Pain and anesthesia
Pain is an individual sensation – like any other. People experience love, happiness, sadness, and pain differently. Some will have a higher tolerance, some lower; for someone a certain body part will be very painful, while someone else will barely feel anything.
Before their first tattoo, most people decide to consult the Internet, type ‘tattoo pain level chart’ or something similar into Google, and get some visual representation of how much a tattoo hurts. And they consider it infallible truth – because it’s on the Internet.
In everyday life, we all face situations that are equally or even more painful than tattooing – going to the dentist, Brazilian waxing, childbirth, paying the gas bill… 🙂 The human body is capable of enduring quite high levels of pain without the person fainting. Of course, fainting is a normal bodily response to trauma such as broken bones or loss of limbs. Compared to that, tattooing doesn’t sound so scary, does it?
At lower levels of pain (e.g. having blood drawn) people can also faint, but that has nothing to do with the physical sensation of pain, rather with the psyche. Some people simply cannot see a needle or a drop of blood, and they are practically fainting even before coming into contact with it.
Your mindset plays a big role in how you experience the world around you, including your own feelings. If you go to get tattooed and panic about it the entire day, can’t eat from stress and fear, and keep repeating in your head that you will definitely faint – then you cannot expect any other outcome.
It is true that some body placements are more painful for most people than others. But whether that will be the case for you, you cannot know until you try.
Most people believe that painful placements are those where bone can be felt under the fingers (hands, elbow, ribs, head…), but it also depends on the design of the tattoo itself. If it is a small linework tattoo finished in 15 minutes, no matter where on the body you get it, you will probably be able to endure it. When doing large tattoos lasting 6–7 hours, by the end of the session it would bother you even if someone touched that area with a feather.
KEEP CALM & GET INKED
Stress and pain are the two most common triggers for the body to start releasing endorphins. Endorphins are neurotransmitters (they transmit electrical impulses through the nervous system) that reduce the perception of pain in a way similar to morphine, only without causing addiction. They can also lead to a feeling of euphoria, affect appetite, and trigger the release of sex hormones in the body. Because of them, we also tolerate the negative effects of stress better.
The amount of endorphins in the body varies from person to person and depends on the trigger (the situation that causes the body to react by releasing endorphins). It is known that prolonged physical exercise encourages endorphin release, but so do some foods, such as chocolate or chili peppers.
Tattooing is a choice; no one forces you to do it. If you have already decided to do it, everything will be finished much faster if you make the situation easier for yourself and the tattoo artist and try to stay calm. Moving during tattooing can result in wobbly lines. Try to focus on deep and slow breathing and consciously relax the muscles that automatically begin to tense in response to pain.
Close your eyes & go to your happy place 🙂 After you survive your first tattoo, we will surely see you again for at least a few more.
ANESTHETICS
At Octopus we do not use anesthetics. If a client applies anesthetic themselves before the tattoo appointment, they bear full responsibility for any possible harmful effects on their health and/or the appearance of the tattoo.
To completely numb the entire area being tattooed, it would be necessary to apply local anesthesia via injection. This procedure may only be performed by authorized medical personnel (anesthesiologists) who are prepared to recognize and appropriately respond to any sign of an allergic reaction to the anesthetic.
Topical anesthetics in cream, gel, or spray form work only on the surface and will not completely eliminate pain sensations during longer tattoo sessions. Most tattoo artists avoid using local anesthetics because they change the texture of the skin during their effect, which can result in lower tattoo quality (uneven lines, uneven color fill). After the anesthetic wears off and circulation returns to normal in that area, the tattoo may bleed more and thus expel more pigment than it should.
Swelling may also be more pronounced and pain sensitivity higher, as the body did not release endorphins during the tattooing process.
