Pain is a subjective sensation, each person reacts to it differently. There cannot be identical opinions and disputes on this issue. But there is some consensus on which areas of the body are more painful to get a tattoo on and which are not. After reading the information presented in the article, you will learn a lot of new things about this, and you will also be able to make the final decision on which place and salon to get a tattoo, and whether it is worth getting a tattoo at all.
Everything happens differently for everyone
While places on the body like the ribs and throat seem to be the most vulnerable, in fact, every person who has ever gotten a tattoo will likely give you a slightly different answer and indicate the place on the body where they felt the most pain fill in the drawing. After all, pain levels and pain tolerance are subjective, and what hurts for one person may be completely normal and tolerable for another. However, there is some consensus as to which areas are more painful and which are less painful. Read this before you go get a tattoo.
The most painful place is the wrist
Sean Dowdell, who co-founded Club Tattoo with the late Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, has said in interviews that the most painful part of his body he's ever had tattooed on was his wrist. According to Dowdell, the worst moment was when he was hit right where the bend line is. As the director of Club Tattoo from 1995 to this day, he more than once saw people writhing in pain when they had a drawing done on this very spot.
Another unpleasant place is the stomach
As for some of the other most painful experiences he's observed, Sean says, "Watching my employees, artists and clients, I think the stomach is a very painful place to get a tattoo. AND back surface knee joint. The neck and ribs are also included in this list. Pain is a biased thing.”
Find out as much information as you can about your tattoo artist.
Another factor that influences the sensations experienced and which many people neglect is information about the tattoo artist. Some artists are more violent than others, their methods of work are painful. If you are sensitive to pain, look for a more “gentle” artist.
Other factors that affect pain
Certain health problems can make you more sensitive. Some people have a history of injury and have increased sensitivity in certain parts of the body. Some tattoo lovers will tell you that the bones are the hardest to get tattooed. Others believe that it depends on how thick or thin the layer of skin is in that area. In fact, it all has to do with nerve endings. As far as thin skin is concerned, it is best to get a tattoo on the upper arm. Although the skin there is thin, it is not very painful. 
The least painful place is the shoulder
The least painful places to apply the tattoo are the areas of your body with fewer nerve endings. The front of the shoulder, shin, buttocks and outer arm are good options.
Tattoo size matters too
While people tend to focus their attention on the spot, Stanley Kovack, MD, an esthetician, believes pain has more to do with the size of the pattern. The larger the tattoo, the longer the artist works, and accordingly, the more pain you will experience. When a tattoo is particularly complex, it also requires more ink and different types of needles. All this makes the pain worse.
Age
Age also has great importance. Younger skin is not as susceptible to pain as older skin. And this is not surprising, because it is much denser and absorbs ink better.
You can get infected
Infections are caused by bacteria, so when you decide to get a tattoo, think about which parts of your body have the most harmful bacteria. Often these are the legs. One of the most significant factors for infection is unsanitary conditions in your own home. People don't realize that pet hair can get on a tattoo and cause an infection, which can lead to big problems. Even an innocuous walk down the street can be a problem, especially if you're wearing flip-flops or other open-toed shoes. Therefore, if you decide to get a tattoo on your legs, be sure to thoroughly disinfect the necessary part and try to cover the place where you got the drawing while it heals. The same goes for your hands, as your hands and fingers come into contact with billions of bacteria every day.
What about intimate parts of the body?
You would think that getting a tattoo, so to speak, in the lower part of the body would lead to the development of an infection, but in fact this is not the case. There are mucous membranes there, and women have more such tissues than men. By violating it, you can get infected quite quickly bacterial infections. But the good news is that they generally aren't exposed, so you won't get sick.
The most dangerous tattoo
Tattoos are becoming increasingly popular these days, but there are still certain types that only the bravest individuals seek to inflict. The most dangerous place to apply a drawing is the eyeball. For many, this idea will not even occur to them. However, those who decide to get a tattoo there are at great risk. A pattern in this place is a high risk of infection. In addition, if you have eye diseases, there is a high chance that you will go blind after the procedure.
This is the most important and necessary thing for those who are planning to get a tattoo.
Skin infections can always be caught during this process, but can usually be easily treated with antibiotics afterwards. Such ailments are also less likely if you get your tattoo done at a clean, professional and licensed tattoo parlor and, of course, if you follow all post-procedure instructions. Many people do not follow the instructions of the master and swim in public pools, lakes, rivers, which is strictly prohibited for at least two to three weeks after the drawing is applied.
People often have misconceptions about post-operative care. They think that if the tattoo is not too big, then it does not need to be taken care of much, but this is not always the case. All masters advise their clients to refrain from intense training or going to the gym for a while, since such crowded and specific places can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Indeed, the gym is a breeding ground for infections and bacteria. If you have recently gotten a tattoo, do not rush to immediately run to Gym, because you can very quickly pick up a very serious bacterial infection.
Tattoos are painful not only to get in, but also to remove.
Who said removing tattoos doesn't hurt? When you decide to remove the drawing, prepare to be in pain, but again, it all depends on the size of the drawing. If the tattoo is too large, then artists usually use a local anesthetic.
How safe is it to get a tattoo?
For example, in America, some states require tattoo parlors to be licensed, while others do not. Undoubtedly, many people prefer to get tattoos in underground salons (faster and cheaper), but still the majority prefer legal “workshops”. It’s safe to say that in the States there are no longer the old street tattoo parlors where bikers ink tattoos for everyone. Times have changed, progress is making itself felt.
Probably one of the most popular questions, when it comes to getting a tattoo - does it hurt? Many people are afraid to make a drawing on their body precisely because of the pain. Some try to withstand the pain, others use painkillers. However, there is no single answer to this question. Everything depends not only on your individual characteristics, but also on what part of the case the drawing is made on.
Does it hurt to get a tattoo: answers to questions
This question interests those who do not yet have a single design on their body. There is no single and universal answer. It depends on your pain threshold, immune system and what part of the body the design is being printed on. Sometimes printing on some areas of the body causes more pain, for example, on the stomach, knees, inner thighs.
The main test that you will have to endure is the first 60 seconds of the procedure, when your body is not yet accustomed to the pain and is in shock. Then you calm down and get used to it, painful sensations become dull.
Does it hurt to get a tattoo? If you are so afraid of pain, you need to know which areas are the most painful. Less painful areas include the shoulders, forearms, calves, and arms? Upper back (excluding the spine area). Experts recommend choosing these parts of the body for your first tattoo. Here the skin is denser and the pain threshold is higher.
More painful areas for painting are knees, elbows, head, neck, legs, chest, inner thighs, lower back. These areas are characterized by high sensitivity, so it will not be so easy to withstand the procedure. The nerves are located as close to the surface as possible, and the skin here is not so dense, more delicate and thin.
There are also very painful areas, and if you decide to get a tattoo in this place, hold on - it will be very painful! These areas include the hips, chest, abdomen, armpits, nipples, abdomen, lips, and genital area. Sometimes clients can’t stand it until the end, and the artist has to finish the drawing next time. All these areas are the most painful areas; the skin on them is very elastic and thin. Healing can also be painful and lengthy.
To reduce sensitivity and prevent possible fainting or dizziness, we recommend using the following recommendations:
- Before sending to the specialist, eat a hearty meal and drink more fluids throughout the day.
- Get a good night's sleep, you should be full of energy.
- Remember if you are allergic to pigments, dyes, or fragrances.
- Painkillers, such as paracetamol, will help cope with the pain. Avoid aspirin and other drugs that may thin the blood.
- Listen to music on headphones - this will help you take your mind off the noise of the running machine.
- Ask the specialist to prescribe creams or ointments that eliminate pain and swelling.
- Bring some candy with you, it will help distract you, and the candy also contains carbohydrates, which will provide you with energy during the procedure and you will feel much better.
What not to do on the eve of the procedure:
- Avoid drinking alcohol in the evening and at night, it thins the blood. The same goes for caffeinated drinks, such as green tea and coffee.
- Make sure that the equipment in the salon is clean and the needles are new.
- If you are sick and feel unwell, delay the procedure until you have fully recovered.
- If you are taking any medications, be sure to consult your doctor before getting a tattoo. Any person who has problems with the immune system should also consult a specialist before the procedure.
No one can tell you exactly how painful it is to draw on your body. If you are afraid of pain, ask the specialist to use anesthesia. Try to distract yourself and not concentrate only on the pain - take your smartphone or tablet with you, they will be useful to you during the procedure.
A professionally executed tattoo will always be the subject of admiring glances, even for those who do not particularly support such changes. However, in order to acquire one, you need to go through a rather painful procedure, and it is better to first ask the price to see if you can calmly wait until the end of the session. Does it really hurt to get a tattoo?
How does the tattooing process work?
In simple terms, applying a tattoo is nothing more than traumatizing the skin followed by the introduction of coloring substances that will remain there forever. Modern tattooists use only electric tattoo machines, due to which the impact on the skin is noticeably reduced, and the pigment is evenly introduced under the skin. Depending on the design, the specialist selects the required number of needles.
What factors influence pain?
- Each person has their own pain threshold, but, as a rule, in all cases, the procedure for applying a tattoo is not pleasant. It is painful, but tolerable.
- The master who performs the application is of no small importance. You can make a tattoo with the same instrument in the same place, but changing the artist will cause a change in sensations in one direction or another.
- How large sizes the tattoo has, the more painful sensations you will have to experience. You will survive the application easier than a voluminous and well-filled tattoo.
- directly related to the pain scale. If you find it difficult to choose, you can be guided by the distance of the tattoo from the bone.
Which location is most suitable for a less painful procedure?
If the desire to get a tattoo does not leave you, and pain is the only thing stopping you, you should know where it is most painful to get a tattoo. You need to choose those places where there is the most fat layer. Let's say it could be the buttocks. The thinner the skin becomes, the stronger the discomfort will be. The vessels and nerve endings are located closer, and the needle can penetrate right to the bone.
When asked whether it hurts, everyone will have their own answer. The level of pain will depend on the specific area. The same principle applies here: the thinner the skin, the more painful it is.
What will make it easier to get a tattoo done?
Thanks to the wide experience of people who have undergone the tattooing process, a whole set of measures has been put together that can significantly facilitate the procedure:
- Before the procedure, take a shower and drink a glass of water.
- Try to relax, calm down and distract yourself by talking with the master.
- Agree in advance on the possibility of bringing your own musical accompaniment to the salon, or something that can redirect your attention.
- You can squeeze an object in your hands or teeth that will help you overcome particularly difficult moments. This could be a rubber expander, a towel, etc.
- Watch your breathing, exiting at the moment when it will be especially painful. Don't delay him.
- If the pain becomes extremely difficult to bear, ask the specialist to take a short break.
- If pain is difficult to tolerate, agree in advance to take a specific pain medication.
Using anesthesia - pros and cons
During the session, anesthesia is either applied or not. It all depends on the beliefs of the master and the wishes of the client. Some refuse due to the fact that the drugs affect skin regeneration.
Many people calmly do without painkillers, since the process is quite tolerable and is completely tolerated without additional medications.
But in situations where large-scale and long-term work is planned, anesthesia is more likely to be needed.
Whether to use an anesthetic drug or not is an individual decision. You may want to fully experience the ritual or simply choose a place where it doesn’t hurt to get a tattoo.
Does it hurt to get a tattoo?
By imagining the sensations, you will more easily endure the process. The emotional state of the wearer affects not only healing, but also the quality of the drawing.
The pain caused by tattooing is comparable to a burning sensation when coming into contact with hot steam or boiling water.
Many people ask whether it hurts to get a tattoo in certain areas. Where and how painful it is to get a tattoo is reflected in the diagram that can be found in any salon.
The highest degree of pain is marked with red zones. The green marker marks the places where it is easiest to apply the design. Yellow reflects border zones.
Small drawings cause a slight burning sensation. When the master moves the needle, you feel a slight tingling sensation. If multi-layer paint is being driven in, the pain is expressed by an intense burning sensation.
A sensation of acute pain occurs when the pattern covers the cartilage and joints. The same applies to the nipple halo area and facial skin.
Pain map most painful places
The tattoo pain map shows the places where the nerve endings are concentrated. The degree of sensitivity depends on the amount of fat and muscle density.
Hold me seven
The most painful places in both sexes:
- face;
- throat area along the larynx line;
- nipple halo;
- groin area;
- fold places;
- exits of bones and joints close to the surface of the skin.
The skin itself is resistant to the influx of unpleasant sensations. Discomfort depends on the point at which the skin meets the mesra (the connective tissue that attaches the skin to the muscle).
Tattoo artist and safety precautions
How does the process differ between men and women?
In girls under 25 years of age, the skin has a thin structure. She is extremely sensitive to pain. Pain threshold increases with age .
Map of painful areas
Zones of immunity increase . Places where fatty tissue is deposited cover the entire back, large areas of the thighs, and lower legs. Women experience virtually no pain when getting a tattoo on their chest.
Particularly painful areas of receptivity are the nipple halo, groin area, armpits, wrists, knees and elbows, and the line along the radius bone. Women's tattoos on the shoulder blade do not cause discomfort.
The male population has more areas of pain. Nature concentrated the fat layer in the area of the shoulder blades, the back of the arm, and the front of the thigh.
The operations are painless. Relatively easy to apply to the shins men's tattoos in this zone are popular precisely for this reason.
Work on the collarbone is extremely painful for women, unlike men's; it is easier to apply.
I'm not afraid of injections...
Do's and don'ts before a tattoo session
For the work, the masters use anesthetic ointments. That is why you should not drink alcohol or smoke before the session. This disrupts the normal response of nerve endings to pain medication.
ATTENTION! The tattoo does not hit the skin with severe inflammation, purulent and flaky areas. Work is not performed in areas with a large number of moles. If there are papillomas, the master should not perform the work.
You need to come to the session cheerful and well-rested. Women should avoid getting tattoos during menstruation.
During this period, sensitivity increases. You cannot go for a tattoo if you are sick or have taken antibiotics.
Preparing for a session involves choosing loose clothing. In the area where the pattern is applied, it should not touch the skin at all.
How to anesthetize the process?
The most painful places for tattooing are the arms, forearms and shins. In other areas, a numbing agent is applied.
It is applied 15-25 minutes before the start of the process. Due to this, during the session a person does not experience anything other than a slight burning sensation.
Do not cause allergies:
- Nano Meter 2 Minutes
- Goochie
- TRIPLE-X
- Mei-Cha X-IT
- GEL Mei-Cha
- BioQuick.
These drugs have a hemostatic increased analgesic effect. These are mainly ointment gels.
They are rubbed into the skin, after which they soothe sensitive nerve fibers.
Where does it hurt to get a tattoo?
Each person has an individual sensitivity to where it hurts to get a tattoo. For women, the most painless place is on the chest. It is relatively sensitive for both sexes to perform work on the neck.
Honey, tell me a story...
It is painful to open the skin around the foot. The operation on the knees, tailbone, and palm is extremely sensitive.
The most sensitive places are the groin area, in men the ribs and chest.
Areas of increased sensitivity include, the inner surface is penetrated by many endings. So does the inner thigh.
The same sensitivity in the armpit area, in the area on the fingers, the inner surface of the shoulder near the elbow.
A separate topic for head tattoo artists. Not only nerve endings are located here, but also the centers of various organs.
I'm exhausted...
Where is the least painful place to get a tattoo?
In both sexes it is not painful to open the skin:
- on the forearm;
- on the calf;
- on the shoulder;
- on the side of the thigh;
- beat on the hand;
- outer thigh (men);
- back (in women.
Nerve endings come close only on the folds and in places where there is less accumulation of fat.
Side tattoo
The painless areas include the large muscle of the pectoral plate. This is a place where it doesn’t hurt to get a tattoo of any size.
Many of the women who hit the paintings along the back of the spine also did not experience discomfort. In both sexes, operations affecting the external skin are painless.
The process of applying a tattoo for those who made the lower back went through patiently; on the back, making a design in this area is less pleasant.
To choose the right place for a tattoo, contact a tattoo artist. He will indicate on the pain map in which place it is better to perform the work.
They found each other...
If you don’t have any special preferences, the advice of an experienced tattoo artist will save you from unnecessary negative emotions. As a result, your choice will be dictated by common sense and imbued with a sense of beauty.
The desire to have a cherished design on your body can be overshadowed by the fear of the procedure for applying it. A tattoo pain map will help you understand the degree of discomfort in a particular place and make the right choice.
The idea of self-expression through tattoos is quite strong for many people, so they are willing to go through some tests to make their dreams come true. The degree of pain is a relative concept, so you shouldn’t give up your desire because of childhood fear: just study the pain map.
To ensure that getting a tattoo does not turn into torture, and the result does not lead to disappointment, you need to familiarize yourself with the recommendations of experienced artists, medical consultants and advice from psychologists.
The most sensitive areas of the body
For beginners who are just going to the salon to apply their cherished tattoo, there is an unshakable rule: you need to start with a small sketch. And not only: study the pain map and the list of anesthetics.
Printing a large pattern takes a long time. In addition, the risk of affecting those areas of the body that are indicated on the pain map as very painful increases.
Therefore, the client must objectively assess what period he can endure, and what period he no longer has the strength (and possibly the means) to endure. If you dream of a whole panorama with many details, you should start with a small independent fragment that can be continued if necessary.
- Least painful
The areas that will cause the least pain are those that have a hard epidermis, sufficient fat layer, muscle area and distant nerve endings. These places include the shoulders, forearms, inner elbow, buttocks, lower back, legs in the calves, etc. The sensations during the procedure can be described as minor tingling and mild discomfort. - Moderate
Such areas include the back, abdomen, thigh, collarbone, scapula, etc. It is worth noting that the collarbone area consists of a section of skin that covers the bone without a fat layer. Dull pain is due to the absence of a large number of nerve endings, so the picture is here hurts more than tattoos on the thigh or outer forearm. - Most painful
These places include hands, feet, knees, elbows, ribs, nipples, neck, head, etc. The skin here practically covers the bones, there is no or very little fat layer, and the nerve endings come close to the epidermis. That is why beginners are advised to be very careful when choosing these places on the skin for tattoos. Attention should be paid to the place in the center of the contour of the upper lip, in the corners of the lips and eyes when performing tattooing. These areas are considered the most sensitive.
The degree of pain in each individual case is individual. It’s not even a matter of gender, although in the case of tattoos, men’s pain threshold is considered much higher than women’s.
Pain Map for Guys
Each person perceives external influences based on characteristic features of your body. The decisive factors are the location of the nerve endings, the amount of fat, the degree of skin density and its resistance to temperature changes. All this has serious physiological implications.
Yet the most important factor is fear. If you defeat him with the help of self-hypnosis and tune in to fulfilling your cherished desires, then you will leave the tattoo parlor truly happy. As practice shows, a very small percentage of people are limited to one tattoo, so the pursuit of happiness is a contagious process.
Video about the most painful places for tattoos
