Hi all,

I am planning to have a tattoo in the next couple weeks to symbolise the love for my fiance in the form of a claddagh design (he is Irish)....before you all start shouting "NO", if have 2 tattoos already and it is something that I think about before doing (we have been engaged 8 mnths) and I am in no way having his name !! It is a symbol of our love

The reason I am adding this post is just a simple question:

I am wanting the tattoo on the inside of my wrist and was wondering is anyone has a tattoo in a similar place and how much did it hurt (quiite a tender area with a few viens !!). My other tattoos are on my ankle (4 leaf clover for luck) and on my shoulder blade (cherub). I have quite a good pain thresh hold !!

Thank you

Can't speak from personal experience as I have no tattoos but my bro has a fair few..lost count actually He has some kind of lettering on the inside of his wrist, its quite big, maybe each a square inch and there's about 4 or 5 letters.
I remember him saying that it did hurt more than some of the others, he has one on his upper arm, and a few other smaller ones but just had a really ace blue flame one done on the side of his leg/shin which took about 4hours and obviously hurt ALOT!
I can ask him, but I reckon it will hurt as the skin is quite soft there but I'm sure you can grin and bear it if you have others :D

The general rule is (told to me by a very reputable and well known tattooist) that the closer to the bone it is, the more it will hurt So the wrist is likely to be pretty painful. I have a tiny tattoo on my foot (beside 4th toe) and I can tell you that it hurt like hell!! but as it's only tiny and a simple design, it only took about 10 minutes to do.

On another note, several reputable tattooists I know don't do hands/wrists/neck/face as they recognise that a lot of discrimination still exists about tattooed people and these areas are difficult to hide. Just something to think about :)

Ask your tattooist to put an anasthetic cream on before you have it done :)  This is common practice nawadays when people are having tattoos in weird and wonderful places LOL  A friend of mine had one done on the inside edge of her foot (ouch!) and she said she only felt it a little bit after the cream had been put on.  It's the same cream they use in hospitals before they put a drip in kids (and the same one I had when I had a drip in coz I'm big baby  :D )

Debs

The first tattoo I had was around my wrist and it didn't hurt that much, the one at the bottom of my back hurt alot lot more. Plus OH tattooed himself on the inside of his wrist so it can't be that bad :)

The Tattooist can get EMLA cream to use, the same cream they use for children having a venflom put in...it's a local anaesthetic cream and very good. I have a ermm, butterfly on one cheek(and it aint me face!!! RFLAO!!) now that DID hurt a heck of a lot and it aint near a bone!!! LOL I have a very high pain threshold and whilst I didn't cry I whimpered a bit!!! LOL

I have one on my ribcage at the back and it hurt alot and another between my shoulder blades and I used the numbing cream it didnt hurt at all, I will be getting another hopefully during the summer that goes all the way from my spine to my belly button and down my hips so am going to stock up on numbing cream.
Good Luck
Mary

i have now got 15 tattoos the last one was a pic of my lucy on the left side of my calf i have got a band around one of my wrist and 4 on the insides of my arms a good tattooist will not use the cream because they way it work is it freezes the blood vesels which makes the area harder and so can be more difficult to tattoo and also any natural movement will be lost which may cause the tattoo to look slightly off when it is fully healed as for it hurting more in some places than others its all down to the person being tattooed and their person tollerance of pain all tattoos hurt no matter what other people say if you can handle the pain then go ahead i have always found deep breathing to help on painfull bits plus also a 14 year relationship with my tattooist as a very good friend and a good chance to catch up on gossip while i am being tattooed a great help, whe i had the tattoo of lucy done we were chatting about the litter she had just had and his experiance with his own dogs

i only have one tattoo on my left breast, and that didn't hurt. It scratched and felt a bit sore, but that was it-i liked the scratching bit, but then i'm odd! I had it touched up a few years ago which was quite painful, but in that weird nice way. I want one down the full length of my spine, but i doubt i'll get it done-it'll start the ball rolling on where to get the next one!

Don't mean to be rude but why can't you just get the ring. You get some lovely cloddagh rings, I've got one of them, my OH is also Irish. I know you've probably been told this already , so I sound a boring old f;;;.  but what about when you're not young any more and your flesh is , ooooooooooooooooold.

I don't want a ring !!!

You must all be mad........going through pain unnecessarily!!  :)

it dosent hurt ;)
its a tiny little needle & abit of ink....not like having your leg sawn off!

I have literally had my first tattoo today (tattoo virgin of 37!!) and I have to say it didn't hurt at all. Strange senstation but not pain. Very pleased with myself. Bit of a surprise they fitted me in straight away I didn't expect that.
Becky

lol thats how they get you! you think you are just asking(& been brave(,then before you know it they suddenly do you

I have tattoos on the insides of my wrists.

Its not particularly painful, its a bit more pinchy/ouchy but for instance i didnt go green adn dizzy adn think id throw up like i did with the one on teh front of my ankle joint!

Em

I want to get a tattoo on the top of my back, haven't decided whether I want it more on a shoulder side or in between the shoulders.

Does anyone know how it all works? I have a design I have found, what do I do with it? Take it down on the day of my appointment or in advance? Or if I want to pick a design from their portfolio do I do that on the day too?

Hi Zoe

Have you done your research and chosen a place that does good work and has good hygeine practices? If not, that's where you ned to start. Ask around and get recommendations from people who have had tattoos done that you lik ethe look off. Visit the parlour and speak to the tattooists. If you like the look of the place, the people and their work then you should think about making an appointment. Ask at this stage about the design you want. It is always better to be very sure of what you want before the day of the appointment as you may otherwise end up making a rash decision that you could live to regret IME, most artists will happily work with you if you have found a design you like, or will even help you to design or modify something to suit you (with my first, I explained what I wanted and the tattooist drew it on my skin in biro, then we made changes until it was just right). Most of all, a good tattoist will be able to put you at ease, if you have any bad feeling about a place/person at all, walk away. This is something you will have on your skin for the rest of your life so you want to make sure it is 100% right.

Best of luck :)

I have already had 2 tattoos so I would go back to the same tattoo artist.

The first one I had (shoulder blade) I wasn't well after, very pale and faint for about 2 hours after ! My 2nd one I was more prepared (on ankle) I drank diet coke and ate a large choc bar (any excuse!!) to give me sugar straight after and I was fine. I recommend that if anyone has a tattoo to have sugar straight after.

When I was having my first one a very big skin  head threw up and ran out of the door when he was watching me have mine done !!!

Zoe:
If you have a design that you have found elsewhere (net or books) you need to print it off and take it the artist beforehand to make sure he/she can do it and won't have a problem doing it.

I had a tatoo done, running from my toe, across the top of my foot, to near the ankle. I had two previous visits with the tatoo artist and togeather created a design and colours to use. He was very patient and we discussed the design even when he was doing it, to make sure it was exactly what I wanted. Find an artist you are comfortable with and one who is patient and happy for you to change your mind every two minutes :D

Thanks, I've been thinking about this for around 7 years so it certainly isn't something I've not thought about. I've got a design that I came up with and I cant wait to have.

I have a tattoo on my arm, the small of my back, around my ankle and around my wrist.  My ankle hurt the worst followed by my wrist.  The closer he was to the center and my palm, the more comfortable it was...going up towards the crook of my elbow and to the outsides of my wrist is where it got a titch sensitive.  ;)  Seems to me that directly over the tendons is where it's most uncomfortable.  I have really sensitive skin and blew up like a balloon after...all in all though, I'm still going to add to it so it couldn't have been that bad, right?!  :)

Good luck with your tattoo, i had my first one last year at the age of 53 i know you will all think i have lost the plot at my age, but i had lost a grandaughter at birth and decided i wanted a tattoo for her. I had a small angel on my shoulder with her name underneath and i love it, my son aged 20 asked my OH if he was going to allow me to do this, my OH just looked at him and said your mom does what she wants, interpretation being i wouldn`t dare try to stop her. Chris

its quite ticklish to touch there isnt it?
personally i wouldnt want one there as its too close to all the viens (queasy)
i have one on my lower back.
might get another soon

hi there my friend has one small tattoo on both insides of her wrists dont think they hurt to much and if toy have had one on your ancle im sure that it will be fine

Well, I just got mine done Im well happy with it lol.... very exciting... have only had 3 people tell me how stupid I am in the last hour LOL

Im a tattoo apprentice. And I have a lot of ink.
Getting my chest tattooed, over my breast bone hurt a helluva lot more than my wrists.

Wrists are just a little uncomfortable.

DO NOT get emla cream applied before hand, its generally ineffective and the cream is for topical use only, a tattoo is creating an open wound, and it would also force the cream into the open wound.
I have seen tattoos swell up massively and bruise like you wouldnt beleive because the client used emla cream.
We were able to link the reaction to the cream because she only put it on the area she thought it would be tender, and not over the whole tattoo site. And the areas that swelled were the areas the cream was applied.

Wrist tattoos are prone to a little colour loss while healing. Keep it nice and moist after about day 3 of healing and you shouldnt have too many problems with that.

:)

Edit:

Before you pick the studio make sure you ask for spore tests from their Autoclaving equiptment. This is vital! A reputable shop will have no problems showing you this, if they try to get around showing you RUN!!!

A good resource for this kind of thing is www.bmezine.com its got a lot of 'extreme' stuff on there but the information resources there are invaluble!

Good luck!

Hii,
im going on holiday in june and i want a tattoo before i go, just a little summit extra for when im in my bikini and that..
im thinking of getting it on the low of my back and as you have one i thought id ask if it hurt you?
my driving instructor got one there recently and he sed it didnt hurt that much but once it got further away from the centre of the back the more it hurts.
I was also wundering if wen u had urs done did u get the cream that numbs it? And if u suggest i shud get it?

Hi,

I have got a tattoo on the botom of my back left of my spine. I had it done in my teenage years and I still love it!

Yes it did hurt, the sensation was similar to being stung by a bee :-o

Make sure you leave quite a while before your holiday to allow the skin to heal as it will be sensitive to sunburn!

I have 3 frogs on my back and a memorial on my right leg calf- now Iam itching for another- think I want some tadpoles from all stages heheheh- Iam also thinking of a gargoyle on my side climbing down- ya still in the works...

My frind got a star on her wrist and she said it didn't hurt to much...

Make sure you put suntan lotion on all your tats to protect them cause the sun does fade them...

Oh my husband and i got matching star tats on our wrists!! (i thought we was original lol) we have a big star in the middle of wrist (underside) with 2 smaller ones either side..

Then after a few months i decided to add more stars so starting from my ring finger with a big star and coming across my hand it joins up to the original stars tat, i like it as the tatto bloke added would you call it stardust? everyone who sees it likes it..

Tattoos and how much they hurt vary from person to person as we all have different pain thresholds. I hve got several tattoos including one on my lower spine. It did hurt quite a bit ( i had my hands squeezed together and kept holding my breath the whole way through) however i like pain and didnt mind that. I had a chinese symbol done on my tummy and literally didnt feel a thing. Spent the whole time laughing and talking with the tattoo artist. When my sister had one done in exactly the same place she was in agony. So it goes to show we all have different tolerance levels.
The general rule is though that the closer to bone you are (back,wrist,ankle etc) the more it hurts, and the more fleshy less sensitive areas (tummy, thigh etc) aren't as painful.
I love my tats and would have more but im cautious of what it will look like when im old (which is why i had tats in place that could be exposed when young and covered up when old) and that women covered in tats dont look that feminine.
Would recommend them though, just in moderation.
:-)

I have 9 tatoo's...
My most recent one being on the inside of my wrist.. (its a tribute to charlie) id previously watch someone have one on her inside wrist and she passed out!
So i put it off, and put it off untill i thought its now or never
Didnt really feel anything, worth moaning about

The one on my foot was agony... i cried... i swore... (luckily my sister in law did it.. a very good tattooist may i add, who's in blandford)

Go for it!

Donna xx
(and my boysxx)

I have 4 tattoos,
cherry blossom on my shoulder,
tribal phoenix on my back between my shoulder blades,
Gecko lozard covering my whole right foot and
a dagger on my stomach!

It doesnt hurt when you have it in the normal places, shoulder, back, legs, but if you become more adventourous like me and have your whole foot done you pay the price with more pain!! My foot swelled up to twice its size and it was very painful!!!!!

But Im itching for another as well, I want one to cover my whole bottom left side of my right leg and develop my phoenix into a big back piece.

If you have any doubt about later on in life if you will still like it or not, or to have it somehwere you can cover it up the you are not ready to have a tattoo, take days to pick one out not just minutes and really think about where you want it and want type you want. :) Im addicted to them and cant wait to get uner the gun again but I only have mine done in 2 parlours in Newquay cornwall so have to wait a while first! :)

how is the pain on the back of the neck???
i havent had any done yet, but thats where i'd like one!!

the only thing I'd say about getting a tattoo before going on holiday, is that sunlight will affect the tattoo, and you should cover it in a high protection sunscreen/block

I have a tattoo on one of my **ahem** cheeks....I am thinking of getting it gone over again as it has faded.. (over use of sunbed when I did a lot of figure/fitness training/competition) and may even get it embellished, but if I do I will be more careful of it and limit exposure to UVA etc....

there are some fantastic tattooists out there nowadays, and I am really tempted to get another in a different area.... ;)

It is very very rare to find but if you can fins a tattoo artist that uses indian ink that will last forever. My Dad and his friend had tattoos 20 years ago, my dads was in indian ink. His friends has faded to a green blur but my dads still looks sharp and bright. Tattoos do fade in time and you dont look after it when its healing or pick the scabs that will also leave a blotchy undesirable look.

That EMLA stuff works great.  I put it on a couple hours before, since it was  a patch, and then when I got there, I didnt feel a tattoo at all.  The one I used it for, is one I had done on my stomach of ballet slippers.  Didnt use anything on my lower back, and I got a wolf head done with lots of detail.  That one hurt a bit, but not unbearable.  The one I have on my shoulder, is quite big, an angel on a cloud (for my grandma and my friend, who passed the same month) and that hurt when it went on top of my shoulder, on my collar bone. 

What I did hear about EMLA though, from my tattoo artist, is that when you use it, the colour doesnt hold well into the skin, and you may need a colour touch up after a while.  The ballet slippers that I had done started looking nice, but have really faded, not as rich of a pink.  I can still see it quite easy, but its not the same as when I got it done, and I may go get the tattoo recoloured.

The wrist I would imagine would be painful, but if you have already had tats done, then shouldnt be too bad for you, since you already know what a tat feels like to do.

I've got 'nan' tattooed on my neck and although it wasnt my first (lost count of how many i've got lol!) it did hurt a bit but it only took 15 minutes because its small as are all my others.

How about the spine generally?  I've been planning a tat for absolutely ages (perfectionist!), and I want to get a ivy tendril done that'll run from the base of my spine right up to the base of my neck.

LUckily I have a fairly high pain threshold but I would like to be prepared!  Also hoping to get mine done before June, is there a sensible minimum length of time between having it done and a sunny holiday (I'm going to Southern Spain)?

Our eldest daughter has recently had one done across her back, she said when they were tattooing over her spine it really hurt as it kept hitting the nerves, either side she said was fine, but when the did the centre star, which is right ontop of her spine, that's when she said she felt pain like never before......and this is a girl who has piercings and even pierced her own nose!!

To be honest Nikita it depends how pronounced your vertabrae are? On some people you cant see their spine at all and on others its quite pronounced. It tends to hurt quite a bit if your spine is less fleshy. They will make you lean over so the skin is as taught as possible and do it that way. Obviously the less fleshy you are the closer to the bone the needles will go in.
Not gonna lie, yes it does hurt, but you have something to show for it. As soon as the tats finished you foget the pain (or get quite addicted to it like me!!) and its not an unbearable pain. Some areas hurt, others are tickly and others are slightly uncomfortable. if you are stuggling then you can ask for a little break but you are commited that once they start you need to let them finish. As it will take quite a while to get the tat done from base of spine to check, i'd say get a smaller one elsewhere to chech you're ok with the feeling/experience etc.

Wouldnt go on holiday until the tat is completely healed and scab free and even then i'd proabably keep it covered up to be on the safe side.

To be honest they aren't pronounced at all at the mo, but seeing as I'm not going to have it done until I'm where I should be weight/body-wise then by the sounds of it it's going to be a painful experience! :-P

How long is the healing then?  I've read two weeks before but of course it'll be quite a long tat (not too wide though).

I had a tat done while I was in Australia at Christmas and had no choice other than to go out in the sun afterwards, it's a full back piece and I wasn't going to cover up in 45C heat.  I used a product called Pro-Tat sunscreen which is a high SPF post tattoo cream which encourages healing and will help with the sun.

Getting sun on a fresh tat is very painful and you need to avoid salt water for about 4 weeks afterwards, depending on how quickly you heal.  Mine took almost 3 weeks to completely scab over and then shed and it looked a bit skanky while it was healing so I wasn't that keen to show it off!!

Good luck with the new ink.

ETA - forgot to say, I got bored while mine was being done (there's only so much disco you can sing along to!) that I snoozed for a couple of hours, I figure if you can sleep while you're being inked it really can't be that bad.

I'll have a look for the pro-tat, thanks.  Just had a looksie at the calendar, I've got 14 weeks from tomorrow before I'm in Spain (in theory anyway, not confirmed yet!)... best get on that exercise bike!  Shed those pounds so I can get it done.

Better get the sketchbook out too!

http://www.protat.com.au/p1.html  It's an Australian company but they ship to the UK - I use the sunscreen as my aftercare cream so only bought the one product but you can get a separate aftercare cream if you want to.

My daughter had her tatoo done 2 weeks ago.She had 3 conecting butterflies on her lower back.She is normally a complete wimp but it really wasn't that bad.She had it done in Newquay and the Tatoo artist was great.Thank goodness for preparation H,eased the pain and stopped the itchiness.

If at all avoidable i woudn't get the tat if you know you are going away and going to be in the sun.