Thinking about getting that first Tat? Bet you’ve asked yourself and the local artists all the same pertinent questions every first timer does. The one I and most any other tattoo artist has heard the most, “How bad does it hurt?”, is the one that comes into play here. The answer is fairly simple. Yes, it is a bit painful and anyone who says they do painless tattooing must have an anesthetist on the payroll, or their doing temp tats. Not the painted on ones, the ones that are so shallow they all but fall off in a few weeks.
Depending on where you want to get the tattoo dictates the degree of discomfort. Generally speaking, the more sensitive an area of the body is to touch, the greater the discomfort. In addition, the closer the skeletal structure is to the surface of the skin, the greater the discomfort. To be honest with you, I have never had a tattoo that didn’t cause a bit of pain, but I’ve also never had one that hurt as bad as some people seem to think it does. It’s just not that bad to me and I’ve had some work done in some pretty tender places.
This brings me to the point, which is what some people will do to lessen a pain that is greater in their minds than it is on their body. The biggest one is quite possibly the biggest pet peeve of any artist I have been lucky enough to know, or work with. Getting shit faced before going in to get the tattoo done. It’s bad enough to try and turn out a good tat on a sober squirmer, it’s a hundred times worse when the panty waist is drunk and uninhibited. No, getting stoned on painkillers, or weed doesn’t help either. You’ll still jump around like a live frog on a hot skillet and there are other draw backs to consider as well.
With the exclusion of weed, which is more likely to make you more sensitive to touch than numb to it, painkillers and alcohol are all blood thinners. Don’t think so? It is a little known fact that when pro wrestlers need to juice, (bleed), they will usually take a few painkillers so they can bleed more freely and give a better show. Some will even take a few belts about a half hour before their match.
What does that have to do with getting a tattoo you ask? Simple, the more you bleed the faster you push the ink out of your skin, usually making for a much lower quality tattoo. No matter how good the artist may be, he/she can not do a class job if your ass is bleeding out the ink faster than they can put it in. This is why even after the tattoo has been cleaned, patted dry, and dressed; when you take the bandage off you have a reverse image of the tattoo on the dressing. Its the ink that got pushed out of your skin by the blood serum.
Bleeding serves two purposes. One, as an attempt to get coagulants to the site of the wound and close it. Two, and this is the one that concerns us the most, to attempt to wash foreign matter from the wound. Make no mistake, even though good tattoo ink is made as hygienic as it can be, it is still a foreign substance and the body will try to get it out. Getting smashed before hand only makes the process more effective. Or worse if your thinking about getting a good tattoo, cause odds are it ain’t gonna happen.
Besides being illegal in most states, any artist worth his needles will refuse to tattoo you if you are obviously drunk, or high. Mostly because they know that your going to get a lot of holidays, and faded areas to your new tattoo and blame them for it. It wasn’t their fault, it was your wussy ass that was the real culprit. If the artist refuses to do your tattoo when you are drunk, or stoned, go back and see them after you sober up. Odds are that is the artist you want doing your work.
So, if you are thinking of getting a few shots of liquid courage, or downing a few tabs to make it through you first tattoo, don’t. Suck it up and take it like a man, or woman as the case may be. If you can find a legitimate artist to slick one by on and do it anyway, don’t blame them because you were too much of a coward and ruined what could have been a tattoo to be proud of. You got what you deserved.