So last Thursday (exactly 1 week ago) I got a huge tattoo that goes basically from my knee to my ankle. I got the lines and color in one session (around 4-5 hours). Most of the tattoo is healing nicely by now but my experience with the lower shin/ankle has been a nightmare!!!!
I’ve attached some photos. Most of the trouble is happening in the planchette/eye, and those three little leaves right beneath it. The ankle/shin bone area.
Right after I got the tattoo my leg was EXTREMELY swollen, but that happened with my other leg tattoo too so I didn’t dwell on it. However for the first few days the pain was extreme. I could hardly stand up without getting this crazy stabbing pain in my lower ankle. It was a feeling like blood rushing down there real quickly and sharp stabbing. Thankfully it’s not so severe anymore, but I’m still having some pretty moderate pain in my ankle area basically all day long.
For the first couple days standing up was basically unbearable. I could hardly walk across the house.
The pain isn’t as bad as it was but to be fair I’m taking Ibuprofen like 3x a day. It freaked me out so much I went to the doctor a couple days ago! I was worried that I had some kind of infection or something crazy just because the pain caught me off guard so much. She examined it real closely and said it didn’t look infected, and that it was probably just from trauma to the tissue and inflammation. Basically she didn’t seem worried at all and acted like it just needed time (I agree with her on that).
She said if there was an infection (which there probably wasn’t) it was just a tiny surface one and I should just put antibiotic ointment on it. She didn’t seem tattoo savvy at all though, so she didn’t instill a lot of confidence if that makes sense.
How should I be taking care of the problem areas? I’ve been hyper-vigilant with aftercare and I’ve been washing the planchette and those leaves like 4x a day. I’ve also been applying triple antibiotic ointment to the planchette/eye and the leaves.
I’m not worried about the rest of the tattoo at this point at all, I’ve just been washing it in the shower and putting Cerave on it. The rest is golden.
But honestly I’m kind of freaking out about the pain at this point!! It’s been 7 days and I’m still having stabbing pains all the time, getting aches if I don’t keep my leg up, etc. I know I probably sound like a baby but at this point I’m worried it’s going to last forever.
It doesn’t keep me from walking anymore. I can walk around the neighborhood without severe pain, etc. I can stand without feeling like I’m being stabbed, etc. I’ve been taking ibuprofen a lot which the doctor advised me to do because it would reduce inflammation.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? Should I just suck it up and give it time? How long will it be until I can expect these bizarre stabbing pains to stop? I basically haven’t been able to go anywhere or do anything fun all week 😕 I’m supposed to go to the state fair tomorrow and I’m worried about all the walking!
Mostly I’m just interested in seeing if anyone else went through something like this. Is it normal to still be having this much pain a week later?
The planchette is finally starting to peel a bit (YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW RELIEVED THIS MAKES ME, LOL) . . . But the problem area is still very tender. Should I be using neosporin still or switching over to Cerave?
I need advice on how to care for it at this point.
TL;DR: Please advise on how to care for the bottom half which has started peeling but is still painful.
