I have questions for those with tattoos

[lightbulbsun]

I have one on my shoulder, and one on my hip. Shoulder was fine until I hit the 3 hour mark, then it started to hurt. Hip only took 15 minutes, and hurt a lot more the day after when I realized I couldn't wear normal pants for a week. I usually have a medium pain tolerance.

No regrets! However, I thought about what I wanted for a while before I got them, so I knew I would be happy with it for a long time. I have been planning my next on for about 6 months, and will probably get it next spring. I like to be sure

[JLV]

I have 8 tattoos on various parts of my body. My wrists hurt the least. My feet and lower back hurt the most. I am a pretty big baby when it comes to pain. It honestly was not too bad. It's like a painful, continuous scratching.

I regret one of my tattoos in terms of how big it is. I should have went smaller and less busy. I have lost and gained weight since having them and they haven't changed much but they aren't really in area that would change.

[AJL]

1) How painful was it and how do you normally handle pain? I am a huge baby about pain. How would you rate it on a pain scale? Be honest with me. It was uncomfortable. It feels like a constant scratching with a very sharp pin that becomes irritating after awhile. I have two tattoos and both are on my forearms. It's a pretty fleshy part of the body and my tats don't go over any protruding bone (like on the wrist or elbow, etc.) One is small. The other large with color work. The most uncomfortable part was the outlining. The nearer to the inside of my elbow the artist got, the more sensitive and painful it was. The small tattoo took 45 minutes. The larger tattoo took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. If you need a break while your artist is working, ask for one. The very, very worst part as far as anticipating the pain was the second before he put needle to skin. After that it is 100% completely manageable.

A word about touch ups: those can hurt like a motherfucker! I had the larger tattoo touched up and essentially the artist is reinjuring healed skin or scarred skin. It was definitely more painful. Just keep that in mind. Again, it's totally manageable but while I'll say that the initial tat didn't hurt, the touch up did.

2) Do you ever have any regrets about getting tats? Do you think you will ever get sick of having them? I've had my pieces for three years and no regrets so far. I really like them. I guess only time will tell if I will regret them.

The big one -


The small one -

[OG Jo]

No "regrats."  I made a deal with myself in college that I would wait until I was 30 and if I still wanted one, I would go for it.  I am a major pain wimp and tolerated mine very well.  Both are very meaningful for me.  I got them both in areas that can be shown but are covered 99% of the time with normal clothing... 

I think if I had gotten a tramp stamp of a butterfly when I was 18 then I would 100% regret it.  If it's meaningful to you, I don't think regrets come into play. 

ETA:  No offense to anyone who loves their butterfly tramp stamp.

My first one was on my FUPA/hip area.  It definitely hurt more when they got closer to the hip bone, but it was not intolerable.

My second was on my ribs and was more painful, but I just kept breathing through it and my artist is really good at keeping up the chatter and putting me at ease.

[Deleted]

Aug 13, 2016 16:12:06 GMT -5 blondemoment123 said:

I have one on my foot that I got 7 years ago and i still love it. It definitely hurt, but I didn't tear up or cry from the pain and I'm a whimp when I'm hurting lol

I do not have any tattoos but have always wanted one on my foot. I feel like I cannot commit to something though. Based on responses that this hurts more than elsewhere makes me even more wary, :-P

[OG Jo]

Aug 14, 2016 18:38:56 GMT -5 @bigredgum said:

Aug 13, 2016 16:12:06 GMT -5 blondemoment123 said:

I have one on my foot that I got 7 years ago and i still love it. It definitely hurt, but I didn't tear up or cry from the pain and I'm a whimp when I'm hurting lol

I do not have any tattoos but have always wanted one on my foot. I feel like I cannot commit to something though. Based on responses that this hurts more than elsewhere makes me even more wary, :-P

My artist won't tatt certain areas on the foot because of how quickly they wear.  Just something to think about. 

[Deleted]

Also, getting a tat over a birthmark (slightly larger than a quarter) is probably a bad idea? I am super fair skinned but have a brown splatter birthmark on my leg. I'm less self conscious than when I was younger, but it's still annoying. My step-grandma used to ask me when I would get it removed when I was a teen.

[LoveTrains]

I actually got one today! It's on my hip and upper thigh. I would give it at 6 out of 10 on the pain scale but I have an extremely low pain tolerance.

[BaliHai]

Aug 13, 2016 15:47:20 GMT -5 RoxMonster said:

1) How painful was it and how do you normally handle pain? I am a huge baby about pain. How would you rate it on a pain scale? Be honest with me.

2) Do you ever have any regrets about getting tats? Do you think you will ever get sick of having them?

1. I have 7, and the one that hurt the most is on my right side, lower back. The rest were painful, but not nauseatingly so - unlike my back. My wrist tattoos hurt the least.

2. I have two I regret and one I plan on getting covered up, but it's not like I can't bear to look at myself, lol. I was young and dumb when I got my first two, and those are the two I regret. They're on my hips though, so no one ever sees them besides me and H.

I want to get at least three more, so I don't regret being tattooed at all. I just wish I'd made better choices.

[blondemoment123]

Aug 14, 2016 18:38:56 GMT -5 @bigredgum said:

Aug 13, 2016 16:12:06 GMT -5 blondemoment123 said:

I have one on my foot that I got 7 years ago and i still love it. It definitely hurt, but I didn't tear up or cry from the pain and I'm a whimp when I'm hurting lol

I do not have any tattoos but have always wanted one on my foot. I feel like I cannot commit to something though. Based on responses that this hurts more than elsewhere makes me even more wary, :-P

Don't get me wrong, it hurt but definitely wasn't unbearable.

[lexxasaurus]

I always find these interesting in the places that people find worst/easiest. Whoever mentioned back of the leg - I have one with a portion over my Achilles and that hurt like a mother. Just so weird how different people with different areas of the body process pain.

Regardless, OP, if it gets to the point where the only thing making you unsure is pain- I promise you can breathe and get through it.

[boxertdog]

I have 4. Varying sizes. Got the first rather large one at 18 and most recent about 2 months ago, I'm 38. Recent is on my forearm near the elbow bend. I got matching designs on each hip bone right above underwear/swimsuit line. I was pregnant twice and they didn't really stretch out or get ruined. All my tattoos represent very special times for me. I don't regret any of them. They hurt but as PP's said, more / less in different spots. The wording on my forearm barely had time to hurt and it was finished.

[mrsukyankee]

I have one on my right ankle. It's a perfect placement because it can be hidden or shown, and honestly, most people don't even know I have a tattoo because they rarely look at my ankles (I had a kid I was working with for 4 years and she didn't notice until 1 month before she graduated - I rarely covered it).

It felt like a razor blade cut but only took about 20 minutes to do. And it hurt most on the bone areas. It wasn't that bad. I'd get more if my H didn't hate them.  I got mine 17 years ago (at age 30) and I love it and will love it for life.  It has meaning for me.

[Captain Catnip]

The best way I've been able to describe the feeling is imagine an awful sunburn and then use the heavy spray nozzle on a garden hose against it. Stinging/burning. I relax during them. I have a full back piece, my ankle, wrist, and foot done. Getting one behind my ear soon.

[esdreturns]

I have one on my lower leg. I liken the pain to waxing almost. It feels similar to when you are plucking hairs, IMO. Mine took 4.5 hours and I was completely fine for the first 4 lol. I'm getting a 2nd one up my side in a week and I fully expect that to hurt more than my leg did.

If you really want one and are worried about the pain, most places have a numbing spray.

I have zero regrets about my tattoo.

[brooke77]

I have a lower back tattoo - tramp stamp - it wasn't too painful.  I'm guessing due to the placement, it did feel like my entire back was getting tattoo'd because the needles were going into nerve endings shooting up my whole back.  All in all, not the worst pain of my life.

I regret it and would like to get it removed.  I checked into laser removal and it will cost about $1000 for the package.  My tattoo is about 2 inches by 2 inches and black.  It is really deep I guess and hasn't faded at all since I got it 15 years ago.  With removal, it's not guaranteed they can totally get rid of it (it might just fade), so I haven't gone forward with the removal yet.

I've gained and lost weight (30 lbs) since I got it when I was 18.  It hasn't changed.  It's probably best to get it in an area where the skin doesn't stretch and make sure it's something you love.

[duff]

Like others have said, the pain is totally subjective. I always describe it as someone taking sandpaper to the same area of your skin, over and over again. It's more of an irritation than a real "pain."

I have a very colorful one on my forearm and the only part that made me wince was up on my inner wrist, but it was over pretty quickly. The one on my shoulder is the one I was scared for, but it was perfectly fine. I had a harder time sitting still for 3+ hours than actually getting it done.

I have several more scattered across my back, behind my ear, and on my foot and all of them were okay.

ETA pics because I'm a massive AW.

Shoulder:



Forearm:

[berbles]

My artist had a sign at his station that said, "Yes, they all hurt."

But the pain is temporary, and the art lasts forever!

I refuse to tattoo any areas that are susceptible to weight gain, which means they're all in painful locations. The worst for me was probably around my elbow. I would have bet all my money he was on the tip of my elbow, but he wasn't. Nerves are weird.

I was surprised when I got my rib tattoos. I was expecting MUCH worse pain. They didn't feel great, but I was expecting worse. The hardest part was actually the position he made me lie in for 2 hours. My leg kept cramping. Also, he had to keep reminding me to stop holding my breath: "I can adjust to your breathing. I can't adjust to you passing out."

I have been tattooed 3 times (2 the first time, 2 the second time, 1 that built onto one of the first ones) and have at least 4 more sessions planned. But my artist took his own life last year so I'm searching for someone.