So I'm getting a piece done in March, and wondering how many days I should take off afterwards, if at all. I've had a lot of piercings done and never needed any time off at all for those, but unsure how it looks in the case of tattoos. Anyone willing to share their experience? :>

Depending on how big the piece is. usually big pieces (like the entire back) or a full sleve are done in many sessions and can take a couple of months If its just like a small flower bouquet on your lower back it's one session and takes like a week to fully heal. And you need to have it cover in plastic and antibiotic ointment otherwise fresh tattoos get infected pretty easily.

Single session, but a lengthy one. Front of my thigh. It will take up most of the real estate in the center of the leg, basically.

I took about five days off after having the outline of mine done, and then about the same again after the first lot of colour (it needs more), but that was more because it's quite large and right down my right side including my midriff, so I didn't want punters lying on it or rubbing against it. It's stingy (like a bad sunburn) for a couple of days but it's an open wound and whilst the initial healing over is fairly quick it's a while before it's fully sorted.

Without derailing the thread, I wouldn't and didn't put either plastic or antibiotic ointment anywhere near any of mine and from both experience and on very good advice I wouldn't recommend it. Be careful of things like clothes rubbing against it too - I couldn't wear a waspie or anything more than a loose/soft suspender belt and even if you don't tend to bother with stuff like that, things like bra back straps or jeans waistbands can make a mess of them .


Edit: front of thigh, I'd agree about a week - it's somewhere that might get touched with germy hands and it'll be sore if somebody scrapes it with clothes or anything .

It'll peel and flake for a while after that, so you might want to wear something over it just for bookings. Everybody's different when it comes to healing but I found most punters were less than keen to get little bits of black stuff stuck all over them .

I'd just use cotton bandage (or maybe a tube bandage, since it's your leg) and take it straight off afterwards. You don't want anything that will rub against it when it's flaking because it can pull the pigment out, which is also why you shouldn't pick off the peely bits .

I didn't take any time off at all when I had any of my 4 tatts done and I never covered them or anointed them with cream etc. either because I found good old fashioned fresh air getting to it helped it to heal fastest. Throughout the healing process I stuck to cowgirl and told them to be careful and not touch the tattooed area. Never had any problems it's not anything major like surgery so time off would be minimal if anything.

I suppose if it's on your leg then that could be trickier but you can cover it during bookings so definitely workable I reckon.

As a substantially tattooed person and ex piercer I personally recommend tattoo goo as it prevents any scabbing / flaking, a thin layer of savlon cream prior to that for a couple of days but DO NOT cover with plastic as your skin will not be able to breathe and that itself will encourage infection..... it is not advisable to allow a tattoo to scab as when the scabs come off either on purpose or not it will draw out the colour with it. Tattoo goo also do an antiseptic wash which is great..... I have always found my colour work takes longer to heal than my grey.