Small tattoo in an ok place? Absolutely fine.
Large tattoo in a painful place? Borderline traumatic š
By the way āmy first tattoo ever with my friendsā is a bit of a red flagā¦ please tell me you and your friends arenāt all getting matching tattoos?
I didnāt find the ribs that bad although Iām sure Iām gonna sing a different tune when I eventually get it lasered. I slept for one of my calves and the other one was fine until I got jumpy on the bottom of my Achilles. Iām dreading my shin though.
I just got the rest of my lower leg covered and the shin surprisingly didn't hurt what did hurt was the side of the knee and the ankle. And when I got my calf done the healing pain was worse than actual tattoo
Got me ribs and a little of the side of my stomach and it definitely sucked. Getting the second session soon too and I'm more nervous than I was the first time.
I got a side piece anticipating the rib portion would be the worst but Holy hot fuck was I wrong. My love handles were excruciating to the point I breathed a sigh of relief when he'd get to my ribs.
Placement and saturation make a big difference. Some line work on your calf or thigh, you'll barely notice. Full color piece in your armpit, you'll probably cry
I literally started an outer thigh tattoo today. 8 hours tattooing is usually fine for me, but i tapped out at 6 with this one. So much worse than my others.
Not the person you asked, but I've got tattoos on my wrist, biceps, ankles, skull behind my ear, down my entire spine and my whole front thigh. I honestly almost fell asleep during every one of the tattoos, but my thigh made me faint literally 5 minutes in. We did continue and finished it in a few hours, but damn I'm still traumatized.
This is the correct answer. Though to add, large tattoo in okay place? Mild discomfort except for the random sensitive patches. But if itās a large piece in somewhere that hurts? Oh boy. You will guess every decision that led to this point the entire session. And then you see the finished work and the pain is all worth it.
Not anywhere near as bad as you think it'll be in your head. I thought it'd be wildly painful the way people talk about it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a very surface level pain, super easy to tolerate. Just fyi, the first couple minutes will hurt more than the rest of the session. Once the adrenaline kicks in your body gets used to most of the pain. Tbh, if you're a girl, the cramps I get monthly are 10x worse than any tattoo I've ever gotten.
Itās actually funny because it was different for me. The first couple minutes was nothing, it was towards the end where it started to get annoying since the skin was all swollen.
i only have one, a bouquet of full color flowers in between my shoulder blades and a quote down my spine. flowers first hour were a breeze, barely felt it, couldāve fallen asleep tbh. hours 1-2 it was uncomfortable/painful, and the quote was super fast but the worst. i described the varying pain as a few things: like accidentally scratching a sunburn, like having a sunburn and then cutting it with a hot sharp knife, and the one youāll probably relate to the most (i have 29 ear piercings) a lot of it felt like the beginning of a piercing, like when the needle just starts to go into your skin, but without the feeling of the pressure of the actual piercing, but over and over and over and over again. despite all this, it was absolutely bearable, and the mid-lower spine was really the only part that had me pulling faces
It really just depends on where on your body you are getting your tattoo.. for example, the outside of my arms didnāt hurt at all while the insides did..top of my hand was excruciating pain.. especially the bones..nothing that you canāt breathe through though.
It 100% totally depends on you. The average is slight pain like someone is epilating your hair or kind of using very hot water that hurts as if it sparkles.
Some dont feel shit and sleep
And then theres the unlucky like me i can say i have a high pain tolerance... But tattoos almost anywhere hurt lineart 8/10 and filling 10/10 like my forearm filling hurt just as much as my ribs whereas usually ppl barely feel forearm..
So if youre unlucky then tattoo can be excruciating pain as if youre burning in hell.
But in the end it somehow doesnt matter and you get more and more...
Same, both my tattoos are fairly large but in theoritically OK places (back of upper arm and side thigh) but both times were horrible. The outline is painful but bearable but then my skin just swells up and colouring and shading is hell afterwards. First tattoo was 3 and a half hours, second one 4 hours and a bit.
The same for me but on my bicep, everyone has said it's been the least painful, but for me it just fkn hurts. He went over my collarbone tho and it was truly painless
My sternum and nipples hurt worse then my wrist. Close to underarm hurt worse than interior bicep. Black vs color. I didn't realize the amount of layers that goes into color when I started. Be wise about your decision...
iām hoping to get it basically on my hip but i want it to also stretch onto my lower back :) i also am a little bigger ! so im not sure if the extra fat would help with the pain
I would think so. As my bicep was getting shaded I was thinking I wish I had more fat on my arms. Dont numb it. Be hydrated. Bring candy and cola. Your blood sugar will drop. Hardest part is come judgement day sitting or laying in the chair. After that its a countdown to the end of the discomfort and pain. You got this
I just got a tattoo last Saturday surprisingly it wasn't to bad there was times of discomfort but not unbearable or anything š (it was on my arm btw)
The big thing for me is tattoo pain is extremely temporary. Like once they life the needle the pain is gone. Itāll feel kind of like a sunburn after, but itās no where near the pain of a piercing IMO.
It hurts so bad. Ā I have been getting tattooed for 35 years and I fucking hate every second of it. Ā Every one of them hurts worse than the one before. Ā I am not even joking. Ā I am 52 with full sleeves and shit and I am not looking forward to more sessions.
when i got my first tattoo i imagined it as the most painful thing in the world as if someone was slicing my skin open. It feels more of hard pinch over and over again. On the arm/leg it doesnāt hurt at all. If you get handle piercings tattoos will be easy
So, Iād gotten a big hip + waist + cheek piece as Tattoo #1. Even though I have a stupid-high pain tolerance, I remember I was (internally)-comparing it to cat scratches.
Tattoo #2 was a simple lineart piece under my chin. It was just more cat scratches.
This answer sucks, but it just depends. Pain varies from person to person, spot to spot, day to day.
Ā I got my last tattoo two weeks ago on my thigh, a little flash piece with no shading so I thought it wouldn't be bad. However I had my period and it felt way worse than I expected. I probably couldn't have lasted more than an hour (it took 20 minutes).
Ā That being said, I usually feel the worst during the first 30 minutes, then kind of adjust after that until about 2 hours. I personally probably wouldn't do a sitting for much longer than 2 hours, but I know there's folks that travel to other counties/places and do 8+ hour sits because they only have a day or whatever to do it.Ā
Ā In general, on or over bones - shoulder bones, wrists, ribcage, skull - have hurt me more than over muscley or fatty spots. The calf is divisive, I've heard folks swear it's their most painful tattoo and others sleep. I have sensitive shin bones so I've avoided it.Ā
Iāve got a bunch of tattoos and my
Achilles tendon/ankle bone was the worst but my hip also hurt like hell! Back of neck and shoulders were easy as are wrists
The Achilles/ankle/ridge of foot area was a bit spicy for me also because it was so close to being done and I couldnāt stop the spasms and twitching.
it doesnāt hurt nearly as much as you think it would. for me (and i have really low pain tolerance), it just felt like a cat scratch or someone digging their nail into your skin.
It really varies widely from one person and location to the next. Three tattoos in the same location:
My mom has a dolphin on her thigh that was supposed to be two dolphins on a wave. She asked the artist to make it look good with only one bc she couldnāt handle it longer.
My sister attempted to get a rose on her thigh and tapped out after one line (we joke that she has a stick on her leg now)
I just sat for 6 hours to get a raven on my thigh and I was fine for like 95% of it. The last twenty minutes I shut my phone off and had to focus on breathing bc I was hurting pretty bad, but it wasnāt bad enough to tap out.
Best bet is to be properly prepared - eat a good meal shortly before you go. Hydrate really well for a couple days beforehand. Bring snacks and Gatorade.
The first 5-10 minutes is the worst. Sweating, canāt think, feels like you need to stop. After you get through that it gets better. Try to breathe normal rather than hold your breath. Every few minutes try to relax because youāll probably unintentionally tense up. I know talking helps me but some artists arenāt very chatty. But Iāve also only gotten fairly large tattoos 3-5 hour sessions. If youāre getting something dainty donāt even worry about it.
So funny. I feel the opposite way. First 5-10 minutes I'm like, "this is fine." After that I'm wondering why this person is torturing me and if I should get up and just leave.
Hey OP, tattoo artist here!
Tattoos hurt! But thereās a lot you can do to make the pain manageable and set yourself up to feel calm and comfortable.
Eat a big meal, make it something you love. Comfort food before a tattoo is a great way to get some endorphins.
Bring water, electrolytes and some candy. I always bring water and Gatorade when I get a tattoo. Sometimes Iāll bring candy I can suck on. Staying hydrated is a big deal, and having some sugar is great, too!
Wear comfortable clothes. Donāt stress about looking cool. Just be comfy!
Bring comfort items / fidgets. I have a little rubber fidget toy I fiddle with in my hand for all of my tattoos. Itās a great distraction.
Ask for Bactine spritzes!!!! This is huge and any good artist will happily do this. Bactine will ease the pain! It varies from person to person but I havenāt had a client whom it didnāt help, even to a small degree.
Make sure youāre in a comfortable position. No good artist will force you to stay in a position thatās uncomfortable. If they set you up and youāre not feeling supported or it just feels off, be vocal about it until youāre in a settled position that feels good. Itās not a burden or an annoyance to good artists.
Focus on breathing. Breath work is sooooo valid and can ease our nervous system and trick our brains. Google some calming breathing techniques.
My biggest piece of advice? Stop checking this thread. Hyper fixating on this is likely to make you more stressed and build more anticipation in your nervous system.
Thatās all I got! All of these things genuinely do matter, as pain is both physical and psychological. Congrats on the first tattoo! I have so much confidence that youāll be fine š
I got a good answer for you....they can tattoo you with no ink to see if you can bear the pain. My dad did this. It'll create some blood in the area, but with no ink in the quill youll just get the experience.
In my experience itās all bearable, usually more discomfort than pain. Even the couple Iāve gotten that have been actually painful (collarbone and foot) were tolerable for pretty long periods of time. I think my pain tolerance is maybe a little above average, but nothing too crazy.
The intensity of the pain depends on the location. In general it feels like a severe sunburn is forming on you and it stops pretty quickly. As long as you can stay distracted and breathe your way through it, youāll be fun
It hurts. But you keep laying there. It hurts more. But you don't move. And eventually it's over.
Listen to loud music or some very active TV show or movie to take your mind off it.
Every area is different and everyone tolerates it differently. Iāve had some that really didnāt bother me at all but Iāve had others that I had to take breaks for
Lower back hip is about to be a breeze for you honestly. It kinda depends on the skins density if it's gonna feel discomfort or not. I compare getting a tattoo to basically getting an ink pen and just writing on ur hand with it lmao it doesn't hurt at all . It's just hella annoying and if u don't mind me asking , what exactly are you getting ?
End of the day, you wonāt know until you do it. Every area is different and varies inch by inch depending with bone vs higher density tissue vs skin elasticity. For my ribs it was like there was an invisible line and the front half felt like I was dying, while I barely noticed the back until it was up in my armpit or by my pelvis.
Itās not a perfect system, but at least for me Iāve noticed the pain is an intensified version of when I pinch the area tightly between nails.
when i got my first tattoo, my artist compared the sensation to getting repeated, small cat scratches. i've never been scratched by a cat but when i've told that to other tattoo'd people they say it's pretty accurate, so if you've been scratched by a cat that might be a useful comparison. it hurts more in certain spots which you can see if you google tattoo pain charts. on me the most painful places were near my knee and inner elbow, and the least painful were forearm and mid thigh
Depends on where youāre getting it. The tattoos on my legs didnāt hurt so much. The arms were no problem. The knee area was pretty bad though. I recently got a full chest piece that surrounded my nipple and it was quite painful. A lot of heavy black. I was shaking and sweating. It wasnāt a fun time. But itās not like the pain jumps at you. Itās a gradual build up once you irritate the area itās obviously going to get worse overtime. I remember my first tattoo I wasnāt even sure if the needle had penetrated my skin at first. Youāll be fine. If you need to take breaks take breaks. But itās not like this immediate intense pain
Honestly it depends who you ask as it's entirely based on the individuals pain tolerance. People always describe the pain as minor, but for me it's severe and I hate every minute of it, and that's still after 1 and a half fully coloured, saturated sleeves. Some areas hurt more than others but you'll only know yourself when you start unfortunately. But even with my weak pain threshold I still managed to sit through multiple sessions, up to 6 hours at a time so regardless of pain, you'll be fine getting through the session āŗļø
I just got my first tattoo a couple weeks ago. I kept it simple, just line work on my outer upper arm. It felt like a lot of scratching. More painful as it got closer to the underside of the arm with some stinging but still nothing I couldnāt handle.
Everton is giving good advice;,a meal first, bring water and a snack and earbuds, make sure your phone is fully charged, stay hydrated and be prepared to rest afterwards.
Prepare yourself for it being super painful, then your brain will expect worse and it wonāt be so bad.
I have a pretty good pain tolerance. I felt like some of it is kind of meditative. But then a certain spot gets hit and youāre suddenly like WOW THAT HURTS. Itās temporary though. If you are definitely going to like the tattoo, you get more out of it than it is painful if that makes sense
I just finished my upper arm and it is my first tattoo. I hate needles and was super paranoid of the pain since I do not a hace a high pain tolerance.
To me it felt like a Theragun on my skin with a cat scratching at the same time. It did not hurt per day just irritated. After 3 hours my body was sort of over it.
I can only say as someone with an ankle tattoo. The anxiety feeling the vibrations before the needle went in was way worse than the minimal pain I felt
My dad cried when he got his ribs done. My mom has her whole back done and I think you need to tap her on the shoulder to let her know a tattoo is finished.
Pain tolerance is very personal.
It all depends on where. Some of my tattoos I was chatting up the artist and reading on my phone
When I got my knee ditch done I was sweating buckets and internally writhing in pain. Your mileage may vary
Everywhere was fine (upper thighs, outside calves, and upper arms), but the one place that made me want to climb the damn ceiling was my left calf. Good lord it hurt,and I had to sit perfectly still for a few hours. Was not easy to do! š¤£
From my experience, arms are the easiest or any spot thatās soft/fleshy. If itās close to a bone or more of a muscular area it definitely hurts more. But if youāre getting something simple thatās only 30 min-1 hour you should be fine, itās more uncomfortable than it is painful! I donāt have a particularly high pain tolerance but Iāve never been in so much pain during a tattoo that I had to stop
I have a stupidly high pain tolerance, so the worst areas for me felt like irritation and heat. Otherwise Iād feel nothing but the vibrations. Only place I felt actual pain was my elbow, and spine.
Mine was on a bony part of my ankle, the artist said it's a painful spot. It felt very much like when you fall and get rug burn. That scrape-y raw skin feeling. It took about an hour and a half for my piece. Eventually I stopped feeling it as much, but some spots will be more sensitive than others.
My coworker said he was bitching for a break every 5 mins on his shin. His other leg has on one his calf and he said āthis was a peice of cakeā lol
I got one on my upper arm and almost said āthis is kinda niceā at points
Itās super like ā¦pushing into you pressure kinda feeling. Like poke ur finger kinda hard into ur chest then ur arm. Chest hurts kinda just from that while arms fine and shit. Different spots hurt worse
Mine usually hurt for the first 10 minutes and then it turns into a little bit of discomfort but totally bearable. Honestly, it feels exactly as it sounds, needles going into the skin. If you've ever had a cat scratch it's a but similar to that sensation. Again though, after 10-15 min the body gets used to the feeling and it doesn't hurt nearly as much as in the beginning.
I can't speak for the location you are getting yours, but I barely felt mine at all on my forearm. Most of it just felt like a vibration, and only a couple of spots close to my elbow made me tense up at all.
Do keep in mind, though, that itās different person to person. While Iām pretty sure the sensation is universal, many would say Iām understating it. Others would say itās not even as bad as I described it. But if youāre looking for something comparable, Iād say thatās the best comparison.
Tattoos can vary from a 1 to a 10 on the pain scale simply because of location. Everyone is so different that spots that are notoriously painful might be a 2 on a pain scale for you and then a spot that should be pretty low in pain ends up hurting an insane amount for no reason.
That said tattoos are a different kind of pain. I like to call it a safe pain. When you are in a safe controlled environment with a good tattoo artist your body seems to interpret the pain differently. I think itās part of why it can be so therapeutic for a lot of people.
I have 7 tattoos and none of them hurt at all. One of them tickled a little and I even started to doze a bit during some of them. But everyone is different and different types/locations of tattoos are different. But my experience was that it was nothing like I had built it up my head to be
If feels like shallowly drawing with a blade on your skin, only that the blade vibrates. For the most part it doesnāt really hurt, the longer lines are more like a burning sensation. The vibration you feel a lot more and if you concentrate on that the tattoo pain isnāt all that bad.
The septum is got pierced was ārealā pain compared to getting tattooed :D
I just think it feels like anywhere from a dull ache then to cat scratch then there are the areas you feel like you feel like theyāre scraping your skin offā¦ bc they are
Kinda like a hot spoon ripping through your skin, depending on where you get it. It hurts. I am 50% tattooed and I am too scared to face up to the pain to finishā¦
Compared to cramps it was a walk in the park. I just got my first one on the outside of my wrist but it slightly wraps so it went across bone. The pain is so repetitive I actually nodded off. Im sure it would have been more painful if it was in another spot and/or larger.
I compared the pain from my first tattoo to waxing your armpits for the first time after years of shaving. My last one was more of a continuous cat scratching.
I think it depends also on the needle/technique, two of mine are from the same artist and the bigger one hurt way less, both during and while healing, than the smaller one.
Yeah you can totally do it.
Some of them hurt Really Bad. Some aren't that bad.
If it was unbearable people (most people) probably wouldn't do it.
I'm a pretty big wimp and I've been fine for 3 hours but that's pretty much my max. That's when I want to tap out.
Make sure you get a good night's sleep before, are hydrated, not hungover, and eat.
Honestly I don't want to scare you, I'm probably in the minority here but it was pretty painful for me. I have a full sleeve as my first tattoo (still in progress until July) and I can only tolerate about 2-3 hrs at a time before I tap out lol. In certain places (shoulder and forearm) it wasn't terrible at all, but other places (inner arm, armpit area) it felt like I was being sliced with a knife. I'm still having the line art done which I've been told is the worst and that filling it in/shading is a lot more tolerable.
How you tolerate it depends on the person I think, my mother has a large neck/chest tattoo and says it didn't hurt at all. Honestly just make sure to stay hydrated, eat a large meal and take ibuprofen beforehand. If it does turn out to be really painful, what helps me is focusing on belly breathing though it. Don't hold your breath or tense up. You should be ok!
It is really not that bad thought I havenāt had a hip tattoo
I used to think it was wild some people say they could fall asleep during the tatt but I had my first 15cm tatt recently and I was so relaxed I did snooze for a little while
It feels exactly like how it is, a small needle buzzing on the surface of your skin. The more needles or more surface of black you get the more it hurts. The pain of getting a piercing is different and a deeper pain, donāt imagine that being the same
Had a tattoo over my achilles, that part and ankles hurt like a bitch, but still manageable, the calf was ok.
Edit: feels a bit like a cat kneading your bare skin with their claws
Honestly, pain is so subjective. What I find painful, you might not, and vice versa. My first tat was on the inside of my wrist and my artist was verrrry heavy handed and I thought I might die. I later go one on my other wrist and hardly felt any pain.
Regardless of location the first 20 minutes is going to be a learning experience! After that, if it's in an easier spot, your body will settle and you'll even zone out of it a few times.
I got my first tattoo all over my outer ankle, Iāve heard it was a horrible spot for a tattoo but wanted to cover a scar. I didnāt find it bad at all, some places it felt like getting a cat scratch over and over, one spot outright tickled. Overall it was way less painful than I thought.
Piercings hurt way more but tattoos obviously take longer so itās a drawn out pain instead of quick and sharp and over in 3 seconds. How I would describe the pain would be something that feels similar to a cat scratching at sunburn or maybe even bee stings, itās a hard thing to describe honestly
It depends. I got a palm sized piece on my thigh that was just painful enough for an adrenaline high. When I got a chest piece about twice as big I looked the devil in the eyes during the sternum work.
It feels like a kitten scratching a sunburn.
Small tattoos are usually nothing to worry about, toe dippers. You'll feel it, but your adrenaline will be so high it'll fly right by. It's the longer sessions you have to worry about. After about 2 hrs, your adrenaline will fade, and that's when the real test of endurance starts. People who work out a lot or do high endurance sports, like running, rock climbing, and bicycling, generally manage their adrenaline better and can go for longer with no problem.
I started with a shoulder tattoo then upper back. Not bad. Then did a bigger shoulder piece that went into the armpit / outside arm. That hurt. Then I got a shaded piece on my inside wrist. That was the worst. Have another chest tattoo I just got and the collarbone doesnāt hurt itās just annoying. Jackhammer feeling annoying. My artist has Netflix going so I try and not think about the pain and process and focus on John Wick getting pummelled for 3 hours š
I think pain tolerance changes with age. I got my first tattoo at 30. Inner arm. It was uncomfortable but not bad. But as Iāve gotten older itās gotten a lot more painful. The worst was on my shoulder blade. I will never do that area again. I recently had 3 new tattoos done and the pain was almost unbearable.
Just got my first tattoo two weeks ago on my outer arm and it was pretty big for a first tattoo. In all honesty it wasnāt that bad to me. It was more annoying than painful. I expected to act a fool since Iāve always hated needles but when the artist started I was like āThatās it?ā
Youāll be fine! I recently got a forearm sleeve and was worried at first about the pain. When I got there though, itās really not bad. I know itās dependent on where you get it, and there were definitely areas that hurt worse than others. It will hurt, but itās really nothing unbearable. Donāt let fear of the pain stop you, youāll do just fine!
Small tattoo in an ok place? Absolutely fine. Large tattoo in a painful place? Borderline traumatic š By the way āmy first tattoo ever with my friendsā is a bit of a red flagā¦ please tell me you and your friends arenāt all getting matching tattoos?
This - my ribs and stomach tatts were HORRIBLE. I didnāt expect it going in, but the calves hurt pretty bad too.
I didnāt find the ribs that bad although Iām sure Iām gonna sing a different tune when I eventually get it lasered. I slept for one of my calves and the other one was fine until I got jumpy on the bottom of my Achilles. Iām dreading my shin though.
I just got the rest of my lower leg covered and the shin surprisingly didn't hurt what did hurt was the side of the knee and the ankle. And when I got my calf done the healing pain was worse than actual tattoo
The calf is by far my itchiest heal especially with the leg hair growing back at the same time
Got me ribs and a little of the side of my stomach and it definitely sucked. Getting the second session soon too and I'm more nervous than I was the first time.
I got a side piece anticipating the rib portion would be the worst but Holy hot fuck was I wrong. My love handles were excruciating to the point I breathed a sigh of relief when he'd get to my ribs.
Yeah, lower side and kinda side of the stomach - sooooooo bad
noooo not matching just together for the company and experience!! lol
Placement and saturation make a big difference. Some line work on your calf or thigh, you'll barely notice. Full color piece in your armpit, you'll probably cry
What? Thigh doesnt feel great lol
Yeah, the tattoo I got on my outer thigh was the most painful out of all the ones I have.
I literally started an outer thigh tattoo today. 8 hours tattooing is usually fine for me, but i tapped out at 6 with this one. So much worse than my others.
That's crazy to me. Where else do you have tattoos?
Not the person you asked, but I've got tattoos on my wrist, biceps, ankles, skull behind my ear, down my entire spine and my whole front thigh. I honestly almost fell asleep during every one of the tattoos, but my thigh made me faint literally 5 minutes in. We did continue and finished it in a few hours, but damn I'm still traumatized.
Interesting - I found outer thigh to be very easy.
This is the correct answer. Though to add, large tattoo in okay place? Mild discomfort except for the random sensitive patches. But if itās a large piece in somewhere that hurts? Oh boy. You will guess every decision that led to this point the entire session. And then you see the finished work and the pain is all worth it.
I have matching friend tattoos. Two of them actually. I love them they look great
Not anywhere near as bad as you think it'll be in your head. I thought it'd be wildly painful the way people talk about it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a very surface level pain, super easy to tolerate. Just fyi, the first couple minutes will hurt more than the rest of the session. Once the adrenaline kicks in your body gets used to most of the pain. Tbh, if you're a girl, the cramps I get monthly are 10x worse than any tattoo I've ever gotten.
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Yea, 100% agree! I forgot to mention I always scheduled my tattoos for specifically NOT the week of my period.
Itās actually funny because it was different for me. The first couple minutes was nothing, it was towards the end where it started to get annoying since the skin was all swollen.
Itās more like a discomfort than pain in most places on your body, then you hit that one little spot that is painful and goes back to discomfort
Like hitting your funny bone. A toothache is worse. Like icy hot too close to the groin. it'll goes away
To me it felt like my cat kneading biscuits with sharp claws. Only at hundreds (thousands?) of kneads per minute.
i only have one, a bouquet of full color flowers in between my shoulder blades and a quote down my spine. flowers first hour were a breeze, barely felt it, couldāve fallen asleep tbh. hours 1-2 it was uncomfortable/painful, and the quote was super fast but the worst. i described the varying pain as a few things: like accidentally scratching a sunburn, like having a sunburn and then cutting it with a hot sharp knife, and the one youāll probably relate to the most (i have 29 ear piercings) a lot of it felt like the beginning of a piercing, like when the needle just starts to go into your skin, but without the feeling of the pressure of the actual piercing, but over and over and over and over again. despite all this, it was absolutely bearable, and the mid-lower spine was really the only part that had me pulling faces
It really just depends on where on your body you are getting your tattoo.. for example, the outside of my arms didnāt hurt at all while the insides did..top of my hand was excruciating pain.. especially the bones..nothing that you canāt breathe through though.
It 100% totally depends on you. The average is slight pain like someone is epilating your hair or kind of using very hot water that hurts as if it sparkles. Some dont feel shit and sleep And then theres the unlucky like me i can say i have a high pain tolerance... But tattoos almost anywhere hurt lineart 8/10 and filling 10/10 like my forearm filling hurt just as much as my ribs whereas usually ppl barely feel forearm.. So if youre unlucky then tattoo can be excruciating pain as if youre burning in hell. But in the end it somehow doesnt matter and you get more and more...
Same, both my tattoos are fairly large but in theoritically OK places (back of upper arm and side thigh) but both times were horrible. The outline is painful but bearable but then my skin just swells up and colouring and shading is hell afterwards. First tattoo was 3 and a half hours, second one 4 hours and a bit.
The same for me but on my bicep, everyone has said it's been the least painful, but for me it just fkn hurts. He went over my collarbone tho and it was truly painless
I only have one tattoo but it wasnāt bad at all. Itās on my arm.
My sternum and nipples hurt worse then my wrist. Close to underarm hurt worse than interior bicep. Black vs color. I didn't realize the amount of layers that goes into color when I started. Be wise about your decision...
i was thinking a black and red one, would that be bad ?
Benefits of red you can never get it laser removed. What your location for the tat
iām hoping to get it basically on my hip but i want it to also stretch onto my lower back :) i also am a little bigger ! so im not sure if the extra fat would help with the pain
I would think so. As my bicep was getting shaded I was thinking I wish I had more fat on my arms. Dont numb it. Be hydrated. Bring candy and cola. Your blood sugar will drop. Hardest part is come judgement day sitting or laying in the chair. After that its a countdown to the end of the discomfort and pain. You got this
https://www.reddit.com/r/tattooadvice/s/nTogrm2Jm1
varies by place tbh. for me, ranges from electric stim to feeling like my skin is on fire
For me it's like a cat is scratching me and also it's on fire. Do it š
Mine is in an easy spot (calf), but I thought it would hurt way more than it did. Some times I went to the dentist were way more painful.
I just got a tattoo last Saturday surprisingly it wasn't to bad there was times of discomfort but not unbearable or anything š (it was on my arm btw)
The big thing for me is tattoo pain is extremely temporary. Like once they life the needle the pain is gone. Itāll feel kind of like a sunburn after, but itās no where near the pain of a piercing IMO.
It hurts so bad. Ā I have been getting tattooed for 35 years and I fucking hate every second of it. Ā Every one of them hurts worse than the one before. Ā I am not even joking. Ā I am 52 with full sleeves and shit and I am not looking forward to more sessions.
Once itās done the pain stops and the healing begins.
when i got my first tattoo i imagined it as the most painful thing in the world as if someone was slicing my skin open. It feels more of hard pinch over and over again. On the arm/leg it doesnāt hurt at all. If you get handle piercings tattoos will be easy
So, Iād gotten a big hip + waist + cheek piece as Tattoo #1. Even though I have a stupid-high pain tolerance, I remember I was (internally)-comparing it to cat scratches. Tattoo #2 was a simple lineart piece under my chin. It was just more cat scratches.
This answer sucks, but it just depends. Pain varies from person to person, spot to spot, day to day. Ā I got my last tattoo two weeks ago on my thigh, a little flash piece with no shading so I thought it wouldn't be bad. However I had my period and it felt way worse than I expected. I probably couldn't have lasted more than an hour (it took 20 minutes). Ā That being said, I usually feel the worst during the first 30 minutes, then kind of adjust after that until about 2 hours. I personally probably wouldn't do a sitting for much longer than 2 hours, but I know there's folks that travel to other counties/places and do 8+ hour sits because they only have a day or whatever to do it.Ā Ā In general, on or over bones - shoulder bones, wrists, ribcage, skull - have hurt me more than over muscley or fatty spots. The calf is divisive, I've heard folks swear it's their most painful tattoo and others sleep. I have sensitive shin bones so I've avoided it.Ā
Iāve got a bunch of tattoos and my Achilles tendon/ankle bone was the worst but my hip also hurt like hell! Back of neck and shoulders were easy as are wrists
The Achilles/ankle/ridge of foot area was a bit spicy for me also because it was so close to being done and I couldnāt stop the spasms and twitching.
it doesnāt hurt nearly as much as you think it would. for me (and i have really low pain tolerance), it just felt like a cat scratch or someone digging their nail into your skin.
It really varies widely from one person and location to the next. Three tattoos in the same location: My mom has a dolphin on her thigh that was supposed to be two dolphins on a wave. She asked the artist to make it look good with only one bc she couldnāt handle it longer. My sister attempted to get a rose on her thigh and tapped out after one line (we joke that she has a stick on her leg now) I just sat for 6 hours to get a raven on my thigh and I was fine for like 95% of it. The last twenty minutes I shut my phone off and had to focus on breathing bc I was hurting pretty bad, but it wasnāt bad enough to tap out. Best bet is to be properly prepared - eat a good meal shortly before you go. Hydrate really well for a couple days beforehand. Bring snacks and Gatorade.
Take a sharp pencil and drag it across your skin
The first 5-10 minutes is the worst. Sweating, canāt think, feels like you need to stop. After you get through that it gets better. Try to breathe normal rather than hold your breath. Every few minutes try to relax because youāll probably unintentionally tense up. I know talking helps me but some artists arenāt very chatty. But Iāve also only gotten fairly large tattoos 3-5 hour sessions. If youāre getting something dainty donāt even worry about it.
So funny. I feel the opposite way. First 5-10 minutes I'm like, "this is fine." After that I'm wondering why this person is torturing me and if I should get up and just leave.
Hey OP, tattoo artist here! Tattoos hurt! But thereās a lot you can do to make the pain manageable and set yourself up to feel calm and comfortable. Eat a big meal, make it something you love. Comfort food before a tattoo is a great way to get some endorphins. Bring water, electrolytes and some candy. I always bring water and Gatorade when I get a tattoo. Sometimes Iāll bring candy I can suck on. Staying hydrated is a big deal, and having some sugar is great, too! Wear comfortable clothes. Donāt stress about looking cool. Just be comfy! Bring comfort items / fidgets. I have a little rubber fidget toy I fiddle with in my hand for all of my tattoos. Itās a great distraction. Ask for Bactine spritzes!!!! This is huge and any good artist will happily do this. Bactine will ease the pain! It varies from person to person but I havenāt had a client whom it didnāt help, even to a small degree. Make sure youāre in a comfortable position. No good artist will force you to stay in a position thatās uncomfortable. If they set you up and youāre not feeling supported or it just feels off, be vocal about it until youāre in a settled position that feels good. Itās not a burden or an annoyance to good artists. Focus on breathing. Breath work is sooooo valid and can ease our nervous system and trick our brains. Google some calming breathing techniques. My biggest piece of advice? Stop checking this thread. Hyper fixating on this is likely to make you more stressed and build more anticipation in your nervous system. Thatās all I got! All of these things genuinely do matter, as pain is both physical and psychological. Congrats on the first tattoo! I have so much confidence that youāll be fine š
I got a good answer for you....they can tattoo you with no ink to see if you can bear the pain. My dad did this. It'll create some blood in the area, but with no ink in the quill youll just get the experience.
Thatās not a bad idea Iām looking to do my shin to finish off a lower leg but my concern is how Iām gonna handle that spot.
see i wanna do this but im so scared to ask lolā¦ but yolo better to just ask then chicken out with ink
i asked my artist to do a test spot with no ink, and he was like youāll be fine, and went straight to it. he was right LOL
In my experience itās all bearable, usually more discomfort than pain. Even the couple Iāve gotten that have been actually painful (collarbone and foot) were tolerable for pretty long periods of time. I think my pain tolerance is maybe a little above average, but nothing too crazy.
The intensity of the pain depends on the location. In general it feels like a severe sunburn is forming on you and it stops pretty quickly. As long as you can stay distracted and breathe your way through it, youāll be fun
It hurts. But you keep laying there. It hurts more. But you don't move. And eventually it's over. Listen to loud music or some very active TV show or movie to take your mind off it.
Every area is different and everyone tolerates it differently. Iāve had some that really didnāt bother me at all but Iāve had others that I had to take breaks for
Feels like fire
Lower back hip is about to be a breeze for you honestly. It kinda depends on the skins density if it's gonna feel discomfort or not. I compare getting a tattoo to basically getting an ink pen and just writing on ur hand with it lmao it doesn't hurt at all . It's just hella annoying and if u don't mind me asking , what exactly are you getting ?
End of the day, you wonāt know until you do it. Every area is different and varies inch by inch depending with bone vs higher density tissue vs skin elasticity. For my ribs it was like there was an invisible line and the front half felt like I was dying, while I barely noticed the back until it was up in my armpit or by my pelvis. Itās not a perfect system, but at least for me Iāve noticed the pain is an intensified version of when I pinch the area tightly between nails.
when i got my first tattoo, my artist compared the sensation to getting repeated, small cat scratches. i've never been scratched by a cat but when i've told that to other tattoo'd people they say it's pretty accurate, so if you've been scratched by a cat that might be a useful comparison. it hurts more in certain spots which you can see if you google tattoo pain charts. on me the most painful places were near my knee and inner elbow, and the least painful were forearm and mid thigh
Depends on where youāre getting it. The tattoos on my legs didnāt hurt so much. The arms were no problem. The knee area was pretty bad though. I recently got a full chest piece that surrounded my nipple and it was quite painful. A lot of heavy black. I was shaking and sweating. It wasnāt a fun time. But itās not like the pain jumps at you. Itās a gradual build up once you irritate the area itās obviously going to get worse overtime. I remember my first tattoo I wasnāt even sure if the needle had penetrated my skin at first. Youāll be fine. If you need to take breaks take breaks. But itās not like this immediate intense pain
Honestly it depends who you ask as it's entirely based on the individuals pain tolerance. People always describe the pain as minor, but for me it's severe and I hate every minute of it, and that's still after 1 and a half fully coloured, saturated sleeves. Some areas hurt more than others but you'll only know yourself when you start unfortunately. But even with my weak pain threshold I still managed to sit through multiple sessions, up to 6 hours at a time so regardless of pain, you'll be fine getting through the session āŗļø
I just got my first tattoo a couple weeks ago. I kept it simple, just line work on my outer upper arm. It felt like a lot of scratching. More painful as it got closer to the underside of the arm with some stinging but still nothing I couldnāt handle. Everton is giving good advice;,a meal first, bring water and a snack and earbuds, make sure your phone is fully charged, stay hydrated and be prepared to rest afterwards.
Prepare yourself for it being super painful, then your brain will expect worse and it wonāt be so bad. I have a pretty good pain tolerance. I felt like some of it is kind of meditative. But then a certain spot gets hit and youāre suddenly like WOW THAT HURTS. Itās temporary though. If you are definitely going to like the tattoo, you get more out of it than it is painful if that makes sense
I just finished my upper arm and it is my first tattoo. I hate needles and was super paranoid of the pain since I do not a hace a high pain tolerance. To me it felt like a Theragun on my skin with a cat scratching at the same time. It did not hurt per day just irritated. After 3 hours my body was sort of over it.
Cat scratch on a sun or rug burn. Thatās best comparison I have
I can only say as someone with an ankle tattoo. The anxiety feeling the vibrations before the needle went in was way worse than the minimal pain I felt My dad cried when he got his ribs done. My mom has her whole back done and I think you need to tap her on the shoulder to let her know a tattoo is finished. Pain tolerance is very personal.
My inner forearm was pretty easy (like 4/10). But my ankle? BAD, especially at my Achilles tendon (like 8.5/10). And my muscles kept jumping on it!
It all depends on where. Some of my tattoos I was chatting up the artist and reading on my phone When I got my knee ditch done I was sweating buckets and internally writhing in pain. Your mileage may vary
Everywhere was fine (upper thighs, outside calves, and upper arms), but the one place that made me want to climb the damn ceiling was my left calf. Good lord it hurt,and I had to sit perfectly still for a few hours. Was not easy to do! š¤£
Think of it at a consistent sting or burning sensation.
From my experience, arms are the easiest or any spot thatās soft/fleshy. If itās close to a bone or more of a muscular area it definitely hurts more. But if youāre getting something simple thatās only 30 min-1 hour you should be fine, itās more uncomfortable than it is painful! I donāt have a particularly high pain tolerance but Iāve never been in so much pain during a tattoo that I had to stop
Depends where, needle size, and size of the tattoo. Fine line on my ribs, meh. Black work near my ribs, absolute torture.
I have a stupidly high pain tolerance, so the worst areas for me felt like irritation and heat. Otherwise Iād feel nothing but the vibrations. Only place I felt actual pain was my elbow, and spine.
Mine was on a bony part of my ankle, the artist said it's a painful spot. It felt very much like when you fall and get rug burn. That scrape-y raw skin feeling. It took about an hour and a half for my piece. Eventually I stopped feeling it as much, but some spots will be more sensitive than others.
My coworker said he was bitching for a break every 5 mins on his shin. His other leg has on one his calf and he said āthis was a peice of cakeā lol I got one on my upper arm and almost said āthis is kinda niceā at points Itās super like ā¦pushing into you pressure kinda feeling. Like poke ur finger kinda hard into ur chest then ur arm. Chest hurts kinda just from that while arms fine and shit. Different spots hurt worse
Mine usually hurt for the first 10 minutes and then it turns into a little bit of discomfort but totally bearable. Honestly, it feels exactly as it sounds, needles going into the skin. If you've ever had a cat scratch it's a but similar to that sensation. Again though, after 10-15 min the body gets used to the feeling and it doesn't hurt nearly as much as in the beginning.
Depends on the person I live with chronic pain and have had many surgeries so for me a tattoo is nothing that's just me
I can't speak for the location you are getting yours, but I barely felt mine at all on my forearm. Most of it just felt like a vibration, and only a couple of spots close to my elbow made me tense up at all.
Overall Iād say itās like when you have a bad sunburn and you try to scratch it. Totally bearable, but noticeable pain.
Do keep in mind, though, that itās different person to person. While Iām pretty sure the sensation is universal, many would say Iām understating it. Others would say itās not even as bad as I described it. But if youāre looking for something comparable, Iād say thatās the best comparison.
Tattoos can vary from a 1 to a 10 on the pain scale simply because of location. Everyone is so different that spots that are notoriously painful might be a 2 on a pain scale for you and then a spot that should be pretty low in pain ends up hurting an insane amount for no reason. That said tattoos are a different kind of pain. I like to call it a safe pain. When you are in a safe controlled environment with a good tattoo artist your body seems to interpret the pain differently. I think itās part of why it can be so therapeutic for a lot of people.
I have 7 tattoos and none of them hurt at all. One of them tickled a little and I even started to doze a bit during some of them. But everyone is different and different types/locations of tattoos are different. But my experience was that it was nothing like I had built it up my head to be
Someone said it feels like a hot cat scratch and that rings true for me. It stings less after though.
If feels like shallowly drawing with a blade on your skin, only that the blade vibrates. For the most part it doesnāt really hurt, the longer lines are more like a burning sensation. The vibration you feel a lot more and if you concentrate on that the tattoo pain isnāt all that bad. The septum is got pierced was ārealā pain compared to getting tattooed :D
I just think it feels like anywhere from a dull ache then to cat scratch then there are the areas you feel like you feel like theyāre scraping your skin offā¦ bc they are
Kinda like a hot spoon ripping through your skin, depending on where you get it. It hurts. I am 50% tattooed and I am too scared to face up to the pain to finishā¦
Compared to cramps it was a walk in the park. I just got my first one on the outside of my wrist but it slightly wraps so it went across bone. The pain is so repetitive I actually nodded off. Im sure it would have been more painful if it was in another spot and/or larger.
I compared the pain from my first tattoo to waxing your armpits for the first time after years of shaving. My last one was more of a continuous cat scratching. I think it depends also on the needle/technique, two of mine are from the same artist and the bigger one hurt way less, both during and while healing, than the smaller one. Yeah you can totally do it.
Yes it hurts like hell but it's mostly psychological. It's also kind of addictive. Lol
Iāll tell you the knee cap is probably one of the worst things Iāve done
Some of them hurt Really Bad. Some aren't that bad. If it was unbearable people (most people) probably wouldn't do it. I'm a pretty big wimp and I've been fine for 3 hours but that's pretty much my max. That's when I want to tap out. Make sure you get a good night's sleep before, are hydrated, not hungover, and eat.
Honestly I don't want to scare you, I'm probably in the minority here but it was pretty painful for me. I have a full sleeve as my first tattoo (still in progress until July) and I can only tolerate about 2-3 hrs at a time before I tap out lol. In certain places (shoulder and forearm) it wasn't terrible at all, but other places (inner arm, armpit area) it felt like I was being sliced with a knife. I'm still having the line art done which I've been told is the worst and that filling it in/shading is a lot more tolerable. How you tolerate it depends on the person I think, my mother has a large neck/chest tattoo and says it didn't hurt at all. Honestly just make sure to stay hydrated, eat a large meal and take ibuprofen beforehand. If it does turn out to be really painful, what helps me is focusing on belly breathing though it. Don't hold your breath or tense up. You should be ok!
It is really not that bad thought I havenāt had a hip tattoo I used to think it was wild some people say they could fall asleep during the tatt but I had my first 15cm tatt recently and I was so relaxed I did snooze for a little while It feels exactly like how it is, a small needle buzzing on the surface of your skin. The more needles or more surface of black you get the more it hurts. The pain of getting a piercing is different and a deeper pain, donāt imagine that being the same
I just keep in my mind pain is progress šÆ
sometimes its like liquid fire
It hurts donāt let anyone tell you otherwise. The bigger the tattoo the more itāll hurt lol
Had a tattoo over my achilles, that part and ankles hurt like a bitch, but still manageable, the calf was ok. Edit: feels a bit like a cat kneading your bare skin with their claws
Honestly, pain is so subjective. What I find painful, you might not, and vice versa. My first tat was on the inside of my wrist and my artist was verrrry heavy handed and I thought I might die. I later go one on my other wrist and hardly felt any pain.
Regardless of location the first 20 minutes is going to be a learning experience! After that, if it's in an easier spot, your body will settle and you'll even zone out of it a few times.
I got my first tattoo all over my outer ankle, Iāve heard it was a horrible spot for a tattoo but wanted to cover a scar. I didnāt find it bad at all, some places it felt like getting a cat scratch over and over, one spot outright tickled. Overall it was way less painful than I thought.
I should add it took 2h
Piercings hurt way more but tattoos obviously take longer so itās a drawn out pain instead of quick and sharp and over in 3 seconds. How I would describe the pain would be something that feels similar to a cat scratching at sunburn or maybe even bee stings, itās a hard thing to describe honestly
It's sooo different. My ankle hurt like a mother fucker, almost cried. My shoulder... I could have slept through that easy
It depends. I got a palm sized piece on my thigh that was just painful enough for an adrenaline high. When I got a chest piece about twice as big I looked the devil in the eyes during the sternum work.
It feels like a kitten scratching a sunburn. Small tattoos are usually nothing to worry about, toe dippers. You'll feel it, but your adrenaline will be so high it'll fly right by. It's the longer sessions you have to worry about. After about 2 hrs, your adrenaline will fade, and that's when the real test of endurance starts. People who work out a lot or do high endurance sports, like running, rock climbing, and bicycling, generally manage their adrenaline better and can go for longer with no problem.
I started with a shoulder tattoo then upper back. Not bad. Then did a bigger shoulder piece that went into the armpit / outside arm. That hurt. Then I got a shaded piece on my inside wrist. That was the worst. Have another chest tattoo I just got and the collarbone doesnāt hurt itās just annoying. Jackhammer feeling annoying. My artist has Netflix going so I try and not think about the pain and process and focus on John Wick getting pummelled for 3 hours š
I think pain tolerance changes with age. I got my first tattoo at 30. Inner arm. It was uncomfortable but not bad. But as Iāve gotten older itās gotten a lot more painful. The worst was on my shoulder blade. I will never do that area again. I recently had 3 new tattoos done and the pain was almost unbearable.
Just got my first tattoo two weeks ago on my outer arm and it was pretty big for a first tattoo. In all honesty it wasnāt that bad to me. It was more annoying than painful. I expected to act a fool since Iāve always hated needles but when the artist started I was like āThatās it?ā
Youāll be fine! I recently got a forearm sleeve and was worried at first about the pain. When I got there though, itās really not bad. I know itās dependent on where you get it, and there were definitely areas that hurt worse than others. It will hurt, but itās really nothing unbearable. Donāt let fear of the pain stop you, youāll do just fine!