Getting a tattoo is a big decision, because it’s a permanent marking on your skin. One of the biggest deterrents to getting a tattoo is the pain involved. Everyone who’s looked into it has probably asked around, at some point, and discovered that the pain is variable, but there is always pain involved. How much pain, then, does a tattoo cause? This is a difficult question to answer, and the reason for the difficulty might be more interesting than any attempt to provide a neat and clear response.
Pain is always in the mind, interestingly enough, because the physiology of pain is connected to centers that are in the brain. This has lead some to believe that we have control over the pain our bodies experience, and there are stories of yogis who can endure rather extreme amounts of pain, or shamans who can perform radical feats of endurance that would break most macho men. But chances are, you’re not one of these, and most people who get tattoos don’t fall in these categories, either. So it might be helpful to admit that it’s going to hurt, but again, the amount of pain involved is variable.
There are some areas that are much more responsive to both pleasure and pain, and those areas are probably obvious. The other big pain spots are anywhere the bone and the skin are close, without much fat or muscle, such as the shin, sternum, and spine. The ankle seems to be particularly vulnerable to tattoo pain. Getting a large tribal work on your spine, then, will take several hours, and probably won’t feel very good. Along these lines, getting a small butterfly on the fleshy part of the bottom will be one of the least painful marks for a tattooed person. But even experienced tattooed people have more trouble with some than others, and it often has more to do with their mood and state of mind. A clear head, one that’s relaxed, and an openness to the experience, is going to have an easier time of it than someone who’s sure this is going to be their last moment on earth, and a relaxed client is one that the artist will appreciate as well.
