Okay.. to start with, I DO realize that not only is pain extremely relative, but it also depends a great deal on the person.
That being said, I wanted to ask those of you that have had quite a few tattoos done, which places hurt relatively more/less than others.
My first (and only, so far) tattoo was on the outside of my calf, and the shading (basically, the last 30 minutes of the 2 hour session) hurt like a sonofabi..
The next one I’m thinking might be on my upper arm and would reach a little bit onto my shoulder/back but most critically to the soft tissue that connects the shoulder to the chest.. basically the topmost part of the armpit skin.. I’m poking it and imagining that THAT spot will probably hurt beyond belief.
What are your thoughts/personal experiences.. in general and/or specifically that place?
Hi
Arnivader I wrote a section on why tattoos hurt in my ebook check it out ofr the science bit.
That said any area that has a large cluster of pain receptors (spinal column, base of spine) will hurt a lot more than those areas with less clusters.
Also places close to the bone hurt more than those with padded areas.
The main high pain spots are
Ribs
Base of spine
Collar Bones
Elbow
Shins
They all hurt but I reckon that the above is around 8 on the pain meter (8 being a real teeth gritter 10 crying).
Hope that helps (but as you say it is all relative to the tolerance levels).
Take Care
Matthew
I’ve only had my arms upper tattood but I’ll agree the inner bicep was def more painful then the rest of the arm. The dark area near the armpit in this pic def wasn’t fun though at all. I was expecting the shoulder and back area to hurt but I hardly noticed/found them relaxing.
In the end it’s worth it though, always remember that.:)
Pain wise from a little bit to bloody painful:
arms – easy peasy
shin bone – easy
upper thighs – easy
upper back – a little pinch every now and then
elbows – fairly painless except when the designs creep around the the “front” of your arms
lower back – tramp stamp spot easy towards the sides nasty
stomach – weird 1 section barely tickles 1″ over felt like a knife going in
ribs – left side – really painful I had to take 2 breaks on a 4hr job
right side – not as bad
I hear backs of your knees and your butt cheeks are worse than the ribs but since I have neither done I could not vouch for that
@
Hey…..
I have my left arm done (finally-my profile pic is old) from my shoulder to the middle of my hand and there were some sensitive areas and some not so bad. I would have to say the most painful, for me, was the elbow, inside the elbow, up by the armpit, and the hand. The other areas were not the best feeling in the world but tolerable. I also have 3 fingers done with rings, all the way around and that was a bit painful as well. My back was interesting. It hurt less for me by my spine and hurt more by the sides. But keep in mind whats causes pain for one person may be ok for you. Everyone is different and has different pain tolerance levels. Good luck to you!
~Hellfire
Thanks for all the replies.
Well I see that overall, the general consensus is more or less what I had imagined. ‘Behind’ the knees, in the armpit and other such ‘thinner’ skin will hurt more. I guess it follows about the same principles as sunburn.. the skin that more easily sunburns will be the skin that will see more pain from tats.
I have one tattoo – all text, the last sentence from David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, my favorite novel. It was applied to my inner forearm, and stretches from slightly below the crease in my arm, right on down to my wrist. It hurt like hell – a good bit more than I anticipated – sort of like the way an angry little hornet’s sting might feel if it were endowed with the ability to both pierce and burn the skin, simultaneously. (either that, or I’m just a wimp, which, is entirely open to debate).
And so but anyways, and this is a question for the artists, given that creams exist to dull the pain (or so they advertise), I’ve often wondered why they do not see more frequent use. Putting aside all the stuff about pain being integral to the experience, etc – which, I think is a totally valid position to take.
Do they work, these creams, or do they represent the tattoo world’s version of snake oil?
I will take my answer off the air.
Thank you.
the underside of my arm near my armpit was crazy.
the poor guy had most of his weight on his other elbow on my chest
to dampen the uncontrollable twitching of the muscles.
it felt like I was getting electrocuted and to make matters worse
it hurt so bad and the twitching was so ridiculous, I could’nt help
but laugh at myself, making me shake more.
I just had my second session. He didn’t do the inside of the arm, or the elbow, as I assumed he would, concentrating on the forearm. So it wasn’t painful, which was nice, because I got myself worked up about it hurting a lot beforehand. Butterfly_kisses, you’ve just instilled me with dread for my next session though, as that bit’s going to have to be done sooner or later :p
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