LizBee

I have worked for a plastic surgeon for almost 30 years and much of this issue could relate to the body site itself, possibly combined with the actual technique used to create the particular design (shading and color, with more vigorous application). Reds are notorious, though there is no agreement on which reds, and what people are sensitive to what pigments, etc. The lower anterior (aka pretibial) leg is the worst spot for healing due to the poor blood flow and the fact that the lower leg is under pressure as we walk and support our weight. So, if you're contemplating another tattoo I'd wager if it is not located in this area the odds are good that you won't have a similar experience. Considering your good result overall it would not stop me either.

That's the kind of thing I'm contemplating. Curious if anyone else has done this or thought about it

This is a reply to a completely different thread, no clue how it wound up in the middle of this one. My apologies! It should be removed

Posted in error

My husband and I had 3 kids, girls, and when they were all tiny I had their names tattooed around my ankle in a decorative style like an anklet, with tiny leaves and flowers. The oldest is now 26 and non-binary with a new name, and one of the twins, aged 19, is now a trans man, and also has a different name than what's on my ankle. I adore my kids and I love the new names they've chosen, which suit them well. We are very close and I want to add their new names to my tattoo collection. I am curious how others who have also had this experience have handled it as it relates to tattoos. I have no intention of crossing out or erasing the birth names, and my kids do not expect that, of course, since that was our family truth at the time, but I'm trying to find a super creative way to honor their new names alongside the original tattoo to reflect the transition, perhaps. To me, the only names I would ever have tattooed on me is those of my children, so even though this will make it kind of look like I have 5 kids, or that I have some baby daddies I'm adding to the mix (??) when someone looks at my leg, I can't really be concerned about that, but I would like to add the names and somehow integrate them logically and artistically. I'd love to see how others may have addressed this conundrum! I know I'm not the only one 😃

I have trouble getting to my "happy place" if I have anyone with me, and, in general, I think it is a distraction for most everyone. If the person is cool, the artist is okay with it, and they know how to behave and blend into the scenery then it can be fine. So often it is like these nightmare scenarios described above, however, and that's what ruins it for the cool kids, as usual...

I have had both ankles, both outer arms and both shoulders/shoulder blades, and all the way around one upper arm almost to the elbow. The worst is a tie between my ankle and the inner biceps. The ankle was a coverup of Kanji and had to be pretty heavily shaded. It took about 2.5 hours, not bad at all, but the table paper after I was done had a Liz-shaped damp spot, lol. I didn't make a peep but clearly suffered! My inner bicep actually swelled up and was hot to the touch for about 3 days after, making everyone wonder about infection, but it was NOT, just a lymph response and was totally fine. Shoulder blades were no problem, like the upper arm, even collarbone was okay, just a very odd vibration that went through my entire body. I need my other inner bicep done (feel odd not having this design creep all the way around the arm) but am putting it off because of the other side. Worth it in the end!

@Boiled Dove that is tight! Excellent work and love the design

Brand new shoulderblade piece, 4 days old. Inspired by the cedar waxwing, my favorite bird, and my grandma's pansies (she would have been 120 years old on Friday!) Tattoo by Darcy Nutt at the Richmond convention, blending in beautifully with her previous work the past two years on my SA cichlid/floral half-sleeve. I'm definitely one of Darcy's "nuts" P.S. All of Darcy's tattoos are free hand

I actually found my artist telling me, "almost done!" or "just another 10 minutes..." to be less helpful than intended, because it never wound up being what I interpreted to be the predicted amount of time. If nothing was said at all I would have much preferred it, and would have been less cranky, lol. I also agree with @Synesthesia, and prefer as few breaks as possible. Fortunately, the artists I have worked with thus far have required remarkably few breaks, if any, and I didn't, so the starting back up again after a break was minimized. Just power through, please....

I'm curious about this too. I have had a 6.5 hour session as my longest, and it honestly wasn't bad until about the last 45 minutes when I started to really have to concentrate on keeping myself in my zone. It was at a convention and I was sitting in a folding metal chair, so not even close to ideal circumstances, but my artist lives across the country from me, and this was the time - either sit or not finish the work at all until next year. Breathing was really the thing that helped the most. This time I found that when my husband, my best friend in the whole world, was there sitting with me, I couldn't concentrate on getting to my proper place very well, and I did much better when he wasn't there. My most recent work was only about 3.5 hours (I thought it was 3, my husband, who was waiting for me, said it was 4, so I'm splitting the difference - it could NOT have taken that long!) and was on my inner bicep and this was way more uncomfortable, and I'd trade it for the 6.5-hour session any day. I pretty much had to concentrate the whole time. This time I was lying down on a nice, cushy massage table, but I was still at a convention. Overall the environment was much better. However, this time, shorter but more painful overall, I needed my husband there to offer support, and it was easier to zone out and count the dots in the acoustic ceiling tiles, lol. I'm interested in how the folks do it when they're being worked on for hours and hours by two artists, say, or, like you, @Charles.M, for a super long session, where your body starts to betray you. As a 50-year-old female who has had her share of babies and made it through various injuries and painful experiences, I feel like I'm pretty stoic, but I don't know how I'd handle some of the tattooing sessions I have seen others endure.

Update: Redness and swelling all gone now (started improving last night, 48 hours after) and I emailed my artist, who assured me that this can happen in the upper inner arm, especially after having been worked on for so long. Now the tattoo is healing normally under my trusty layer of Tegaderm (that has been on the whole time, since a few hours after getting it done) and we're back to what I'm used to. My poor boss (a surgeon - we see so much MRSA and other difficult infections) was CERTAIN I had a terrible infection and was terrified for me yesterday, insisting I start antibiotics, but I reassured him, and now he can see it is fine. Cool thing is he's getting an education about healing tattoos from me, since he has zero understanding about any of it, lol.

Well, I hope I'm not discouraging anyone with my complaints, lol! I am SO glad to have completed this part of my arm, since to me it always looked kind of odd (on me) to see the blank space on my inner bicep. The outer arm/shoulder tattoo was done without a specific line, but was free-form and organic, so it was easy for her to design the rest of the upper arm sleeve and connect the two areas seamlessly. I'm almost sad the weather is now getting colder and I'll be back in long sleeves and jackets! I will definitely get my other inner bicep done at some point.