Use of Painkillers

[slayer9019]

Fuck pain. I don't need to be reminded that I'm being punctured-I've got probably over 30 hours of tattooing on me' date=' I've been shot 3 times, stabbed, cut, beat, stomped, whomped, eye took out, and just generally abused. I can tell you about pain. And I can tell you that if you feel you need pain to make your tattoo a "real" experience, god bless you, you've probably never had any real-live pain, and I hope you never do.[/quote']

Very much agreed

[Colored Guy]

Fuck pain. I don't need to be reminded that I'm being punctured-I've got probably over 30 hours of tattooing on me, I've been shot 3 times, stabbed, cut, beat, stomped, whomped, eye took out, and just generally abused. I can tell you about pain. And I can tell you that if you feel you need pain to make your tattoo a "real" experience, god bless you, you've probably never had any real-live pain, and I hope you never do.

I'm around the same amount of hours of chair time, only been shot twice though, one a graze and the other I took the bullet. Had one major car accident that sidelined me from 1978-1983, another car accident in 2011 resulting in a nagging back injury. Any escape I can get from day-to-day pain, I'll take it. Better living through chemicals.

Rob

[Dan S]

I gotta rethink that chair-time thing...

If I go all the way back to the first pieces by Dale Grande, I probably have more on the order of 50-60 hours on me.

One of the shots was a graze, side of the head, (might account for a lot of things!) one was a .25 zip-gun in the lower leg, no major, and one was a .30 carbine round in the hip. That stung. The eye was the best, 8 surgeries, all before the used lasers, before they took it out. You have to experience someone slicing into your eyeball with a knife to truly appreciate fine, quality pain.

I wouldn't use any numbing cream or painkiller-type stuff for, say, 3 or 4 hours of work on an arm, but for long sessions on sensitive parts, bring it on!

[Colored Guy]

I gotta rethink that chair-time thing...

If I go all the way back to the first pieces by Dale Grande, I probably have more on the order of 50-60 hours on me.

One of the shots was a graze, side of the head, (might account for a lot of things!) one was a .25 zip-gun in the lower leg, no major, and one was a .30 carbine round in the hip. That stung. The eye was the best, 8 surgeries, all before the used lasers, before they took it out. You have to experience someone slicing into your eyeball with a knife to truly appreciate fine, quality pain.

I wouldn't use any numbing cream or painkiller-type stuff for, say, 3 or 4 hours of work on an arm, but for long sessions on sensitive parts, bring it on!

You a mess... my graze was to my left upper arm, not even a scar now it was so long ago. The one in my right calf was a zip gun.. .22 cal. Me & my buddy (age 13..) made a gun and were testing it in his garage. It worked... and I thought I got a piece of cement in my leg where it hit the block wall... wrong, the slug went in. Not wanting anyone to know, we doctored it up right in the garage, lifted the meaty flap of skin up and the mashed slug came right with tweezers. A little peroxide and some surgical powder, it was covered with a bandaid and healed up.

I'm up around 25-30 hours of work on me, only really felt uncomfortable in the chair a couple of times and I was not medicated at all.

Rob

[Dan S]

You a mess... my graze was to my left upper arm, not even a scar now it was so long ago. The one in my right calf was a zip gun.. .22 cal. Me & my buddy (age 13..) made a gun and were testing it in his garage. It worked... and I thought I got a piece of cement in my leg where it hit the block wall... wrong, the slug went in. Not wanting anyone to know, we doctored it up right in the garage, lifted the meaty flap of skin up and the mashed slug came right with tweezers. A little peroxide and some surgical powder, it was covered with a bandaid and healed up.

I'm up around 25-30 hours of work on me, only really felt uncomfortable in the chair a couple of times and I was not medicated at all.

Rob

That's just the high-points...

When I caught the .25, my cuz and I were booking from a rather large group discussion being held under the Dan Ryan by several of the local youth groups. The rollers came up, and everone took off. We got back to the block, and we were arguing about which of us got hit, cause there was blood all over both of our lower legs. Got inside, turned out it was me-hadn't even felt it. Slug was barely under the skin, so my cuz popped it out with a pocket knife, lil iodone and I was all good to go.

The .30 cal, well, I ended up in a horsepistol in Mex City for that one, but that's a whole other story!

[hgiles]

Most of the time I don't take anything, but when Chad K tattooed my ribs I changed my stance on it.

[Dan S]

Ribs do kinda suck, don't they?!

Not looking forward to having my right side done...I've got the design good to go, and I guess I could afford it, but I'ma give it a rest for a minit. Gotten so much work done in the last half-year I kinda want to heal a bit.

[eisen777]

Most of the time I don't take anything, but when Chad K tattooed my ribs I changed my stance on it.

He is doing from bottom of my neck to the ditch of my knees, so I really dont mind "a little help from my friends". Hes one of two tattooers who test my endurance and make most other feel like nothing.

[slayer9019]

Ribs do kinda suck, don't they?!

Not looking forward to having my right side done...I've got the design good to go, and I guess I could afford it, but I'ma give it a rest for a minit. Gotten so much work done in the last half-year I kinda want to heal a bit.

Isn't great that all the shitty spots to get tattooed are in pairs? Ribs, armpit area, ditch of the knee, ditch of the arm. At least after you get one, you only got one more left to do!

[tatB]

Bumping this old thread because I liked to hear if anyone has anything new to add...

also old friend @Dan S shared some great stories in this thread.

[OutOfIdeas]

Bumping this old thread because I liked to hear if anyone has anything new to add...

also old friend @Dan S shared some great stories in this thread.

Nothing new to add, except to say I wish he still posted. Always enjoyed his stories and insight.

[CABS]

Au natural, baby. Just sleep the night before, a good meal before hand, and a Gatorade.

[Bunny Switchblade]

Pain killers fuck everything up.....makes it worse.....at least the time or two it was offered to me as an option and I chose it!

Some one told me if your going to take something then take an anti-anxiety med......just to relax you.....but honestly I wouldn't take anything anymore that isn't prescribed specifically for me!

People get all hyped up and syke themselves out and make it worse for themselves sometimes!

It hurts.....it is temporary pain though! :)

[Nazara]

I know mine hurt allot. I would recommend drinking plenty of fluids before hands it defiantly hurt when mine hit the collar bone.

[Fala]

I still take herbs to keep me relaxed and to help me sit well. I don't get tattooed as often as I like, around once every 9-12 months, so am usually fairly nervous and need the extra push to stay relaxed for better pain management - especially with lining sessions.

[Mick Weder]

Pain meds & alcohol. A great combo, at anytime. Especially for breakfast.

"Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

[Pugilist]

I was talking to an acquaintance about this recently, and they take a lot of stuff while getting tattooed, while I never have. We were discussing our different approaches and came to the conclusion that it's a bad idea to experiment with prescription painkillers for the first time when getting tattooed. This person is fairly happy to experiment with various drugs in their day to day life, and so they know how they react to things fairly well and know what to expect. It's a pretty informed choice for them to drug themselves up for a tattoo. But even they said that for me, someone who has almost no experience with things like prescription painkillers, and who feels kind of anxious about that stuff, a tattoo is not the time to try new things. We all react differently to medication and there are better and worse times to experiment!

[Hogrider]

I just had my elbow done yesterday for my sleeve and it was just as awful as the last one. For myself, when a particularly bad session is over, I feel a sense of accomplishment about getting through it. No offense meant to the pussies that use pills and numbing cream! haha. Only kidding, I only judge myself.

[gougetheeyes]

I can vouch for @Fala 's herbal tincture! I took it on three different occasions and while I know it helped all three times, there was one session where I could definitely tell a big difference. Could still feel everything, but was more relaxed/separated. Only thing I've ever taken.

[Swifty]

I sat for 9 hours for my first tattoo and I didn't think it was that hard... until he started some fine line work in the ditch in the last hour, I honestly considered strangling him. I imagine ribs are just as awful, not gonna lie, anything to take the edge off must be nice.

[Cork]

I use them to calm my mind for my back sessions. I'm not sure what I'll use them for in the future. Going in to the back it took me a good 4 or 5 sessions to decided I wanted to hop on to pain killers. I would get pretty bad anxiety and it really helped me. I would be a wreck for the couple days leading up to a session. Even for an appointment that was on my right butt cheek when I had already felt a session on my left butt while being straight. So I knew I could handle it, but I am my own worst enemy. I kept thinking over and over in my head "What if I have to tap out and can't last the session." I just wanted to get the most of my time and Dana's time.

In the future, I may use them for another multiple session piece where I get an idea of what it feels like first, then decide whether or not to use them for subsequent sessions. It really helps clear the mind.

[Dan]

what I do before and during a tattoo is this,

1)don't party hard the night before(no alcohol),get a good night's sleep, & pre-hydrate the day & night before with water or something with electrolytes(gatorade & most sports drinks)

2) eat a good meal right before

3)bring 2 or 3 bottles of water or sports drinks with electrolytes,a banana,skittles & M&M's,and maybe some jerkey all to munch on & drink during.(keeping your sugars,proteins & potassium levels up).

4)*like was said,if you have high anxiety,maybe take something like 1 or 2 mg of Lorazepam to relax you a little before & during the tattoo.

5) most important ! NEVER DRINK ALCOHOL BEFORE OR DURING A TATTOO !

[tatB]

@Cork thanks for sharing. i think i have similar anxiety leading up to the appointment and i'm more worried about the anxiety/restlessness than the pain. i'm going to ask my doctor to prescribe me some anxiety meds to help with my anxiety about buying anxiety meds from shady characters.

[OnyxRose]

I have a bad back, courtesy of a hip that threw itself out twice when I was 26, and since then if I stay in one position for too long my lower back gets locked up and really sore. Most days I take some ibuprofen or naproxen to help with the pain and stiffness, but the day of my tattoo appointment I didn't take any because I'd read all over the place not to take painkillers in advance.

While the tattoo did hurt (I mean... hello, getting jabbed with needles a few thousand times hurts!), by the end of the session my back was much more sore than getting the tattoo had been. It was only an hour and a half long sitting, but I had to lie almost perfectly flat on my back the whole time, only had a couple minutes break when he switched machines for the shading. Next time I expect that the session will be longer, so I'll take my painkillers in advance to prevent my back from getting cranky, and maybe to help with the needle pain too (though that would be secondary).

I did happen to muse about that when I was talking to my tattooer afterward, and he said he nearly always takes a couple Advil before he gets tattooed. He said it helps take the edge off and didn't seem to cause any trouble with excess bleeding in his experience.

[gougetheeyes]

5) most important ! NEVER DRINK ALCOHOL BEFORE OR DURING A TATTOO !

During the outline on my stomach, I definitely crushed two beers back to back. I think that's only the second time I've had a drink during a tattoo but I gotta say it helped a ton and healed fine (it was just the outline).