keep it dry for the first few days and clean it every few hours until it shows definite signs of healing. If the tattoo artist doesn’t give you a set of instructions for after-care, ask him to tell you how to take care of your new tattoo. This might be something you want to check before you get the tattoo. A printed set of instructions is an indication of how meticulous the artist is about your health.

Two things you need to know is how to clean it and how to keep it from becoming infected. Before you touch your new tattoo to clean it, make sure your hands are clean. Wash them carefully and use one of those antiseptic gels you can find everywhere.

It will scab over and that’s normal. “Keeping it dry” means no showers without protecting the wound from the water with a piece of cellophane or soft plastic taped securely over the site.

Baths would be a better idea until it heals, which could take a week or two. Swimming is definitely something you DO NOT want to do until your tattoo is totally healed. Chlorine and whatever else you will be “swimming with” is not something you want on your brand new wound and YOU NEED TO KEEP IT DRY.

On your way home from the tattoo parlor, stop by a pharmacy and get a tube of a good antibiotic ointment. If you are unsure of which one to use, ask the pharmacist. After every cleaning, apply the ointment to your tattoo, continuing to do that for the better part of a week. If the ointment begins to dry out, gently wipe it off and apply a new layer. Don’t rub it vigorously and remove the necessary scab or you might damage it before it heals. Do not use soap on it for at least a week.

If you should notice swelling or redness around the tattoo, visit your doctor right away. If it is infected, it can be treated in most cases with medicine. A severe infection might get you admitted to the hospital so you can be treated more aggressively. Your doctor might suggest, with extremely severe infections, that you have your tattoo removed to prevent any future complications or serious diseases.

Tattoos are fascinating and can be found on celebrities, your friends and even your dad (maybe on your mother). However you need to be very careful while they are healing. Those flames, fire-snorting dragons or the smallest daisy can cause you a lot of grief if you are not careful.

Tattooing had different purposes in different cultures. Some were physical advertisements of particular homemaking skills, worn by women to attract a warrior mate. In some cultures, tattoos around the wrist and fingers were worn to keep the wearer safe from illnesses. Even in today’s culture, for example, young people tattoo themselves for perceived beauty. Others use specific designs to indicate membership in a gang or club.

Originally, it was believed that the person with an animal or predatory bird tattoo adopted the nature and the spirit of the image. Tribal hunters would decorate their bodies with images of fierce animal hunters to produce successful hunts. Some even included tattoos of current religious idols or spirits to keep them safe during dangerous hunting expeditions.

The frozen body of a man with 57 tattoos on his body was discovered on a mountain between Italy and Austria in 1991. He lived during 3300 BC, or 53 centuries ago, and had a cross tattooed on the inside of his left knee, six straight lines above the kidneys and several parallel lines on his ankles. There’s been some speculation that the marks represent arthritis sites on his body.

An earlier find in 1948, uncovered tattooed mummies around 2400 years old in the Altai mountains of Western Siberia. They sported a variety of animal tattoos and some mystical ones, like griffins and monsters. More than a few researchers think the mystical tattoos were decorative.

Egyptian history is full of drawings depicting various art forms identified as abstract geometric patterns. Amunet, a priestess at Thebes, lived between 2160 BC and 1994 BC. Her mummified remains were discovered in 1891 and displayed groupings of dots and dashes. The Egyptians shared this art form with Crete, Greece, Persia and Arabia. Its spread reached southeast Asia by 2000 BC.

Clay figurines were found in Japanese tombs dating from 3,000 BC or older that had painted faces that represented tattoos. These figurines were believed to have been decorated with religious or magical symbols and were stand-ins for living people who accompanied the dead on their journey.

Inevitably, tattooing slipped over the borders and showed up in southern China, spreading along the silk route. The first written record of Japanese tattooing was actually found in a history of Chinese dynasties compiled in 297 AD.

Today’s tattoo designs are not so far removed from the art form’s cultural beginnings from thousands of years ago. You can find all sorts of predators colorfully decorating upper arms of men of all ages, along with an occasional heart with “Mom” inscribed within. Women will proudly show you a butterfly on their hip, a flower decorating one of their breasts or the dragon encircling their wrist. Our ancient ancestors would have been proud.