keryx | for my tattooed freaky people...

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for my tattooed freaky people...

I am perplexed by people who say tattoos don't hurt that much. Unless you live with pain every day, making your scale different, I think tattoos hurt. A lot.

I now have three in different spots, and each has hurt in varying ways to varying degrees. And. Absolutely never something I would describe as a "tingle" or a "pinprick". More like a "touching a searing hot stove at unusual angles" or "a needle puncturing your skin over an over at an extremely fast rate". Each time the process starts, I make a mental note to myself (apparently in very light pencil) that this is stupid and I never plan to do it again.

The only nice things about tattoo pain are its extreme localization and the way it gets you a little contemplative after the first half hour or so. But that's the first half hour of really very noticeable pain, and it's not like it goes away when you meditate. It just gets endurable. A few hours later when the euphoria wears off, my whole body starts to complain that I've stuck it with needles a lot, and could we maybe take a nap...

You? If you have tattoos (or if you just feel like speculating or throwing off the curve), tell me: did yours hurt? How about after?
[Poll #1378247]

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I should say that my small tattoo barely registered as painful. Not that it didn't hurt, but it was on a less-sensitive spot and didn't take very long.

My belly piece took a little less than 2 hours, and there were moments of excruciating pain where I needed to take breaks. My back piece today took nearly 3 hours (outline only), and while I sat still for the whole thing, there were times when I either couldn't pay attention to anything else or desperately needed a distraction. Both of the larger pieces got puffy, hot and achy after several hours, and the belly tattoo made me sleepy and achy like having a low-grade flu for a few days.

Also, it fascinates me how variably skin receives pain - like, there was even a different level and quality of pain at various point on my forearm, and that art's only an inch in diameter.

My (thus far) one and only tattoo is on my right calf (which is pretty padded, all things considered). And while I know that it hurt, I remember squeezing my boyfriend's hand a couple of times because it did, my artist's demeanor (and probably skill) makes me remember very little of it. (Or else it was just the new tattoo buzz.)

My tattoo took about 2 1/2 hours to do, and for the first hour or so, it was more tingly and uncomfortable than painful--it felt kind of like dragging a fingernail gently over a sunburn. But as she started going over spots again and again with different colors, that's when it really started to hurt, and by the end, I was more than ready for her to be done :).

I suspect this points to differences in people's experience of pain. I find the first stroke INTENSELY PAINFUL, but most subsequent strokes not that as bad (until a sensitive area gets reached), up to hour 2 or so.

I used almost the exact same description: it was like being scratched repeatedly over a sunburn. Though it never felt gentle... it got painful quickly. Perhaps my reference was a slightly worse sunburn. ;-)

#1 Yes it did hurt, moderately, but hey I like that kind of thing. Shading/filling hurts more then the out lining process but I would compare the experience to being cut with a very sharp thin knife. In translation: a fantastic experience.

#2 I notice the pain only for about 1 hour afterwards and then, it just does not even hurt. :) Wish my back and knee pain worked like that.

I will be in the market for a new tattoo very soon. I want to get something nurse related. Obviously.

NURSE TATTOO SQUEE.

I have a tendency to get rather large areas tattooed, and I think that contributes to the aftercare ache. It didn't happen as much with the little one.

With the arm I've had the whole gamut. This last one, which was not much filling and only black work, felt like a total breeze. But then the two before that were awful and I needed to hold a hand and take breaks and stuff. I do get why people say it's like being scratched by a cat over and over.

A really truly evil cat. Maybe Nic could take up abstract tattooing as a career. Dip his claws in ink. Hee.

I'm always surprised by what hurts and what doesn't. Buddha's head, which is a million tiny strokes right on my spine, hardly hurt at all, but the broad curves on my right side were survived with toe-curling and carefully controlled breathing.

Sure, it hurt, but some of us don't mind that sorta thing. ;)

The after did hurt for a while, but not for a terribly long time unless I bumped it.

Oh, yes. "It hurt, and I LIKED it" or "It hurt, but was strangely transcendent" are answers I totally get. It's the "nope, didn't hurt" response that I don't comprehend, unless it's about small tattoos on padded, exposed areas.

I will never lie and say getting my tat didn't hurt, it jolly well did. The outline hurt, but it was pain I could deal with, it was when the artist started filling in the color at the base of my neck that it got really bad. Lea was holding my hand during the last part, and I sucked her energy because I was in so much pain; it was the only way I could deal with it.

The artist also cleaned the tat with Green Soap while he was cleaning, which hurt more than anything I've ever felt. Green Soap is a bacterial, virucidal surgical soap that kills just about everything, but that shit is not gentle.

Afterwords, I had a pretty fierce ache and burning pain for a few hours. I think the ache came from being tensed up for so long.

I was shaky after my first, probably for the same reason - I'd watched my dad get his done on his , and then got mine. So I was a little worked up.

I felt incredibly drained after being with my mom while she got hers. She got it on the inside of her calf, just a bit above the ankle bone, and she left bloody nail marks in my skin. I got my ear piercing gauged right after and it hurt far more than even my cartilage piecing because I was so shaken up.

Funny bit of trivia, my mother and I share a tattoo artist, and she bought my tattoo.

It depends, for me, on the location of the tattoo, where I am going, who is tattooing me.. etc..

My leg tattoos were all pretty easily, my cupcake tattoo didn't hurt at all (but I was way drunk) my arm pieces hurt to varying degrees depending on how calm I was, and how close they got to my inner arm. The chest piece hurt horribly the whole time. Afterwords usually the muscle is sore for a day, and the skin is a little tender.

Your chest piece is gorgeous, but just looking at your photos when you got it made me wince with pain. I think I had gotten the pomegranate around the same time, and I know how much the work on my lower ribs hurt. I bow to your pain tolerance.

It was hard... my tattooist is one of the nicest folks on earth. She and I share similar music interests, so I couldn't ask for a nicer and safer environment. Still the whole time I thought 'if I just sort of punched her in the face would this stop'
:p

Also, getting the nautili even was a while process.

its funny you posted this now, b/c i just got another tat yesterday. this one hurt in some places more than others (this is on my upper arm, on my fat and shoulder bones too), whihc has been my experience with my other tattoos. once it was done and bandaged, it was sore, but not prickly in any way anymore. i felt like the bandages stabilized my arm and that felt better. this morning, 1/2 hour after its first shower, its definitely sore in more places more than others, and i wouldn't want to scrape it on anything, it just basically feels like i scraped my arm up a bit yesterday and it aches in places. nothing more than that. yesterday was the outline and some black shading - in 3 weeks will be the color, which i have never had before, but i tend to find the outlining easier than the filling in, so i figure it'll be more painful next time.

my worst pain for a tat was on the back of my neck and upper back - the spine area and the artist's technique did not go well together.

My tattoo is on my upper back right up to the base of my neck, and I thought I was going to scream b/c of the pain. I've been told by lots of fellow inked folk that it's one of the most painful areas.

I have a very high pain tolerance - partially due, I'm sure, to having ankle problems and upper back/neck problems for most of my life.

Most of my tattoos didn't really hurt while I was getting them, honestly. They tingled and burned a bit, but they didn't hurt.

One tattoo was very, very painful (the fill colorwork on my backpiece), but that's more because I was in a eating disorder relapse at the time and I was 1) taking appetite suppressants; 2) not eating; 3) dehydrated from the appetite suppressants.

I'm lucky, I guess. It doesn't hurt afterward, not unless I bruised around the tattoo (which happened on my chest and a little toward the inside of my elbow), but I'm lucky. I tattoo well.

Wow. You have a lot of work, in some delicate spots. Not that I'd trade for the things that gave you the pain tolerance in the first place, but you are proving that tattoos in fact don't hurt on some folk.

*nod* Like the tree on my inner arm that goes from armpit to elbow, it didn't hurt at all, which amazed me a little.

I am quite lucky in the tattooing experience - I'm pretty sure I could do rib work quite comfortably.

And, really, I don't have chronic pain, just periodic pain. In that, I'm lucky.

Both my mister and my son told me they think they're very painful- but they both still want more! That's the part I don't get. Why go through that again? I was in pain almost every day with headaches until recently, an I hated it. I wouldn't voluntarily experience bad pain just to have a picture on my skin. My son actually had to take a break during his tattoo and eat some candy. He looked a little woozy. I thought "Good! He won't want more anytime soon. He'll wait until he's old enough not to regret what he chooses." But he's already bothering me for another one! Bee's always wishing we had the money so he could get more. If we had the money for it, I think Bee would have full sleeves. I couldn't take that much pain. I'm a wimp.

I think the process starts like this... you see other people with beautiful art on their bodies. You think wow, I have this image in my head that I want to have with me all the time. Then you go and get it, and the process is whatever degree of exhausting and painful it is for you (this seems to vary greatly). By the end of that process, you've survived something many people wouldn't even try, and you're euphoric with pain. And in another week, this beautiful thing you wanted with you all the time stops itching and swelling... then you think of something ELSE you want. Except now, instead of thinking how much it hurts, what you tend to remember is that you survived it.

I don't know anyone who changed their mind once they were mid-tattoo or had major complications after the fact, but I'm guessing those would be the people who never do it again.

I couldn't understand why people would another either, until I got one. As soon as it healed, I was already planning my next one. I've finally decided on the Rocky Horror lips on my right inner wrist.

It hurts like being cut with a scalpel, the entire time. Some bits hurt worse than others.

People who fall asleep during tattoos baffle me. I have been on 1500+ mg of Vicodin and have started drifting, but I am still undergoing PAIN so no dice.

I started drifting a bit yesterday, and I think if the pain were at a consistent level, I could fall asleep. It's never consistent, though - each tattoo had a second at least that made me think OMFG OW.

Varies wildly based on body part. For me: outer arm (bicep) was tingly to mildly painful; underside of arm very painful. Parts of the foot were bad. Inner wrist was just tingly (this astonished me). Spine = very bad.

Also bad: the underside of the toe. No wonder most people's toe-rings don't go all the way around!

mine (small triangle on the back of my neck, larger sirens on my shoulderblade with lots of shading) hurt. but... the second, larger one, was an amazing experience. it took about 2.5 hours, and the artist was fantatic. like a good SM top, he pushed my limits of pain just past when i thought i would scream, but then he knew when to stop and wipe my shoulder down with a cool towel, and then started just before i thought i was ready, but i was actually ready.

i don't really recall much about the healing period, so it must not have been so traumatizing that it seared itself on my memory.

My tattoos were all accomplished in under a half-hour, so maybe that's key? They honestly rarely hurt much, though they are certainly not painless. After the first few minutes it just feels warm and kinda cat-scratchy, to me.

The short time might be a factor. I've only got one tattoo that took less than an hour. Maybe I should be getting smaller tattoos!

I would never ever use me as a gauge for any type of pain, not that I am lying to you.

I could only take 4 hours of tattooing laying on my side before my body told me it was done. the shaking and cold was awesome.

I am impressed with the 4 hours. Getting tattooed while lying down was hard for me, period, and I was pretty done after 2.5 hours.

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