New here and a question about after care

[dieselkat]

Hi everyone! New to the forum, in Philly, PA. I've been perusing the threads and this seems like a pretty great community. I have nine tattoos, including a brand new large octopus on my right outer thigh. That's where my question comes in. This is my first leg tattoo, so I've never had to heal one before. The tattoo was done Saturday day into evening. I took off the bandage and washed it the first night, and slept without it covered. Last night I washed and applied lotion (skin friendly Lubriderm) and then slept in thin pajama pants. When I woke up, the pants were adhered to the tattoo. I used water to release the pants, but there's a lot of ink on the pants and the complete outline of one of the octopus eyes in ink. Have I ruined my tattoo? Also, I work in a professional office and have to wear slacks every day. I'm pretty concerned that the rubbing of the pants is just going to pull all of the scabs/flakes away and take the color with them. Any tips? Thanks!

[Pugilist]

Personally, I have found my leg tattoos hardest to heal. Mine stay wet and stick to shit for a couple of days. I am sure you haven't ruined it, but I would definitely suggest you wear the loosest pants you can til the thing calms down!

[SeeSea]

Sleep with no pants as long as it goops and put whatever pillows, etc., to keep yourself from rolling over in the night - that's 3-ish nights for me. I had to soak out off a shirt one time after sleeping in it the first night, and it lost some color but we're not sure if that's why. Hurray for touch-ups. Ruined? Likely not.

[Edit to clarify - my sessions start late and run until the early morning hours and I pass out with the plastic on when I get home. My "first night" above is technically the second night, I guess.]

As for work - loose pants. Buy a larger size, buy styles with front pleats for more room. Buy material that isn't rough (not chinos/dockers for example). Consider taping folded up paper towels or something above/around it (not on it) to passively lift the material off your thigh. Consider pants with a lining to reduce the effects of rubbing. Are you a woman - skirts/dresses.

[Mark Bee]

I tend to leave the dressing on overnight. Then I wash it thoroughly, first thing in the morning. (I'm often up by 6am) After that, I keep it clean and dry and wear loose clothing. I like SeeSea's suggestion to tape folded paper towel around the tattoo. I'm healing a new thigh tattoo that I got yesterday, and I may try that trick this afternoon when I head out to shop.

[suburbanxcore]

Welcome. I'd say that @Pugilist is probably on the right track.

Who in Philly tattoos you?

[dieselkat]

Thanks for all of the replies! Like I mentioned, I'm a bit paranoid as this is my first leg tattoo (and my largest tattoo in general). The nature of my job puts skirts and dresses out, unfortunately. Once I got to work today I changed from my dress slacks (which did have goo and flakes/scabs adhered, ugh) into scrubs, and they're much nicer and no one has said anything yet. I think that'll be my plan for this week. Otherwise, I might try SeeSea's paper towel trick.

suburbanxcore: I actually drove 3.5 hours to upstate New York to see an artist I already trusted. It was a bit of a hike, but totally worth it.

[SeeSea]

Ah, scrubs - I didn't think of that! (No leg tattoos for me yet)

[else]

I LOVE scrubs on new leg tattoos.

In fact, I wear them to bed on fresh tattoos. They're great because they're light and easy to wash. When things are still sticking I wear them right into the shower.

[Fala]

With my thigh tattoo, I cobbled together the non-stick gauze pads from CVS with waterproof tape, then taped that to my leg (so the gauze pads completely covered the tattooed area and then some) then worse my loosest pants, skirts, etc. Worked great - no sticking, and minimized oozing. I found that that particular tattoo healed the fastest/easiest.

[dieselkat]

With my thigh tattoo, I cobbled together the non-stick gauze pads from CVS with waterproof tape, then taped that to my leg (so the gauze pads completely covered the tattooed area and then some) then worse my loosest pants, skirts, etc. Worked great - no sticking, and minimized oozing. I found that that particular tattoo healed the fastest/easiest.

Thanks for the tip! I have to attend a conference tomorrow and my options are skirt and pantyhose or form fitting slacks. I was torn between the two, but I think either will work if I pick up some non-stick gauze!

[Fala]

If you go with the pantyhose, go with one size up - will be way more comfortable with the gauze pads! Good luck.

[DJDeepFried]

Some have had good luck with tegaderm et al but ymmv.

[Breakme]

What I did with both my thighs is spend the whole of the next day and night in only my underwear to allow the tattoo to dry out as much as possible, and without any irritations. By the second day I was able to wear loose-ish fitting dress pants to work and had absolutely no sticking issues at all.

[SeeSea]

What I did with both my thighs is spend the whole of the next day and night in only my underwear to allow the tattoo to dry out as much as possible, and without any irritations.

Wow. Lax dress code at work. Maybe now you'll get that big raise.

[Breakme]

Wow. Lax dress code at work. Maybe now you'll get that big raise.

Haha, shame my boss is female!

I couldn't imagine going to work the next day after getting tattooed.

[dieselkat]

Thanks so much for all of the advice, you guys are great! It's now in that gross scabbed/scaly/flaky stage and peeling like crazy. It's back to work pants for me, so I'm a little worried about the rubbing pulling all of the flakes and scabs out. Man, healing a large thigh tattoo is definitely more complicated than any of my previous tattoos. Especially with my job requiring professional wear. I imagine I'm going to definitely need touch ups.

[Pugilist]

Unless your pants are super tight I am sure it's fine!!

[nomadland]

I second everyones opinion..

Just jumped on to say I love that octopus...

cheers

Oz.

[dieselkat]

Thanks OZ! Octopi are pretty amazing creatures.

My tattoo is now 2.5 weeks old, and still scaly, dull, and blurry. How long does it usually take to be pretty again?

[Delicious]

Leg tattoos take forever to heal. Give it time. My ankle tattoo took a month or a little more to be decent, the one on my calf 3 weeks.

[suburbanxcore]

Some of my leg tattoos have been really quick, but the one on the side of my knee was the longest healing tattoo I think I've ever had. There was a few weeks where I was starting to get nervous about it. It ended up being just fine. Haha.