Are tattoos actually painful?

The first thing that people seem to worry about when first deciding upon getting a tattoo is easily whether or not it will hurt. Unfortunately, it seems to have embedded itself in our culture, despite the fact that it’s not as bad as everyone makes it seem. However, it’s as if every single person who’s getting a tattoo for the first time inquires about the same thing.

• “Is it going to hurt?”
• “Did yours hurt?”
• “How much do you think mine will hurt?”

Now you can’t make a wide, blanketed assumption for everyone. Some people have a smaller pain threshold than others; some people just seem to be able to get worked up about anything that they do. And forget the people who have a fear of needles because they shouldn’t be getting tattoos at all, plain and simple.

It also depends on where on your body you’re getting the tattoo. Some body parts hurt more than others while some body parts will give a different sensation of pain or discomfort than others as well. The descriptions of tattoo pain have ranged from descriptions of a quick and steady scratch to a constant sting. Everyone’s experiences are going to be different just as everyone’s tattoos are different. Some are big, some are small, and some take a long time to create. Others do not. It’s all going to depend on what you are having done and trying to get too much information about the whole experience from someone else could be completely inaccurate due to the likely difference between your tattoo and theirs.

The most important advice you can get though is to just not worry about it. Knowing how much it’s going to hurt isn’t going to make it hurt any less, so why stress yourself out? Your efforts could be better focused on many other topics of thought such as what kind of tattoo you’re going to get or how you’re going to show it off to complete strangers.

In conclusion, don’t get yourself all worked up about the whole matter. It’s not going to be excruciating but it’s also not going to be like someone’s drawing on you with a pen. All that really matters is that when it’s all said and done with, you’re going to have some pretty cool ink on your body. And that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? So stop being a pansy and go and get your damn tattoo! :)