Hi Purple

I have not been tattooed with the cream but I have been cut open and had some (minor-ish) surgery with it.

Due to my heart condition they did not want to use a general anaesthetic so they used stack of cream which kills the feeling in your leg.

Talking with the guy working on me I joked about him letting me have it for a tattoo.

His response was that it would not be much use as the skin can become highly irritated by the cream (mine went all puckered and blotchy) and forcing a pigment into it whilst using it can run a risk of infection.

Also some creams are steroidal so it breaks down the skin anyway and has to be re-applied a lot as the effect wears off fairly quickly.

To be honest even with the local they gave me been cut open using the cream was a real teeth gritter – hurt way more than the tattoo.

My advice is talk to a medical professional about it and check what is actually in the stuff as there are many types on the market.

Take care
Matthew

my wings go right down to my lower back and its really not that bad , about the same as every where else

so what have you had done then ? 🙂

oh right up my alley 🙂 have you got any pics ?

well done on getting it done without the cream, as an artist i can safely say that yes i do use it on occasions as well as ametop gel, and it does make the skin go like rubber and its a bitch to work on sometimes….. this sometimes means that you need to work the ink in real hard and it can cause the skin to be overworked rather quickly…..

dont use it unless you really need to…. i advise people against it always 😉 just climb aboard the pain train and ride it like a hero :p

This is something I know I’ve said around here before, perhaps to the point it’s getting old, but I’m gonna say it again.

Part of what makes tattoos what they are is their mystic. There are so many tall tales surrounding them, so much misinformation. People will shun you for them, bar you entry into groups–others will feel an instant connection with you, give you more leeway than a stranger without. Old women will come up and grab your arm to see your crazy young person artwork. Young women will be uncomfortable to be alone in an elevator with you.

All of that, the approval, the disapproval, the confusion, even the apathy and sometimes out right hatred are because tattoos mark you as part of our in-group. That you share an experience and a love with us that most people will never understand. That, in some small way, it shows you’re one of us, not one of them. That you’re in our club

Part of the price of entry is the pain. It’s the bar that stops tattoos from becoming so wide spread. It helps to scare those who are not serious about them off, and it helps prevent bad tattoos. While I admit that bad ink is common, it also helps to ensure that a person will not get design unless they are sure about it…in most cases.

But more, the pain is a large part of the mystic, part of what makes them compelling. It hurts, and we choose it. Being of sound mind, we choose to endure this pain for the sake of art. And most people just can’t understand how we in the club can endure the pain for the sake of having pictures on our bodies. That there must be something wrong with us. It honestly mystifies them.

Without the price in pain, tattoos lose their mystic and become just another fashion accessories. They become accessible to everyone, and quite honestly, without the pain to slow down the decision making process, more bad tattoos will appear. Getting inked stops being an event in your life, and becomes no more consequential than getting a spray on tan.

And, at that point, what’s the point?

Besides, my best tattoo memory I have is when I was getting my wrist done, and the only thing that kept me from bawling right there in my man’s chair was my wife sitting there asking me “Wassa matter, does it hurt? Little baby gonna cry ‘cus it hurts? Baby need a baba?”. 😀

So, in short, I disapprove of numbing cream, and kinda look down on those who choose to use them.

Of course, YMMV.

Love. Peace. Metallica.