Are tattoos painful?

I always say to my clients – pain is relative and differs from person to person, what I deemed to be sore or irritable may not be the same in your experience. Tattoo artists are always mindful of their clients and the discomfort they may be experiencing during their session and we always do our best to make sure the client is safe from harm no matter what position they are in.

I want to tell you a story about a client we had in the studio last year sometime.  She is a recovering addict that wanted injection scars covered on her thighs. We went through the whole consultation process and all the formalities and she was very forthcoming about her journey and very honest about her situation and the condition of her skin… somewhere along the line, however, we overlooked the fact that her scars were not only scars but actual dugouts.

Now if you have ever got a tattoo over something like a scar in general, you may be able to relate to the emotions I’m about to share, it is not at all pleasant getting a tattoo over scarring for those of you that may not know and yes, more so than an ordinary tattoo on fresh clean skin. Just by looking at the scars in person, I could tell this lady had definitely been through some stuff and I myself felt quite overwhelmed by the situation

I knew what was coming and I knew what she was about to endure over and above the mental pain she has already overcome by just being in the studio, I have never personally witnessed a person pushing themselves so far to get rid of past trauma before that and I was both horrified and in awe at the same time, she went into shock 20 minutes into her session, shaking uncontrollably, screaming and crying.. now at this point we normally call the session, wrap up and ask the client to return another time.

So we stopped and cared for her and she insisted we continue, this had to get done and it had to be finished, we respect the client’s wishes when they are in no immediate danger.  I can never express the excitement I felt when the session was over, not because I wanted her out of there, but because the overwhelming sense of joy I personally experienced for her is unexplainable, she did it! Pain, shock, screaming, crying and all!

I’m not trying to compare apples to apples and I will say it again – we all experience things like pain differently, but the honour lies in getting over the fear and getting the tattoo anyway.

I know I still haven’t answered this question but it always becomes difficult to answer when asked directly ‘cause I can tell you right now – the pain that you feel stubbing your toe is unexpected and the words “that is the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced” comes out your mouth the same way you tell yourself you’ll never drink again during a monster hangover.

I can’t say if it’s because it is abrupt and unexpected or if you’re just angry that the couch stepped in your way but when you’re purposefully sitting for a tattoo and you are voluntarily ready for what is about to come, do you mentally prepare yourself differently? Are you expecting the worst and when the procedure is not that bad do you write it off as “great, I got a pain discount – I can definitely handle this!”

The scientific answer is technically yes – tattoos are painful and they do hurt and that is because the artist is using very small needles to deposit ink into the dermis, (The inner layer of the two main layers of the skin) and yes, you are going to experience irritation and swelling to the area, and yes it is a bit raw a day or two after your session.

I will tell you, however, that indeed the dry flaky stage of the tattoo is THE MOST PAINFUL for me. That healing itch is generally unbearable and my tattoo artist threatened to cut my fingers off if I scratch, I’m a picker guys sooo… my pain stems from fear of taking my artist seriously and respect for my new dermal adornment, it is still legitimate pain to me and may not be as severe as you think pain should seem, relativity guys, it’s a real thing.

As an afterthought…

There is this video I came across, and I think it may do well answering this question once and for all. It is a documentary project by a group of international tattoo artists named “The brutal black project” – just a heads up, it will consume 15 minutes of your time and the video may be deemed NSFW and is definitely not for the squeamish – but this may also serve as an introduction into another dimension of the tattoo universe and I do encourage each and every one of you to go watch it. I believe very strongly that it is an incredible answer to this particular question.

The video does push the idea to the extreme and it may seem harsh at first but if you can see past the physical actions of the artists and their clients, the bad language and some of the gore – the premise of the project is for people to push themselves through their physical limits, be it pain or whatever other limitations they impose on themselves, once you have succumbed to those limits – “everything is new” where and what you thought your tolerance may or may not have been no longer exists and in having the ability to push yourself passed those restrictions, who knows where you can go from there.

Here it is:

This is why most call tattooing therapy and you can definitely accomplish the same by getting your first or smallest tattoo don’t let the extreme circumstances stop you from doing something that you want to do.