chest tattoo....sore?

Afk

I'm getting a tattoo on sat up around my collar bone area....

Just wondering if it is as sore as people make it out to be?

The worst place I have had tattooed at the moment was the entire back of my knee

Would it be as sore, if not worse then the back of my knee?

sentient_6

Some of my shoulder tattoo goes over on to my collar bone. It wasnt that bad, you'll feel the vibrations up through your teeth though. Might sting slightly more. No biggy.

Black Sheep

I've got both sides of my chest tattooed, sat for about 4 hours each time. In terms of pain it's hard to say- everyone is different.

I have had the back of my knee tattooed and, for me, I think the chest was a little worse but to be honest I felt like both were tolerable. At the end of the day neither are massive spaces.

The only thing I'd say is that I got one side of my chest done following an aeroplane flight and having had very little proper sleep... That was quite a nasty sitting. The other side was far easier and I put it down to being better rested beforehand.

In fact, I think being well-rested and keeping your blood sugar up are probably the two best lessons I have learned over the years in terms of handling longish sittings.

Star Lord

As said everyones different. My chest was agony compared to my back pieces, was over three hours and I was in bits. Then again, I don't get the endorphins that people usually get, so that'd account for a lot!

irishescorts

It's different for everyone. It's sore for sure however it reminds me of my first, this is a question I put to the artist.

His response? "If you don't think you can handle it, f off".

So I sat down in that chair, gritted my teeth and let him crack on.

Remember, all pain can be overcome. It's weakness leaving the body

feelpablo

I found mine to be a bitch alltogether!!
Was five hours and any where it was on bone like the collar bone and breast bone i found really tough to get through but then i find that when im gettin tattoed directly over bone it really gets to me...including the feckin teeth chattering it induces :mad:

But get loads of sugar into ya, get good rest before hand and if you need a break just say it to your artist!

Best of luck with it

jemser

I got both sides of my chest done,the first was on the left side and 3 nd a half hours of agony it was!! the right hand side was 3 hours but not nearly as bad..

Black Sheep

I meant to respond to this thread again.

A small piece, possibly no matter where it is, is something that I think almost anyone can get through if they go in with even half of the right attitude. A short sitting, anything under 3 hours, doesn't (in my opinion) go on long enough to really begin to bite. You won't run out of endorphins, you won't get tired and you probably won't have more of the same to look forward to before the piece is done. In this context I think it's legitimate to say to people that they should 'suck it up' to a fair extent.

But a longer sitting is exponentially harder. It's not just more of the same kind of pain. The longer you sit, the more tired you get, and the more tired you are the more it begins to bite. This is compounded by the fact that, let's face it, a really long sitting is usually for something like a backpiece, a full front, a big ribs piece or similar- inherently more painful parts of the body to be tattooed on. Chances are it's not even one sitting, it will be one of many. A back piece might take 50 hours.

If we're talking about someone being tattooed for 6, 7, 8 or more hours per day (and it does happen, particularly at conventions or when people are travelling to have work done) then I think telling that person that they just need to get through the pain can sound a bit flippiant. :pac: It should be acknowledged that it's a pretty bloody gruelling thing. If someone told me that I should 'take the pain or F^&^ off' I would hope they have a full body suit and know what they're talking about... :pac:

Chances people who get around to really big pieces (back pieces, suits etc) have cut their teeth on smaller work and know what they are in for, at least.

It's true that if it were easy more people might have big coverage, I guess.

BTW I'm not denigrating smaller tattoos or people who get them. Just making the point that, to me, it can be apples and oranges because in terms of discomfort the size and time in the chair is probably as important as location.

SolvableKnave

Thats all fine and dandy, and I would say a 3 hour sitting isn't much, from my own personal experience. BUT, the one thing no-one but the tattoo'ee can account for is their own personal pain tolerance, and I dont think anyone can go around and tell someone to "Suck It Up".

Black Sheep

'Suck it up' probably isn't a very useful bit of advice in most circumstances alright. I also don't like the slightly macho connotation. Part of what I was trying to suggest in the post above is that people should acknowledge that it does hurt and that you can't always discount that, although perhaps all I've done is imply I someone look down upon short sittings or small tattoos (not the case!).

By the by, I spoke to a tattoo artist a couple of weeks ago and I was surprised to hear that he believes he has a fair few clients walking around with half-finished work who he hasn't seen in years. Some ran out of money, some just couldn't face another sitting for a big piece and put it off, and off, and off...

No doubt someone will come up with a pain-free way to tattoo eventually. :pac: I do recall someone once asking whether they could get one under general anaesthetic anywhere.