@Thaela 125199 wrote:

Everyone knows that women have a higher pain tolerance than men 😉 Amiright guys? hehe

not going to argue you push humans out of your cunts. 🙂

Hi, (Just have to say I am not medically qualified but all these facts are easily available).

I would personally suggest lidocaine of 3-5% as a topical cream but may only last upto 40 mins or so.

To save you time here is a run down of the most common painkillers pro’s and cons

Alcohol

This section will be brief as alcohol is a well known substance that is used mostly for recreational purposes. This is because it is a depressant that can create a state of intoxication known as being drunk.

Benefits

Alcohol can have a mild anesthetic effect on the central nervous system this is because it slows down the reactions and signals to the brain.

Drawbacks

With regards to short-term effects the main drawback of alcohol is two-fold;

The first is that your reasoning ability can be impaired resulting in a bad choice of tattoo.
The second is that alcohol can raise your blood pressure, often rising to the surface of the skin giving you a ‘flushed’ look.

This can result in excessive bleeding if a tattoo is applied. It can also cause the ink to be forced out more – meaning the area may area may end up being overworked.

Aspirin

The use of aspirin is a very common prescription free pain relief that can be readily bought over the counter at many shops, supermarkets, and chemists.

The raw form of aspirin is willow bark which is high in content of salicin which when chewed formed a weak acid called salicylic acid. Although damaging to the digestive system if chewed in anbundance it was found to contain pain relieving properties, and was able to reduce fever. This was used for many centuries by Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans as part of their medicine. The native americans were also known to use the pain relieving properties of willow bark.

During the mid 18th century chemists developed a synthetic version of salicylic acid called acetylsalicylic acid. This was licensed under the name aspirin.

Benefits

Aspirin is very effective at pain relief for moderate pain and is fast acting especially in liquid form, and can become active within 20-30 minutes and last for around 4 hours per dose. The effectiveness will vary from person to person. This is because each person is able to process the chemicals at differing rates.

Drawbacks

The main drawback of aspirin with regards to tattooing is that aspirin is a very effective anti-clotting agent. Heavy bleeding can occur if aspirin is used and may continue for several days afterwards. This is often a common treatment in treating people who have suffered heart attacks, the blood is thinned to prevent further attacks.

Aspirin is also a highly toxic substance if taken in amounts that exceed the recommended dosage. This differs according to the health and age of the individual.

Organ failure and death can be common from an overdose of aspirin. There is no antidote for salicylate poisoning.

Even moderate usage can cause ulcers, internal gastric bleeding, and hives or swelling in some who are sensitive to this drug.

In no circumstances should aspirin be used before a tattoo or for at least 48 hours after a tattoo. Doing so could result in your tattoo failing to clot.

Cannabis

Benefits

Active cannabis (those that have levels of cannaboids and/or THC) have been recognised within medicine as giving mild to moderate pain relief. This is a fast acting substance especially if it is smoked and dispersed to the bloodstream via the lungs.

Drawbacks

Cannabis has been suggested to cause anxiety/panic attacks, hallucianations, and reduced ability to make informed decisions as the reasoning abilities are impaired, similar to alcohol intoxication.

Also like alcohol cannabis can cause the skin to flush with blood increasing the chance of bleeding heavily whilst being tattooed.

Codeine and Tylenol/Co-Codamol

The above substances are synthetic alkaloids (methylmorphine) which is derived from morphine. Although codeine can be used as a single anesthetic they are often combined with Tylenol (aka Co-Codamol).

This can produce a powerful analgesic that can easily become addictive and harmful if taken in large doses or continued over a lengthy period of time.

Benefits

These subtsances can provide pain relief for mild to moderate pain and can last a numbver of hours.

Drawbacks

Like any opiate base these substances are easily habit forming and can lead to addcition very quickly.

Side-effects can result in;

Bleeding gums, constipation, loss of sex drive, bruising, and stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and depression.

Long term use can result in a building tolerance which can result in an overdose which can cause you to stop breathing, as well as risk of organ failure.

Some people have also noted that their blood becomes thinner creating bleeding so it is advisable not to use this substance for tattooing.

Cocaine

Benefits

The use of either type of cocaine does have certain short-term benefits in that it produces a fast acting sense of euphoria and a certain amount of pain relief as the body is ‘numbed’ by the intake of the alkaloyds.

Other effects are a sense of euphoria, confidence, and sometimes heightened sex drive. Cocaine in the short-term also increase the number of natural endorphins in the bloodstream. This also enhances the sense of pain relief.

Drawbacks

There are a number of drawbacks to the use of cocaine, foremost being that the analgesic (pain killing) properties are somewhat shortlived.
It also increases the heart rate and blood pressure, which means you can bleed a lot more heavily whilst being tattooed.

This means that unless a very high amount was taken over an extended period it would be very limited as a tattoo pain relief.

Heroin

Benefits

The main benefit of heroin is that it is perhaps one of the strongest pain killers that can be taken.

The effects can last a number of hours and can induce a sense of euphoria and sleepiness. Because heroin can quickly pass through the blood/brain barrier this produces an effective receptor barrier to pain.

This drug is often used in treating the pain for terminally ill patients (under the name diamorphine) and it is likley that a person under the influence of heroin would not feel any tattooing being done, or for several hours afterwards.

Many users describe the experience as ‘returning to the womb’.

Drawbacks

There are several drawbacks to the use of heroin as a painkiller.

As with all opiates, heroin’s effectiveness is reduced with use as the body becomes more tolerant to the substance.

This requires higher and higher dosages to maintain the ‘high’. This can often lead to an overdose resulting in;

Heart failure/Cardiac arrest
Respiratory failure
Renal failure
All of the above can easily cause death.

Ibruprofen (Aka Nurofen, Advil, and Motrin)
Benefits

Ibruprofen is much milder on the gastric tract than other substances and can be taken to help alleviate swelling and inflamation.

Drawbacks

As with all synthetic drugs there are a number of possible side-effects when using them. Ibruprofen is not suitable for tattoo pain relief during a tattoo for two reasons;

The first is that ibruprofen contains a mild anti-coagulant property that can thin the blood. This can result in the tattoo bleeding out, making the putting of ink into the skin, that much harder.

The second is that the pain killing properties of Ibruprofen are relatively short lived and there is a risk of an overdose if trying to use this substance to numb the pain of a tattoo.

Other side-effects can include; nausea, headaches, dizziness, photosensitivity, and if more than stated does can result in heart failure.

Paracetamol (AKA Panadol, Effralgan, Doliprane, Lonarid)

Benefits

Paracetamol is very effective at pain relief for moderate pain and is fast acting especially in liquid form, and can become active within 20-30 minutes and last for around 4 hours per dose. The effectiveness will vary from person to person. This is because each person is able to process the chemicals at differing rates. However it does not have the same gastric damage that can be sometimes caused by aspirin.

Drawbacks

The main drawback of paracetamol is that because it is activated in the liver it can result in organ failure quickly if consumed in too high a dosage. Liver failure is the most common result of a paracetamol overdose. This is because large amounts would be required to numb the pain totally of a tattoo.

Take care
Matthew

@Thaela 125199 wrote:

Everyone knows that women have a higher pain tolerance than men 😉 Amiright guys? hehe

Well I haven’t had to deal with child birth just yet and I honestly didn’t think I had the pain tolerance I do til I started getting tattoos

@D3FiANC3 125355 wrote:

Being the individualist that I am, I’ve never agreed with the whole “you have earn your ink” mentality. I don’t personally take anything before getting inked, but if a guy travels halfway across the country to get in with a particular artist and shells out $15K plus top for a back piece, what the hell right do I have to tell him he can’t take painkillers? I don’t sit in front of McDonald’s and tell the fat people they can’t have a Diet Coke with their 4 Big Macs, 2 Super Size Fries, and 20-piece Nuggets. If you want to take them, then go for it; it’s your body, your money, and your choice and most importantly, it hurts no one. Make sure that whatever you take doesn’t promote bleeding. Vicodin is a good choice.

You’re right. It’s your money, your body, your choice. But my personal opinion is if u take pain killers while getting a tattoo u are a pussy.