Do Tattoos Hurt?

Who asked you asks… Does a Tattoo Hurt?

This is a frequently asked questions that I receive constantly at my studio, Two Faced Tattoo, from my clients for many, many, many years.

After a full day of consultations with clients, three people in a row asked the exact same questions in the same order. I thought to myself “Is this information not readily available?” I set out to do some research online and after much digging around google and to other artist & studio pages, I realized this information is not out there in any understandable terms.

I will be discussing the three questions most of my clients ask me at every consultation in a row:

Does it Hurt?

How much will it cost?

Where should I put it?

I have been in the tattoo industry for over 18 years. I believe I have enough background and experience to answer these questions for my clients and anyone reading this. My hope is to make it less intimidating to go into any tattoo studio to inquire about getting a tattoo. I also want to help tattoo artists encouraging them to reference my blogs, videos, and podcasts as a way to help and inform their next client(s). This series will hopefully give you enough information to make an educated decision about getting a tattoo based on pain alone.

Do tattoos hurt? Overall the answer is yes, but the question is still how much does it hurt.

You would think this is an obvious answer but it’s not.. it is a very valid question that we, tattoo artists, are asked all the time.
How much does it hurt typically means what should I expect? Fear of the unknown is a real thing.

So, my answer can be different for everyone which is why it has been a difficult topic to answer.

The actual definition of pain is “a distressing sensation in a particular part of the body”. So the actual word pain translates to  how can someone handle, manage and deal with pain, which is different levels for everyone. Pain is super subjective and different for everyone because of pain tolerance person to person.

Pain is never “out of your/my control”. We have a lot of mental control in a painful situation. How we manage our pain is a big factor. I say this lightly but it’s a funny example, Do you stub your toe and fall on the ground like Peter Griffin? Then maybe you have a low pain threshold. Or do you stub your toe and quickly move on? Your threshold is likely higher.  

For any tattoo artist being asked “Do Tattoos Hurt”, I would suggest asking this question back, “how high or low is your pain threshold?”

I believe 50% of the pain you experience during your tattoo is physical but a lot of is also mental. How we think about pain in general and how someone manages pain is a large factor in how you’re going to handle getting a tattoo.

Now let’s discuss the factors that contribute to getting a tattoo and pain – what does it feel like?

Again, this is subjective because I have heard people mention it’s like getting scratched by a cat, a bee sting, sand paper and lots of other variations of medium painful situations for different people and based on the different areas of the body being tattooed.

For me, getting tattooed feels like a sunburn. This of when you wake up the next day with a sunburn and forget then you reach over and scratch it. The sensation usually is a burning, scratchy, scrapey feeling with a bit of heat.

Overall it sucks for a bit but it is tolerable and you know it is not going to last.  We are not talking rushed to the hospital pain as if you broke your arm or have a severe burn.

Getting tattooed is moderate pain and how well you’ll deal with it mentally.

Another question I get about tattoo pain is does placement of the tattoo matter? Where does it hurt the least? My advice is that you never choose tattoo placement based on the pain level of the body. You’ll feel pain only during the period of the tattoo, but you’ll live with that placement of the tattoo forever. If you envision your tattoo on a specific part of your body that you heard can typically be more painful, then suck it up sally .. get it in the spot you want!

Most people looking into getting a tattoo have heard that ribs, the sternum, your foot is the most painful placement for a tattoo. I’m here to tell you that from my professional and person experience (since I am heavily tattooed) these areas of the body that you think may be more painful sometimes just aren’t. Yes, the ribs and sternum are what’s called “ditch” areas and are typically going to be more painful, compared to the outer arm, lower legs and thighs. But I have also had clients who have slept through a rib tattoo.

Does the size of the tattoo you are getting mean it will be more painful?  If getting something tiny in just black ink then you should be in and out of the chair in 10-15 minutes maximum to an hour. This means, you won’t have to managing your pain very long. You won’t have to deplete your endorphins or pain management based on time alone.

Something a larger tattoo or a tattoo with a lot of color saturation will require you to sit longer. Upon starting the tattoo your body will go into fight or flight mode and release endorphins which will help you manage the pain better. An hour or a few hours long your body will help you cope with the pain. You’ll notice it is not nearly not as bad as you thought, fear of the unknown is far worse than what is actually happening.

What about Black and gray tattoos vs. color saturation and vs light shading. The more saturation your tattoo design has means your artist is covering every square inch of the skin with a needle. The area of the skin being shaded with black or solid color means the entire tattoo area will be saturated. If every inch of your skin is colored then your skin is experiencing more trauma and will be more sore. Just line work is less painful compared to saturation.

The longer getting tattooed, in the chair you are managing pain longer and your body is releasing endorphins. Your pain management peaks and then it also goes down the other side.

I personally don’t go over 8 hours when tattooing someone. I have noticed that when people experience long term pain they stop being able to manage the pain as well.

I have yet to have a client come in to get tattoos and not complete their tattoo because it was too painful. No one has ever jumped out of the chair in so much pain that we where not able to finish the tattoo.

Another thing to consider when handling your pain mentally is what is your emotional status? Is this a memorial piece? Are you going through a divorce? And more ..

Your emotional state can play a factor how you are mentally going to handle the pain. Also, for women, is it that time of the month? This can be a pain factor too. Skin can get really inflamed and does not always react the same as other times when she has been tattooed.

The overall consensus from most of my clients is that the pain level anywhere on the body, full saturation or line work getting a tattoo is pretty tolerable. I know you’ve seen those online videos of people screaming or whaling while being tattoo.  Most of the time that person is being dramatic.

My point is that 99% of the time most people are pleasantly surprised at how much it DID NOT hurt.

I’m heavily tattooed,  I would not look like this if the pain truly was just that terrible!  I’m not a masochist, I do not enjoy pain. I do however have a high pain tolerance and in general most everyone has a higher pain tolerance than they even expected.

I hope that this is enough information so you can make educated decision if a tattoo is going to hurt for you.

Some other Tips to help with tattoo pain:

Drink a lot of water the day before your tattoo appointment. This will hydrate the skin so the ink can be accepted easier and the needle can enter the skin easier.

Apply lotion on your skin a few days before your tattoo.

Be well rested so you can mentally deal with the pain. No hangovers!

Make sure you eat before your tattoo appointment. Your body gets depleted if you’re hungry and you won’t be able to manage your pain. Bring a snack!

If you feel I missed anything feel free to shoot me a message.

Please also comment and ask me anything you’d like.

Thanks again for reading this blog.