It's no secret that getting a tattoo can be a painful experience. The severity of the pain depends on various factors, including the location of the tattoo and the person's pain threshold.

While there is a physical sensation when getting a tattoo that can be uncomfortable, the mildness of the pain is often amplified by anxiety. The best thing we can do to manage the pain of getting tattooed is to manage anxiety.

In this article, we will explore ways to manage anxiety and make the process of getting a tattoo less painful.

What is Anxiety and How Does it Affect Pain During Tattoos?

Anxiety can be caused by many things, including stress, a traumatic event, or even caffeine. Anxiety is a fight-or-flight response and is our evolutionary adaptation to avoid or prepare for danger.

Anxiety is a feeling of unease, worry, or fear. Fears both real and imagined give us heightened awareness causing stress, worry, and increased sensitivity to physical discomfort, which can play a big role in your experience while getting a tattoo

This is all a good thing in small amounts! It is your body's way of alerting you to potential danger so that you can stay safe. If we are getting ready to run away or to fight, anxiety can be helpful but when we are getting tattooed, we have to remind ourselves that we are not in danger and our bodies do not require the tense, discomfort or anxiety.

For some people, anxiety can cause pain during tattoos. This is because when we are anxious, our heart rate and blood pressure increase. This can lead to pain in the body, including during tattoos.

Managing anxiety is the best way to reduce pain during tattoos. When we can control and direct the feelings we experience when anxiety hits we can actually use it to cope. This can give us a boost of energy and help us focus.

How To Manage Anxiety Before and During a Tattoo

There are many ways to manage anxiety. Some of these may work for some but not others. You may need to experiment and try different combinations. Some of the more effective techniques include:

Get a good nights sleep. This is actually the most important thingyou can do before getting tattooed. Good sleep helps our bodies regulation all the homones associated with stress and anxiety. This is crucial in staying relaxed
Keep a positive outlook. If you go into your tattoo appointment expecting the worst you are already setting yourself up for a negative experience. Get out of your own mind and take things as they come without creating a lot of imaginary situations.
Don’t drink coffee. Coffee can casue agitation and unease all on its own. This is not helpful for managing anxiety. Coffee can make it difficult to relax and might make you twitchy and tense. Never a good idea while getting tattooed!
Eat a good meal. Give yourself a good dose of blood sugar! This is very important for your body to stay calm and level. Getting tattooed can be very mentally taxing and your brain is the biggest consumer of calories in your body. Give it what it needs!
Breathing exercises. Learn some techniques for regulating your breath that can help calm you down. If you have a breathing exercise you can practice, this can do wonders for lowering anxiety and thus pain. By focusing on the breathing, your mind and body will not place as much emphasis on the sensation of the tattoo. Click here to read about breathing exercises for anxiety.
Mantras. This can be anything but it should be along the lines of “this is temporary” or “I want this to happen. This is good” or something similar. Mantras can help reprogram your brain so that rather than thinking you are in danger, you shift your mindset to one of calm and peace.
Distract yourself with music or conversation. We all know how good music and good friends are when it comes to taking your mind of stress and anxiety. Bring one or both! Use music in combination with other relaxation techniques for maximum effect.
Focus on the parts rather than the whole. Think of the process as small incremental goals rather than one big event. You can make a game of it by saying things like “I just need to focus on my breathing until the artist stops to get more ink” or “I just need to get through this part where they are filling in the blue”. By taking it one step at a time we trick our brains into thinking these are tiny obstacles rather than one big one.
Focus on the pain. Yes, you read that right. This technique may not work for everyone so dont hate me if it doesnt work for you but I have seen it be very effective. The idea is that rather than trying to take your mind OFF the pain or be distracted from it you look right at it and focus all your attention on it. By doing this you can turn it into a thing you have power over rather than allowing it to be something you have to run away from. It becomes a curiosity you can examine. With practice it is almost like the pain is happening to someone else, while a detached part of your brain is merely observing.
Talk to your tattoo artist about your anxiety. This is very helpful. By talking about what your are feeling anxious or nervous about you can help make it something more manageable and the tattoo artist can help put you at ease by giving you accurate information. This is especially helpful if other people have over-hyped the experience causing you to expect the worst. Just make sure you are respectful of the tattoo artists time. Let them know ahead of time you would like to have this kind of conversation so the time for it can be planned into the tattoo appointment or there can be a meeting before hand.
Focus on the positive. Remember, it is only a temporary sensation and in the end, you will have a beautiful piece of art to show off!

Ideally, you can explore these practices in your daily life before getting tattooed. That way, you’ll be more prepared when it comes time to get your tattoo as well as experience a general sense of well-being just from having started this practice!

What to Expect When Getting a Tattoo

If you are new to the whole experience it might help to know what to expect throughout the process of getting a tattoo

The best thing you can do is to talk to an experienced artist and what to expect. Don't be afraid to ask whatever questions you have but also be mindful of people's time. If you have a lot of questions or you feel like you will want to spend a fair amount of time discussing the details of the experience at length let the artist know this ahead of time and ask if it would be best to schedule a good time to talk. otherwise, you don't know if you are trying to talk to them during a very busy time.

A good artist should be willing to take the time needed to put you at ease and explain everything you want to know. Make sure you are comfortable with your tattoo artist and feel confident that they will take good care of you.

If you’re getting a tattoo for the first time, you can also choose a design and location that might be less painful. This will help lower initial stress related to the process and minimize any discomfort you may feel during the process. Remember, the pain of getting a tattoo is only temporary. It’s the anxiety that can make it feel worse. By managing your anxiety, you can make the experience much more pleasant.

What Does a Tattoo Feel Like?

When it comes time to actually get the tattoo done there are some unusual sensations that you can expect.

I describe the sensation as a hot vibrating scratch. You will feel a slight pinching sensation as the needle lightly but very quickly pricks the ink into your skin. Some people feel a sensation of vibration or tingling as the needle moves over their skin.

Most people find that they start to relax once the tattoo begins to take shape. It’s important to stay still during the process so that the lines are clean and even. Some people find it helps if they can take short breaks if needed.

Small to medium-sized tattoos typically take 1-2 hours to complete, depending on the size and complexity of the design. Remember to use the technique of small incremental goals rather than thinking of one big event. Once it’s done, you will need to bandage it up and follow the aftercare instructions provided by your artist.

How to Make the Tattooing Process Less Painful

Because the pain itself is the main source of most people's anxiety its worth taking the time to discuss things we can do to lessen the pain by choosing certain designs and placement of the tattoo or using various products or services above and beyond the mental exercises discussed earlier.

What Can I Take Before a Tattoo to Ease the Pain?

Ibuprofen - Any NSAID that contains ibuprofen can be helpful for tattoo discomfort. They help inflammation as well as pain. Only take the recommended dosage and eat a good meal with the medication!
Numbing cream - This can be applied about an hour before the tattooing is scheduled to begin. Remember to follow the instructions on the numbing cream as some can cause skin irritation and other side effects if it is over-used for too long. I wrote and article all about using numbing creams you can read by clicking here

What's the Most Painful Place to Get a Tattoo?

Different people will tell you different things about what body parts are more painful to get tattooed. remember that a lot of pain management is a mental game. That being said there are a few spots that are universally agreed on as being more sensitive.

The most painful places will be on or near joints and areas of skin near vital organs.

These are places on the body that we are hard-wired to protect from danger so the body has a heightened sensitivity near them. If you are new to tattooing or especially nervous about the pain, choose and area of the body that is typically less sensitive

How Deep Do the Needles Go in a Tattoo?

A tattoo needle doesn't go in very deep- it’s not invasive like a shot, its more like a surface scratch. Human skin has 7 layers and a tattoo needle only reaches to the first 2 or 3 in the upper dermis, going only about a millimeter or so into the skin. This means that the pain is mostly surface-level.

getting tattooed is not like getting an injection. It is not invasive so put that concern aside!

Does Line-work or Shading Hurt More?

There is no definitive answer when it comes to whether line-work or shading hurts more. This often depends on the person's pain threshold and the location of the tattoo.

Generally speaking, the line-work is less painful than shading because the process moves faster and doesn't cover as much surface area.

Shading can also become more sensitive because the skin is already irritated from lining.

Does White Ink Hurt More in a Tattoo?

Some people have reported that white ink (or even color ingeneral) hurts more than black ink.

It is a total myth that white ink hurts more. This myth probably started because white ink is usually placed last in the process after the skin is already hypersensitive.

Can Someone With Low Pain Tolerance Get a Tattoo?

Yes, absolutely you can get tattooed even if you think you have low pain tolerance.

Managing the pain of getting tattooed is mostly a mental game so the first step is addressing your anxiety about the process. If you dont have the patience for that and think you will not be able to handle the feeling you can always opt for an over the counter numbing agent.

Conclusion

The biggest contributing factor to the discomfort you feel when getting a tattoo is your level of anxiety. If you can learn to manage and control your nervous energy before getting tattooed, this will greatly reduce the amount of discomfort you feel. Getting tattooed is 90% a mental game so learn to strengthen your resolve, your relaxation techniques and always keep things in perspective. Enjoy the process for the amazing experience that it will be!

Thanks for reading!