for my tattooed freaky people...

[keryx]

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]

Comments

[thescissors.livejournal.com]

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 :).

[keryx.livejournal.com]

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.

[turbogrrl.livejournal.com]

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. ;-)