How Much Does It Hurt To Get A Tattoo?

Pain is part of getting a tattoo. For some people the pain is even an important part of the experience because it allows them to more fully connect with their physical existences. Regardless of your attitude about the pain of the tattooing process, you are certainly interested in how much it will hurt as you anticipate your first tattoo.

The first thing for you to understand is that pain is subjective. This means that people feel pain in different ways and cope with it according to their own abilities. For example, if you are particularly worried and nervous about pain, then you are preparing your brain to interpret the pain in a strongly negative way. You may have heard of people referring to their pain tolerance. Some people say they have a high tolerance to pain and others are quite aware that they have a low tolerance for pain. Much of your tolerance for pain will derive from your mental preparation for the experience and your acceptance that getting the tattoo will hurt.

In addition to individual attitudes toward pain, some concrete factors do influence how much getting a tattoo will hurt.

1. The location of the tattoo - Some places on the body are more sensitive than others. The skin over less fleshy and more boney areas such as the ankles is often reported to be a more painful area to get a tattoo. Although few people get face or head tattoos, these are sensitive areas that can be more painful than other parts of the body.

2. The size of the tattoo - Logically, a large tattoo will be more painful to have applied to the skin than a small tattoo. Large tattoos require the skin to be pierced by the tattoo needle more.

3. The complexity of the tattoo - Even if a tattoo is not very large, it can be more painful to receive than a simple tattoo if the tattoo design is intricate and is filled with color. Once again, an intricate color-filled tattoo requires more needle work and causes more pain than tattoos based on simple one-color lines.

With some planning, you can lessen the impact of pain on your tattoo experience. First, you should not allow yourself to become overly fearful of the pain. If you are committed to getting a tattoo for sound reasons, then you should accept the pain as a part of the process and visualize yourself dealing with the pain in a positive fashion. You can try considering the pain as an element of a ritual experience that will add to the meaning of your tattoo.

Bringing along moral support is always a good idea. Friends or family members can help distract you from pain by offering encouragement and pleasant conversation. Tattoo studios are typically accommodating of guests and allow one or more supporters to be present during a tattoo application.

If you are getting a large or complex tattoo, you should also consider that it does not necessarily have to be done all at once. Your tattoo artist should be sensitive to your level of discomfort and be willing to offer you breaks. Also you and your artist could work out a schedule of multiple tattoo sessions so as to spread out the work and the pain.

Finally, topical anesthetic creams are available that may be helpful in lessening the pain by numbing the skin. This option would have to be discussed with have your tattoo artist to get his or her opinion about the effectiveness of such products.

Tattoo Parlours - Guidelines for Choosing the Best Tattoo Parlors

If you were going to invest in a piece of art, would you feel better about buying it from an accredited gallery which could prove it was authentic, or from someone selling it from the trunk of their car?

So think of the tattoo you are about to get as a piece of art, because that's what it should be. Tattoos are one of the most ancient forms of body art, for which you will be providing the canvas. And because tattoos have soared in popularity over the past decade, there is no shortage of tattoo "studios" more than willing to practice their artistry on you. How do you separate the best tattoo parlors from the rest?

Let me confess. I have, for years, indulged in oil painting as a hobby. I have an easel, brushes, a palette, paints and mediums too numerous to count, palette knives, and even a smock. I have won a few awards in amateur competitions, and even sold a few pieces of my work. Does that make me a professional artist?

No more than owning inks, needles, designs, and renting a store space makes someone a professional tattoo artist. Before you decide to patronize a particular tattoo parlor, learn what a successful parlor should look like. If the one you are considering doesn't measure up, take your money, and your canvas, elsewhere.

When you start looking for the best tattoo parlor, you'll be able to tell a lot simply by paying attention to your first impressions when walking in the door. If you see clutter, overflowing ashtrays, dirt in the corners and dust on the furniture, will you really be able to overlook them?

Pay attention to the quality of the tattoo designs on display. Tattoo "flash", all those design posters covering the walls of every studio, are, or should be, anyway, copyrighted artwork purchased from professional artists. Do they have the bright colors and clear definition of professional artistic prints? Can you see the copyright and the artist's name?

If the flash you are looking at appears washed-out, and you can't see any identifying marks, you may be looking at designs bootlegged from anywhere; the same people who sell traditional artwork or bootlegged movies from the trunks of their cars are perfectly capable of selling stolen tattoo designs. Any merchandise that has a market is merchandise which can be counterfeited, and the soaring popularity of tattoos has made tattoo designs prime bootlegging material.

If the shop you are visiting was willing to cheat legitimate artists out of the royalties they should be getting for their tattoo designs, will they be willing to give you full value for the money you spend on your tattoo? The best tattoo parlors offer new needles, fresh high quality ink, clean gloves, and artists who will spend all the time necessary to make sure your tattoo is the best it can be.

How is the lighting in the studio? At the best tattoo parlors, your tattoo will be done in natural light, so that you can judge how it will permanently appear. Or will it be done under fluorescent lighting, or in a dimly lit corner? Fluorescent lighting will heighten the effect of yellow and greens inks while graying the blues and reds.

If the studio's cleanliness, flash, and lighting seem acceptable, it's time to learn about their history. How long have they been at their present location and can they give you the names of some satisfied customers? Do they have a portfolio with pictures of their healed tattoos to show you? Do the artists know how to avoid scarring, or what to do if they see plasma leaking during the tattooing process? Do they even know what plasma is?

There are some terms you can throw around to find out how familiar a tattoo studio's employees are with safety regulations. Asking whether they practice "Standard Precautions" will let you know if they are in compliance with the OSHA guidelines for controlling bloodborne diseases.

Standard precautions mean that the best tattoo parlors will have artists who sterilize their packaged needles and tubes in an autoclave before opening them for use. Any equipment they use on a customer, including inks, glove, razors, ink cups, and ointments, will be discarded after sue, and the artist will wipe down the work area with a virucide, to destroy any lingering germs or viruses.

The best tattoo parlors dispose of any sharp instruments in the same way that hospitals do, in "sharps" containers, and any other materials which have come into contact with blood in biohazard containers.

The simple rule is that anything which is exposed to human blood, in the best tattoo parlors, will either be disposed of or autoclaved after use.

It may seem uncomfortable, but you want your tattoo artist to treat you as if your blood were infectious. Even though you know it isn't, you can't say the same for everyone else who has been tattooed at that particular parlor. So the best tattoo parlors will approach everyone that way. Don't take it personally.

If the person who greets you when you enter the parlor is reluctant to answer your questions on the parlor's safety practices, and can't refer you to another employee who will, scratch that tattoo parlor off your list.

And if you live in a state which requires its tattoo parlors to be certified, you are in luck.

In the U.S., only three states, New Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts, require their tattoo artists to be certified by the American Academy of Micropigmentation: http://www.micropigmentation.org/

And only one state, Oregon, has a state certification program. Oregon's tattoo artists have to complete and pass a 368-hour training course at a state-approved training school. New Mexico, North Dakota, and Washington D.C. have no regulations on tattooing at all.

So if you're in a state which is either unregulated, or only requires its tattoo parlors to pass an occasional Health Department inspection, the easiest way for you to find the best tattoo parlors is to look for those whose artists belong to the Alliance of Professional Tattooists. The APT admits only those artists who have educated themselves in proper tattoo safety.

Look at choosing the best tattoo parlors the same way you would look at choosing the best art galleries. You are buying artwork, and you, and the rest of the world will be looking at it for the rest of your life. The best tattoo parlors take pride in their work.

And you'll probably be able to tell you are in one of the best the minute you walk through its door.