How truly painful is a tattoo?

[Jules]

I don't know if this will work, but if it does, I'd want something like that but without the bird cage and I'd want the birds flying from bottom to top, not right to left.

[Jules]

Drag a safety pin across your skin firmly.

Unless you're getting color. Then it feels different. More vibration.

I tried and it didn't really hurt haha

[Maditude]

I can't imagine that tattoo being very painful. Just do it.

[incognito]

If I find that it does hurt bad, can I stop and get it finished another time? Or is it better to get the whole thing done at once.

I personally would never do this. Neither of my artists have allowed me to tap out. 9/10 people who leave during a session will never muster the courage to ever return, and then you'll just have a shitty unfinished tattoo forever.

Personally? I would describe a tattoo as feeling like a mildly uncomfortable burning. Like what I'd imagine if you lit the tip of a sewing needle and dragged it across your skin while it's still hot. It isn't unbearable. I have THE worst pain tolerance in the WORLD - like I literally cry when I'm at the dentist for a simple cleaning, and I run out of the doctor's offices when they pull out needles for immunizations, etc...etc...I can't handle papercuts, splinters, NOTHING...

...and yet I can get tattoos. Idk if it's the adrenaline rush or what that gets me through. My general mantra is that if I can get a tattoo, then anyone can, simply because I am THAT much of a pussy. My first tattoo was on my feet - a notoriously painful place. My second was on my ribs - another notoriously painful place. I can't say that I have personal experience with the shoulder, but nearly all of my friends who have tattoos have some type of shoulder piece and say that it wasn't that bad.

I have my anti-tragus's done - which are thicker pieces of cartilage than the regular tragus piercing...and let's just say, I got one prior to any tattoos, and I didn't think it hurt very bad. I got my second one done after both of my tattoos - the same day as my second one, actually, and I screamed bloody fricken' murder. I swear up and down that was the worst pain ever in the entire world - NOT my ink. Lol.

[Kay]

Honestly, it really does depend on location. I have a tattoo on my shoulder. I remember the pain was not bad at all compared to, say, my foot tattoos. The most painful was the back of my neck (It burnt like nothing I have ever felt) and my wrist. I have both tattooed and it felt like someone was dragging a razor slowly across my wrist. The worst part for me with every tattoo I have was the outline. Didn't matter where that was, it hurt - but they do that part first so after, the coloring is not bad. Hey, maybe you'll be one of those people who orgasm from getting tattooed. You'll never know until you try!

Also, as they said, your own pain tolerance level should be considered. I personally get used to feelings fast, if that makes any sense. Pleasurable or painful, after I feel it for a certain amount of time I just don't feel it anymore. Isn't that wierd? ha.. anyways, tattoos are going to be painful no matter where it is. You just have to grin and bear it because tattoos are beautiful works of art, and are most definetely worth the pain.

[Duck4Cover]

It all depends on where your getting it.
I have over 15 tattoos, the ones that hurt the least were on my arms.
The ones that hurt the most were on my chest/ribs.

Another factor is how much coloring/filling they have to do.

[jet]

@(you need an account to see links)

I think that's a question that can't truly be answered. Pain tolerance between people is different. I'm happy to share my experiences though.

There are a few different things to keep in mind when trying to decide the pain level.

1.) How skinny are you? If you have no fat or are tattooing an area where there is no fat it's more painful.
2.) LOCATION! Shoulders, arms, and generally places with more fat or skin between the needle and the bone is less painful.
3.) Does your piece have lots of lines or colouring? Shading is less painful then lining.
4.) How anxious are you going into it? The mind plays terrible tricks on the body. If you are scared out of your mind... it's going to be a lot worse for you than if your cool calm and collected.

My personal experiences are I have 3 tattoos. I have 2 on my wrists and a large back piece. Getting a tattoo is actually not the kind of pain you would expect at all. At least it wasn't for me. My expectation was having like a vaccine needle injected into me 1,000's of times and that just isn't what it feels like at all. The feeling really isn't like penetration into your skin in my opinion. It's more like a nagging scraping feeling. Like a vibrating scrapey feeling. I think the closest thing you could experience is taking maybe a sharpish steak knife and dragging it along the top of your skin without a lot of pressure. If you are bleeding your doing it way too hard lol. It's slightly unsettling particularly because of the vibration but it is far out of the realm of intolerable. It's not something that you are going to cry the whole time and be traumatized.

My wrists really didn't hurt very much towards the center of the wrist was a bit more uncomfortable because you can feel the vibration in your bone. On a scale of 1-10 I'd say probably a 4.

My large back piece was mostly cake. Very little of it hurt much at all. When they hit the shoulder blades though that's the worse pain I've felt to date (from a tattoo). That felt something like a stab and actually sent shots of pain down my whole arm for a little while. I believe I squeaked and drank some more beer lol.

My husband is tattooed all over and he maintains the absolute worst spot he's had done was on the inside elbow. He said he got light headed. Though he didn't really say the pain was awful just that he got light headed and had to take a break. I believe the words were "It was rough"

Anyway I think that's about all the info I have to share. I tried to be super descriptive I hope it helps

I love tattoos I have plans for many more and I absolutely feel the pain is minimal. I also have piercings. I would absolutely say that the piercing of my eyebrow hurt significantly worse than any of my tattoos

----- EDIT

I just saw what you are thinking about getting. It's beautiful btw. That has a LOT of lining and dark black color. So that will be more painful. Still tolerable but as far as pain goes you picked one that's probably gonna suck a little more than others if you know what I mean lol. When lining they use a smaller needle and just one I believe. When you shade and use colours they use these bigger things and several needles at a time which is a lot less painful.

Also, the pain I had in my shoulder blade I have talked to other people who have large back pieces and they did not have that experience like I did. So it really does matter person to person.

[Jules]

Aw thank you that helped a lot!! I definitely have to think about it and decide if I do want it now or if I should wait till I'm a little older.

[DrSloth]

i depends on wich part of your body you want the tattoo, i have two and pretend do have more

[Jolz]

I want something a little more descriptive than the usual "it hurts" answer you'll see when you google it. My mom feels bad that I never did anything for my sixteenth birthday like all of my friends did, and I've wanted a certain tattoo with a lot of meaning behind it for years now, so she's considering letting me get it. I'm just worried about how much it'll actually hurt. It'll be on my right shoulder blade and going up to the top of my shoulder. It isn't one big thing, it's individual small black birds. Also, how bad is the healing process? Thanks to everyone who answers (:

get a butter knife, press hard against the area you want to get done, scrape down.

This is what it feels like to me and I have an arm full of them, hand included... it still feels the same