# Joe Manganiello's Dragon Tattoo

> Joe Manganiello reveals 3-foot dragon tattoo symbolizing his health recovery.
- Title: Joe Manganiello's Dragon Tattoo · E! Online | Shortify
- Summary: Joe Manganiello reveals 3-foot dragon tattoo symbolizing his health recovery. Joe Manganiello got a 3-foot dragon tattoo to symbolize his recovery from a…
- Keywords: joe manganiello, dragon tattoo, autoimmune disease, magic mike, bloodlines memoir, sofia vergara, caitlin oconnor, entertainment, celebrity, Joe, Manganiello's, Dragon
- Source: E! Online — https://eonline.com/news/1437290/joe-manganiello-reveals-dragon-thigh-tattoo-in-nsfw-pics
- Published: 2026-10-20T21:27:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: joe manganiello, dragon tattoo, autoimmune disease, magic mike, bloodlines memoir, sofia vergara, caitlin oconnor, entertainment, celebrity
## Joe Manganiello's tattoo reveal
Joe Manganiello shared NSFW photos of his first tattoo, a 3-foot dragon stretching from his lower abdomen to his knee.

> The idea to cover my surgery scars with my first tattoo, a three foot dragon down my right side, was my effort to take back what little agency I felt that I had.
## Tattoo as health symbol
The dragon tattoo represents his body's internal conflict after seven years battling an autoimmune disease.

> In chapter four, I related my struggle with the illness to my body sending out knights to fight a (western) dragon that didn’t exist.
## Tattoo meaning
Manganiello said the tattoo symbolizes his body 'stopping attacking the dragon', himself.

> The tattoo would act as a symbol to his body to stop attacking the dragon, in other words, himself.
## Health recovery
Manganiello overcame a seven-year autoimmune disease battle and now feels the world has 'opened back up to me'.

> For seven years I thought I was going to be dead the next week, he told People in an interview published Oct. 7.
## New relationship
Manganiello found new love with Caitlin O’Connor, whom he says 'came into my life at this point'.

> Caitlin came into my life at this point, where it was obvious to me that [she] was the direction to go.
## Mental strength
Manganiello claims his ancestors' suffering chains were broken, leaving him with 'not an ounce of fear' about the future.

> Whatever chains there were to the past suffering of my ancestors, they were completely broken, he said.
## Key takeaway

Joe Manganiello got a 3-foot dragon tattoo to symbolize his recovery from a seven-year autoimmune disease battle.