Enjoying Tattoos ?

[VenomX]

Had my first tattoo at the beginning of this month and then a second one last week. Waiting for them both to heal before I get my next one which will be a bigger one.

 

I personally find the feeling quite therapeutic, and like looking after the tattoo once it's been done..  It's not as uncomfortable as having an injection or blood test in my opinion, how about you guys. Before I had my first one I thought it would be painful but i was wrong 😄

Edited May 27, 2019 by VenomX

[Amit Levy]

I kinda relate with that xD

But I am kind of used to enjoying pain I have "earned" throw hard work.

No idea have long were you sessions but after 6+ hours it starts getting annoying unless you got a good talk or listening to music.

[VenomX]

2 minutes ago, Amit Levy said:

I kinda relate with that xD

But I am kind of used to enjoying pain I have "earned" throw hard work.

No idea have long were you sessions but after 6+ hours it starts getting annoying unless you got a good talk or listening to music.

Each of mine were like 15mins most lol. 

Starting off small and will only get my next one once these have settled in to make sure I know how to look after them properly and give my body enough rest and recovery after.

[Dan]

1 hour ago, VenomX said:

Had my first tattoo at the beginning of this month and then a second one last week. Waiting for them both to heal before I get my next one which will be a bigger one.

 

I personally find the feeling quite therapeutic, and like looking after the tattoo once it's been done..  It's not as uncomfortable as having an injection or blood test in my opinion, how about you guys. Before I had my first one I thought it would be painful but i was wrong 😄

Hi, it is therapy in a way for me, getting tattooed is such an intimate experience,the entire process from consultation to mentally preparing and physically preparing the day before and the day of,eating good,pre-hydrating,good sleep the night before,mentally over coming the pain,to the after healing,etc,etc. is a process I enjoy.

[AverageJer]

I was explaining to my daughter that it's both exhausting and exhilarating in a weird way. I find the first cut hurts and then it doesn't hurt for a while and then after awhile it hurts again. I also find the shading worse than the lines but my wife disagrees with this. I think the longest I've sat for a tattoo is about 3-4 hours but I don't have anything at all on my left arm so maybe someday. 

 

[VenomX]

Yeah i get sort of numb after the initial bit is done

[Princess Sparkle Mittens]

Well, it releases adrenaline and endorphins, so...yeah, it hurts and yet it can be exhilarating. I enjoy being tattooed, both the experience and the perma-art. 

[JAC1961]

I agree, I put off getting my first tattoo because of my fear of injections and blood draws.  They are completely different.  A tattoo, to me, is more of a scratching sensation, where an injection is a sharp poke.  Tell the truth, I think getting tattooed has helped minimize my fear of the medical jazz.  Your mind set is also different.  You want the tattoo and are looking forward to it, whereas the shots and draws not so much.

Two other factors.  I've found there is difference in artists, some are definitely more heavy handed than others.  Also it amazes me how much of a difference there is within just a few inches.  The outside of the bicep, directly below the shoulder only feels like a vibration.  But move around to the underarm... yikes!  Feels like they're pealing the skin right off.

[oboogie]

I find the liner hurts more than the shading. I get some kind of rush from it, but it is difficult to explain to people who aren't pretty heavily tattooed. I've sat for about five hours in the past. It get worse and worse as the time passes after about the third hour.

Come talk to me after you've done more than 15 minutes. That's nothing. My Mom has done that, and she's in her 70s. Haha.

[Amit Levy]

Personality I feel like coloring large areas is the moat painful part, tho it might be just cus I had a 8.5 hours coloring session xD.

[soraya]

 

This is one of my favorite tattoo topics: The experience of tattooing.

I find tattooing therapeutic, enjoyable, exhilarating, empowering, painful, agonizing and annoying all at once. I echo Dan’s comments about the importance of the process. It is a ritual of planning, creating, collaborating, preparing, enduring, healing, and loving the result. I love every part of it.

And as @Dan said, it is intimate, which is appealing to me. Not sexual intimacy, but the intimacy of permitting and trusting someone who is basically a stranger to touch you, to wound you, to permanently alter you body. You may be largely unclothed in front of them (my husband and I dated for over a year before he saw my breasts. My tattoo artist was touching them within 15 minutes of me meeting him).

The pain? I like it…No! I hate it…No! It’s not that bad!…Well, sometimes it is bad, and I hate it. But I like it….Well…I don’t really like it… blah blah blah.

The bottom line is, it is a pain I choose, no one that was inflicted on me unexpectedly. I don’t like it, but I like that I am able to endure it, I like that it challenges me and pushes my limits, And I love, LOVE the result.

[cyoonit123]

@soraya You are a much more creative/profound writer than I. 

My gf's a phlebotomist and she told me the reason people are more afraid of blood draws/shots compared to tattoos is because of the difference in the needles and amount of penetration. Shots/blood draws have to go deep beyond the layers of the skin while tattoos (hopefully lol) are only going through a few layers of the skin. No idea if this is actually backed by any science but I love her so i'm going to go with it for now 😉

But I agree with people here. It's a therapeutic painful experience. 3 hours is my tipping point where the adrenaline is gone and it becomes miserable. 

[scottyg]

I've got no love for the pain: it's just three hours of pain. No adrenaline kicks in, I'm just getting stabbed repeatedly in my back while lying on my stomach naked, trying to talk as much as possible and to breathe through the pain. 

It's all about gaman: perseverance. I only ever do 3 hour sessions with breaks.

It's about the rhythm of life and integrating sessions into that rhythm.

The pain makes me discover my body in ways I'd no idea. haha.

It's about doing something for me, only me; reconnecting with my body and focusing my mind in ways I've not done otherwise or previously.

I do enjoy the me time. The ritual. The worst is having to take a shower when I get home. I just want to drink a pint and go to bed. But I've got to clean and coat my back. ugh.

My tattooer rules; so much fun to shoot the shit with him, such a great artist with his own style and yet traditional. So part of it is being connected with him and with a certain tradition which I've chosen to be connected to.

So like most long term things we go through in life, it's not so much about enjoying it. But I guess I'm heavily tattooed individual now. haha

[bongsau]

I have friends who talk about how they want their sleeves and tattoos, but don't want any part of the pain.

-- I don't get that.

Never have, never will.

The pain is part of the tattoo process. Suck it up or embrace it. If you skip the pain, you're missing out on a major part of the tattoo experience in my opinion. The pain is temporary, the tattoo is permanent....well, i don't even know about that. Life is temporary.

[bongsau]

I want to feel ALL of that tattoo.

The best.

The worst.

The excitement.

The vulnerability.

The fear.

The anxiety.

The confidence.

The strength.

The power.

I have found a lot of peace and healing through the pain. Some people don't get that and can't. Some of you will no exactly what I'm talking about.

Embrace that shit.

 

[Amaranthe]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 9:24 PM, AverageJer said:

I was explaining to my daughter that it's both exhausting and exhilarating in a weird way. I find the first cut hurts and then it doesn't hurt for a while and then after awhile it hurts again. I also find the shading worse than the lines but my wife disagrees with this. I think the longest I've sat for a tattoo is about 3-4 hours but I don't have anything at all on my left arm so maybe someday. 

I definitely understand the exhausting thing, when I go to bed after I've been  tattooed I'm out like a light, the shorter the time the less sleep I get but after my recent chest piece that took 5.5 hours I crashed for over 16 hours.

 

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 9:24 PM, AverageJer said:

 

 

[Princess Sparkle Mittens]

On 6/14/2019 at 1:34 PM, bongsau said:

I have friends who talk about how they want their sleeves and tattoos, but don't want any part of the pain.

 

 

I hear this too, but tattoos really aren't that painful. Sure, they hurt, and some spots hurt more than others, but it's not unbearable. Especially since you can break larger pieces up into shorter sessions. 

Tattoo pain is way overhyped. 

[scottyg]

40 minutes ago, Princess Sparkle Mittens said:

I hear this too, but tattoos really aren't that painful. Sure, they hurt, and some spots hurt more than others, but it's not unbearable. Especially since you can break larger pieces up into shorter sessions. 

Tattoo pain is way overhyped. 

 

I'm no bitch but at times my backpiece using tebori has been absolutely excruciating. You power through it, you find ways, but at times it does feel unbearable....

[Princess Sparkle Mittens]

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend newbies start with a full back piece. But the arms and legs aren't that bad, except for ditches and joints. 

 

[oboogie]

3 hours ago, Princess Sparkle Mittens said:

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend newbies start with a full back piece. But the arms and legs aren't that bad, except for ditches and joints. 

 

To you. It varies greatly person to person. 🙂

[JasonTO]

On 6/13/2019 at 6:47 AM, cyoonit123 said:

@soraya You are a much more creative/profound writer than I. 

My gf's a phlebotomist and she told me the reason people are more afraid of blood draws/shots compared to tattoos is because of the difference in the needles and amount of penetration. Shots/blood draws have to go deep beyond the layers of the skin while tattoos (hopefully lol) are only going through a few layers of the skin. No idea if this is actually backed by any science but I love her so i'm going to go with it for now 😉

But I agree with people here. It's a therapeutic painful experience. 3 hours is my tipping point where the adrenaline is gone and it becomes miserable. 

Taking blood is exactly that: it's literally sucking the life force out of you. I can't look because the sight of my blood being siphoned into that beaker makes me noxious. No such issue watching a tattoo needle do its work. 

[piccalilli]

On 11/22/2019 at 12:14 AM, JasonTO said:

Taking blood is exactly that: it's literally sucking the life force out of you. I can't look because the sight of my blood being siphoned into that beaker makes me noxious. No such issue watching a tattoo needle do its work. 

I cannot do either. I routinely get lightheaded (or actually feint) when I have blood drawn, though.