All the reasons I can come up with for getting a tattoo basically boil down to “because I want to.”
But, I’m sure there are some good reasons for NOT getting one.
If you’ve got real tattoo experience, please give me some reasons why I should NOT get a tattoo. Also, if your reason falls under the category of “risk,” please tell me how I can mitigate the risk.
No personal experience with tattoos, but most places have laws governing this. Being too young would probably count as a reason not to.
Where are you thinking about getting your ink, and what are you thinking about getting? Is your art something you’re going to want when you’re 30? …40? …50? Are you going to be willing to put sunscreen on it for the rest of your life?
I have talked young people out of getting tattoos, or rather made them think twice about getting a very visible tattoo. I have several myself and have no regrets, but I was over 30 before I got my first one.
I don’t recommend getting someone’s name, unless it’s your child.
I have a tattoo on my waist/belly. I can show it off if I want to, but no one knows it’s there unless I reveal it. If you are thinking of getting a tattoo in a very visible spot, do you care what people (family, employers) will think about it?
I wish they’d told me this when I got mine. They told me to stay out of the sun while it healed, naturally, but I don’t remember anything about sunscreen later. So my tattoo is fading a bit and I’ll need to get it touched up soon. When I can afford it, that is.
My advice if you’re thinking of getting a tattoo: Be sure you’ve thought it over long enough to be sure you’ll be happy with it forever. Does it mean something to you? Will it mean the same later? If it’s in an exposed area of skin, it it something you can handle showing the world every day for the rest of your life?
I’ll second that.
I’ve had mine for 18 years and was bored with it after about 5, sick of it after about 10, but I’ll have it forever. :smack:
When I got my tattoo 5 years ago I made sure of a few things:
-It had to be easily covered for employment and social gatherings. You’ll never know when you’ll get that nice job in the future. Or when you have to go to a golf outing with the boss wearing khaki shorts and a polo shirt. It should only really be visable sans t-shirt.
-It had to be timeless. Absolutely no trendy images (chinese symbols), no pop-culture icons (eric cartman, bart simpson, superman), no company logos (no fear, harley davidson)
As far as I’m concerned there aren’t any good reasons against getting one. Just don’t get anything in a place that can’t be covered up.
The only consistent reason I can think of is because you haven’t put enough thought into it. What constitutes “enough thought” is up to you.
Are you actually going to spend the time to find a good artist and shop? I didn’t and my first tattoo needs to be fixed 
(It actually looks fine, the colors just aren’t as vibrant as I wanted).
Here’s a reason not to: Because these days, you express more individuality by keeping your skin in its clear, inkless state than by getting something tattooed on it. I’ve got two tattoos in fairly unobtrusive places, and I like them OK, but I’d rather have none. (I’ve had one for 15 years, one for five.)
And I’d second the suggestion to think about it for a good long time, but instead of a month, I say consider it for one full year first. What’s a year, really, in the scope of your entire life?
Frame it this way:
Have you ever bought a piece of jewelry that you liked so much that you wanted to wear it all of the time? Did you ever tire of that piece of jewelry, take it off, and throw it in the drawer to be worn seldom, if ever, again? Now what if you could never remove that piece of jewelry?
A few months ago, a surgeon did a piece about this on NPR. A couple of high points:
If you ever get an MRI to check out an injury or internal problem, your tattoo will give you a serious burn.
If you ever have surgery for a tumor, you’ll probably have more lymph nodes removed than necessary. As your tattoo heals, the lymph nodes turn permanently black, so they look just like they’re cancerous.
Is there a cite for that online anywhere? I know Mythbusters is hardly a bastion of scientific sturdiness, but they did a pretty in-depth investigation that seemed to debunk that one.
Wrong. 20+ years ago, some tattoo inks contained traces of metal – before regulations were in place – and some people had bad MRI experiences as a result. Nowadays, there is almost no chance of tattoo ink containing any metal.
Almost wrong. The tumor would have to be in the same location as the tattoo, and even then I’m pretty sure that any competent surgeon would notice the tattoo and check the lymph nodes for pigmentation before simply removing them.
Good analogy, SparkyDog! If I’d thought of it that way, I probably wouldn’t have gotten any of my tattoos. I have 3, all un-visible (hm, that’s not a word is it) with ample clothing. I only like one of them - the one that is on the back of my shoulder that I can’t see. Turek, I highly recommend getting one in a place that you won’t have to see for the rest of your life, because eventually, you probably will get sick of looking at it. Also, if you’re not into the “pain” thing, avoid getting tattooed on the top of your foot! Speaking from experience, it’s NOT a good pain. I was this close to telling the tattoo artist to stop. I’ve also heard the hip/groin area is pretty painful. Another downside to having a tat in that area is if you gain weight or get pregnant, the stretch effect will leave your tattoo pretty funky looking.
I bet the kid I saw with “ANTISOCIAL” tattooed across his forehead wishes he had gotten some advice like this. :smack:
Thanks all for the replies.
I’m well over 30, so I’ve got that requirement out of the way. Where I’m thinking of putting it, it will covered by any shirt that I’m wearing. IF I decide to do it, what I’m thinking of is a pretty simple design, but I will research who is going to do it. I won’t do it for a a few months if I decide to. I heard someone recommend that you put the design on your bathroom mirror so you have to look at it every day for a period of time. I think a month would be too short. Trust me, if I get it done, it’s not gonna be a spur-of-the-moment act.
This is the most refreshing response I’ve seen in relation to tattoos. Although I would not get a tattoo because of the long term aspect of it I’m not against them for the artwork. I’m just conformable in the knowledge that my tastes will change as I age. I’m pushing 50 and I can’t imagine what I would have gotten as a tattoo at the age of 18, or 30. Those were different versions of the same person. I have shirts in my closet that are older than most of the people on this board but I don’t wear them anymore because the style doesn’t fit me or are not contemporary enough. What worked in the 70’s cannot be swapped with what I wear now and vice-versa.
On the flip side, if I could convince myself that I would be happy with a design then fading is something that can be dealt. Tattoos can always be re-inked (assuming the artwork wasn’t too complicated). It would have to be a very timely design. Anything that dates you to an era will end up dating you to that era.
Tattoos have always had a certain cutting edge aspect to it and that can easily be lost over time. Pick up an issue of Playboy from the 60’s and look at the clothing styles and then ask yourself is this something you would want to tie yourself to. You could end up looking like “Disco Stu” from the Simpsons.