I a few weeks I’m going to get a tattoo. I need some advice on how to prepare.
The good news is that the design I’m getting will be simple and fast. The bad news is that I’m afraid of needles, so a bit of mental fortification will be necessary.
So, what do I do?
Not get it.
Sorry, not a fan of tattoos and can’t imagine why anyone would want to endure pain, risk of infection and permanent mutilation for the sake of carrying around an image on their body… What if you don’t still like it in 10 years?
What is the motivation?
The only thing you have to do is decide whether the pain is worth the reward. You could also watch some people getting tattoos and see that nobody’s screaming or dying 
Placement affects how much pain you will have. Fatty body part is less painful than bony body part. I’ve had 2 tattoos, it’s not so bad. It’s also not at all like getting a shot at the dr. It does feel a bit like being carved on but if you want the tattoo you’ve gotta accept the pain that goes with it. Also, it won’t hurt much or for long so don’t be skeered.
The pain isn’t that overwhelming. I have four tats, so I’ve been under the needle before. As noted, fatty areas smart considerabley less than bony areas. You’ll be all right. IMO, it hurts about as much as a sunburn.
garygnu - I have two tattoos, one very large (my entire thigh) and one quite small (on my chest just below my shoulder) - happy to provide pics if you’d like. It sounds like yours is going to be more like the latter than the former, so:
Good news! It will probably take all of 10 minutes to do, no more than half an hour.
Whilst tattoos are applied with needles, it’s nothing like an injection or a piercing. The needle only penetrates the first couple of layers of the skin and you can’t feel it pushing through - it’s more akin to having something small and abrasive dragged along your skin.
How much colouring is involved in the design? If it’s mainly lines then it will be a very straightforward process. If there are sections that need filling in with any colour (including if it’s just black) that will take longer and will be a bit more uncomfortable as the tattooist will have to go over the same bit of skin repeatedly. Depending on how big it is, and how low your pain threshold is, you could opt to have it done in two sitting - outline first, colouring later.
Speaking of pain, I wouldn’t really call being tattooed that painful. Whilst I do admittedly have quite a high pain threshold it’s one of the less unpleasant things I’ve experienced, it’s more at the upper end of uncomfortable than painful. Again, see 3 in terms of how much colour is involved which will impact on how long/how unpleasant it will be. A lot of the pain is in your mind and the expectation of it though, and as I said in 2 you need to remove the needle bit from the equation as it’s not really that relevant IMO.
You say you know what design you want - good. Now, how long have you thought about this? I would recommend if someone wants to get a tattoo that they wait six months between deciding what they want and actually having it done. If you still want it then, chances are you’ll still like it in ten years (which is a valid concern, but not enough to not do it, IMO). I did this with both my designs and I love them just as much now as I did when I got them, which actually was ten years ago.
Aftercare is extremely important. Listen to the what the tattooist tells you to do. However, tips I would give as well:
[ul]
[li]Don’t expose it to sunlight until it’s healed, and even then try not to do that at all as this is the principle reason tats get fucked up[/li][li]Take care of the area like it’s a healing wound - don’t do anything strenuous with that area until it’s healed, don’t get someone elses body fluids on it, don’t pick at it[/li][li]DON’T PICK AT IT - it’s worth saying twice[/li][li]Moisturise the area with something but it has to be absorbant, something like E45. DO NOT, whatever you do, use Vaseline (somone I know did, against my advice, and her tattoo looked like a smeared mess because the tat couldn’t breathe)[/li][/ul]
Hopefully it goes without saying that the place you’re having it done is covered with the relevant health codes/licenses (that said where you are might not have them). Follow your instincts with the place you have it done, if it looks dirty or the people aren’t professional in any way then walk straight out and find somewhere else. It’s also probably an idea to ask the artist for some previous examples of their work to see a) if they’re any good and b) if it’s similar to what you want. Don’t be afraid to argue about style/colour/placement/anything - you have to wear it the rest of your life, not the tattooist.
I think that’s about it. Have fun, and welcome to the world of tattoos! 
The pain is minimal, depending on the location, and the risk of infection, hepatitis, AIDS, or any blood-borne pathogen is practically non-existent; any tattooist worth going to uses surgical sterilization (the Health Department of most municipalities demand it, as well as licensure).
Don’t drink alcohol beforehand; it thins the blood and might make the ink look watery (most tattooists won’t tattoo a drunk anyway; too many liability issues). I’d advise against painkillers, too. It helps to chew on a couple of pieces of bubblegum; gives you something to bite down on if the pain gets to be too much.
The pain is not like anything that can easily be described. It’s nothing like an injection; the tattoo machine barely goes into the first layers of skin. It’s kind of a vibrating/slight burning sensation…more irratating than actually painful. If you can survive a trip to the dentist without freaking out, getting a tattoo should be a walk in the park. As you are getting the work done, your body starts releasing endorphins to deal with the minor, but constant, pain, so you might actually come to like it.
I do.
I had a small tattoo inked on my left wrist (Sanskrit for ‘‘impermanent’’ if you’re curious)-- supposedly a more sensitive area. It didn’t hurt. Granted, I’m not afraid of needles and it took all of 10 minutes. If the tattoo were more extensive I could definitely see it getting a little unpleasant. Probably what you are expecting is instant pain, but it’s not really like that – you hardly feel it at first. As the needles passes over and over on your skin it begins to get a little irritated and raw, so the discomfort gradually increases. It’s more like being rubbed too hard or scratched repeatedly than a sharp, stabbing pain.
If you are really passionate about the tattoo, you’ve kicked the design around in your head for at least a year or two, and you think the emotional benefit to you outweighs the risk of gasp making a decision you regret, then the pain should really not be an issue. The pain is a relatively brief time compared to the years you will have to enjoy the result. Good luck and have fun!
Agreed. I’d say it feels like getting scratched repeatedly with a sharp instrument.
Or being poked at with a stick on sunburned skin.
More uncomfortable and annoying than painful.
Eat something before you go. And don’t scratch it while it’s healing no matter how much it itches.
My two cents about the sensation: feels like the corner of a razor blade being dragged along your skin. I didn’t think it was horribly painful but it hurt enough to move it from the “annoying” catagory to the “ouchie” catagory.
That makes me feel a little bit better. One of my biggest issues with needles is the depth*. My wife’s tattoo is very colorful, which is probably why it hurt as much as she describes (I wasn’t there.)
No color, only lines.
With a bit of inspiration from Wyland, I drew up a shark design two years ago on a trip to Maui, and decided to bite the bullet. I had already been mulling it over for a few years already, going so far as to chicken out moments after walking into the place in Reno my wife had hers done.
The people at the shop I decided on were nice, cheerful, and liked my design, but ultimately turned me away for having a slight sunburn on my shoulder. This gave me time to think it over and refine the design a bit.
*: What’s the difference between an ass-kisser and a brown-noser?
I would recommend getting a bigger tattoo first because if you can’t stand the pain/discomfort of a small one, you’ll never get a bigger one (if you have one in mind). I have a biggish (think large saucer or small plate) tat between my shoulder blades. The pain is constant and feels like someone scraping skin away, repeatedly. I was able to endure for 3 hours for the first sitting and then a 1/2 hour for the second sitting. By the end of the first sitting I felt exhausted, like I had just worked a physically intensive job for several hours. It was worth it. If you have a pretty good pain threshold, bring a book to read, bring your mp3 player, or be prepared to talk with the artist. Nothing really to it really. Show up, sit down, get inked, go home.
Seriously, how come every discussion about tattoos has to have a threadshitter? If you have an issue with tattoos start your own thread, but leave ours alone.
That’s what I did - my first tattoo took 12 hours in total (3.5 hours, 0.5 hours, 4 hours and the rest were 1s and 0.5 hour sessions). The four hour session was colouring - I limped home.
/Bragging
If you’ve been mulling it over for two years and it hasn’t changed drastically during that time (in your head), I’d say you’re good to go. Don’t forget to ask to see their books, and if you don’t like what they you see, leave and go somewhere else. Also, the fact that they turned you down due to some sunburn makes me think it’s a good place. A place that isn’t as good would have still done the work, this place has integrity. The fact that they would risk losing the sale then do bad tattoo is good thing.
Bummer - if you were a woman, I was going to tell you that cramps hurt worse (at least my tattoo hurt less than my cramps, and my cramps are pretty mild). Well, point of comparison for other readers, I guess. Provided they too have mild cramps.
I’m interested in the posters who say it’s not like getting a shot. I found it to be exactly like getting a shot, only it was lots of shots very quickly. As way of explanation, I guess I felt the initial “sting” part of a shot is very comparable to how a tattoo feels, just lots and lots of time. The burn of a shot - the burn you can sometimes feel as they inject you with, well, whatever they’re injecting you with - that’s missing from a tattoo. But I often describe the feeling of the tattooing process as getting a lot of very tiny shots very quickly.
It’s not all that painful - you’ll be right.
Have you ever watched a mosquito bite you. Ya know how that hurts. I like to say it’s like that over and over and over and over… I also compare it to having your skin scraped off with burning hot razor blades. In actuality that would probably hurt alot more.
What I normally tell people when they ask is that I WANT to be one of those people that say it doesn’t hurt, but I’m not, they hurt like hell. Of course, I’m dying to go back and get a 4th one.
Also, location makes a big difference. I’m pretty skinny, so the ones on my back hurt like hell, the one on my forearm wasn’t bad at all.
This is not a tattoo that will be regretted in 10 years, 20 years, or when she is 80. That is my wife’s latest tattoo. I’m not picking on you or calling you a threadshitter, just emphazing the point that some tattoos aren’t “permanant mutilation for the sake of carrying around an image on their body” and why some of us are willing to endure the pain. The risk of infection of very low if you use a reputable artist. You only really risk infection if you don’t care for it properly.
Snickers, I’ve always experienced a needle as a stabbing pain, not burning. Getting my tattoo felt like the skin was being scraped off, very abrasive. A tattoo “needle” is usually 4 or 5 needles in a row that is dragged across and into the skin. The pain was a little more than I expected but certainly within tolerable limits and I don’t have a high threshold for pain but I apparently have a high tolerance for it, when needed. I usually try to avoid pain at all costs, pain hurts ya know.
I was going to suggest drinking heavily, because that’s the only way I’d be able to go through with a tattoo! But yes, that’s bad, don’t do it. (Maybe one beer wouldn’t hurt. ;))
Anyway, I just wanted to comment on the design. It’s a shark? I LOVE sharks! I’m not a tattoo fan per se, but if I got one, it would definitely be of a shark. Post pics when it’s done, if you’re cool with that, please.
Yeah, I fell in love with sharks while scuba diving, while shooting video of one white tip in particular. In doesn’t hurt that I’m a big San Jose Sharks fan, either. (No, it’s not going to be their logo.)
I’ll definitely post pics when it’s done. I’m hesitant to post the design because I don’t want people messing with my head about that part. I like it, my wife likes it.
I’ll take the advice about checking out the previous work books, looking for good line work.
I haven’t decided between shoulder/arm and shoulderblade/back. Any thoughts?