I Am Getting My First Tattoo: Does It Really Hurt?

originally posted by: space cadet
Hey Ya'll.

I am about to celebrate a pretty healthy birthday, I'll just say I was born in interesting and turbulent times, and grew up in the days of Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Santana, Lynard Skynard....You get the picture, most of my friends got tattoos years ago, but not me. When I see other women's tattoos I oooo and ahhhh because I love them, I think they are sexy (if done well) and have wanted to join the ranks of the tattooed, but the idea of the pain freaks me out. Well, I am having a 'suprise' tattooing for my birthday next month. Yeah, I already know about it, because they told my husband and all my friend and family know I want one but have been chicken, my hubby knows how I feel and told me to prepare myself, it is about to happen, he didn't want me to freak out.

I am anemic, does that matter when getting a tattoo? Just take extra iron maybe? How much does it hurt, really, I mean, really tell me, don't pussyfoot around, if it hurts like hell just tell me it does, and I will be ready for that! Does it hurt worse on you leg than on your back? Should I be drunk? How deep do the needles go? How do you make positive sure your needles are sterile? What are some techniques to handle the pain if it is severe?

Help!

edit to add: What about pre tattoo pain pills?

[edit on 26-1-2010 by space cadet]

I have tatoo on my back. It was hurt for me, trully. You shouldn`t be a drunk, try to relax and wait.
I`ve got my sketch and information about how it hurts from here.
P.S, this is my tatoo.

Did you pick the artist? You should really shop around for one. The guy I go to didn't have a free appointment for 5 months, 3 months to go! Worth the wait. I'm a little worried if this is a surprise you might end up really disappointed with the person's work.

Where do you want to get it, and what/how big do you want it? Is there going to be a lot of detail, a lot of color?

Don't drink. Never go to anyone who will tattoo you if you've been drinking.

I think people all have different reactions to tattoo pain. It also really depends where you're getting it. I have a few that I barely noticed a minute or two after fill in/shading. Others were pretty bad.

I've heard the two worst are chest and ribs, with ribs being worse. I have one on my chest and it hurt A LOT, especially over the sternum. The guy was pretty heavy handed though. The other spots that hurt like crazy (only in certain spots every once in awhile) was the back of my arm under the tricep, inside of arm especially armpit, when I was getting my half sleeve.

Afterwords it feels like a light to medium sunburn for me for about a day or two, depending on how much and what was done, gets progressively better every day and you probably won't notice much after 5 days.

I think this is fairly accurate, but I'd put blue in the middle of the chest. Again, I think this is just sort of a general guideline because everyone is different. I've seen people I consider to be exceptionally candy ass handle them no problem (poke them they say "ow").


Seriously pick a good artist, look at portfolios, I don't know where you live but around here I would be sketched out going to anyone that wanted less than $120 an hour and (unless I was getting flash or something super simple). They should draw your design and work with you until you're happy. This almost always requires a deposit, because they do put time into the drawing (again depending on the level of detail). If it's super simple and you're in the sticks that should drop the price quite a bit.

Good luck! If you tell us what/where/detail/color we can probably give you a better answer. Also how much do you think it hurts to have someone snap a rubber band on your arm (1-10)?

Getting your first tattoo can surely hurt you a lot but you must find an experienced tattoo artist to avoid injuries and infections. If you are looking for interesting tattoos designs then you should check out ask permission before advertising