A tattoo pain map for men and girls - how to better prepare for a tattooing session

How much does it hurt?

It goes without saying that tattooing your skin is a painful process, with anywhere from 1 to 20 needles being thrust into you at once an infinite number of times during the session. As a rule, the pain depends on many individual factors and is felt differently in different parts of the body.

Also, in particularly painful areas, the masters recommend the use of anesthetics. The reason is that in the process of introducing the paint, there is multiple micro-traumatization of the skin. Unpleasant feelings are inevitable after the application of the drawing, but with proper care they are levelled almost completely in a short period of time.

What do the sensations depend on?

There is no exact and universal answer to this question. Pain sensations depend on a number of factors and their interaction, so there is a great deal of individuality.

• The most basic factor is the individual pain threshold. Here it is worth mentioning significant differences between men and women (the phase of menstrual cycle greatly affects sensitivity). But, at the same time women are more enduring and patient.
• The choice of the skin area for the drawing is key in the thickness of the fat layer under the skin (the more of it, the less painful), the proximity of bones and tendons to the surface of the skin.
• Tattoo style. A small inscription requires the work of a contour needle, which is less painful than the imposition of large-scale shadows and shimmering colors in the portrait style.
• To less significant factors can be attributed the psychological state of the person, recently suffered various diseases (the process of disease keeps the CNS under stress and leads to increased excitability of receptors) and the presence of bad habits.

Tattoos and anesthetics

The first thing that should be mentioned is that drinking alcohol before the session, and even more so during it, is categorically not recommended. Alcohol increases sensitivity and worsens blood clotting, which will interfere very much with the master in the process of work. Alcohol consumption immediately after the session is also not recommended, as reduced blood clotting will slow down and worsen the healing process.

Also if you intend to use anesthetics during the session give up alcohol and tobacco for a couple of days because they reduce their effectiveness.

As a rule, external anesthetics in the form of ointments, gels and aerosols are used for tattooing. There is a whole line of special products sold in tattoo studios. Such preparations help to reduce the sensitivity to almost zero for 3-4 hours at ease. But they should be used only after consulting with the master, because they often have a negative impact both on the healing process and on the application itself.

Taking pain pills is not desirable, as they will worsen blood clotting.

The most sensitive and the most painless places.

In general, the painfulness of a particular area depends on the thickness of the fat layer, the proximity of the tendons and bones. Therefore, it is possible to identify the most painful and the least sensitive places.

The most critical include:

• The face, the back of the head, the neck, the clavicles;
• Elbow and knee bends;
• Palms, feet, fingers;
• Wrists, ankles, spine;
• Groin area.

In all these cases, the bone is very close to the skin and there is a high concentration of nerve endings.

The most favorable places are the thighs, the forearms, the calves, the buttocks, the biceps. The skin here is dense and the thickness of muscle and fat layer is considerable. Because these places are the most common for the application of tattoos.

In men, the chest and back can also be marked out due to the developed muscles in these areas.

Women in general are less sensitive due to more active development of subcutaneous fat, but during the critical days the nervous tension increases and sensitivity noticeably increases.

All other areas of the body can be categorized as medium sensitivity, but some individual peculiarities of their own are not excluded.

Variety of pain sensations

The comparison gradation of pain variants ranges from an insect bite to a good abrasion - it all depends on the specific application process. There are a few basic variations.

Scratchy pain.

Occurs when applying the outline of a tattoo due to prolonged spotting of a small area of skin. Quite light and similar to scratching with an empty rod from a pen, is carried quite easily with only a little discomfort.

Burning pain

Occurs when drawing small details of a drawing from traumatizing the same piece of skin for a long time. The sensation is sharp, strong, and remotely resembles cauterization. This sensation can also occur in areas where the bone is very close to the thin skin - knees, elbows, ribs.

Vibrating pain

When piercing the skin, the needle moves at great speed and thus causes a slight vibration of the skin. It is especially well felt when applying large-scale color, where the nozzle with multiple needles is used at the same time. It is quite tolerable, easily tolerated and in some people it even feels like a tickle.

Background Feelings

At the very beginning of tattooing, all sensations are quite vivid, sharp and critical. But, with time there is a release of adrenaline, the pain is dulled and remains a slight discomfort sensations in the background. This is how the body copes with the situation and the irritant. After a break, the sharp sensations will return, but each time the body will go into the background more and more quickly.

If you feel that the limit of your patience is running out, do not be afraid to tell the master and ask for a break. And sometimes even postpone the completion of the drawing until the next session. There is nothing wrong with that, it's all very individual.

Pain map of all skin areas

During the years of experience in this area tattoo-artists brought out common patterns in the sensitivity of different areas of the body. Therefore, before you make a final decision on the choice of location for the desired pattern, get acquainted with the map of pain tattoo.

It is an anatomic image of the whole surface of the man, where the colors indicate the gradation of sensitivity of a particular place.

In fact, you should definitely not be afraid of pain. Pick a good studio and a good master, tune in with positive thoughts and that's all. During the tattooing there is not at all unbearable torture, and the beautiful drawing will please you for a very long time.

It will hurt, but it's worth it - because beauty, as they say, requires sacrifice.