Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Holy mother of all things good is it painful! I just went for my first session. I am not looking forward to the second.

Any tips for pain management? Anyone use an anesthetic cream?

I've never done it, but I'm following this thread now. I have a tattoo that I kind of hate, but it's taking up a decent portion of my chubby upper arm, so that's a lot of pain to face. and I'm scared. The guy who did it used a fake portfolio to get the job, and to show potential clients. It was all amazing work...that other people did that he printed off the internet. He mangled me, the ink bled under my skin, I have scarring, everything is blurry and faded into itself, and it embarrasses me to no end. By the time I found out about his lie and saw how it healed he had skipped town.

So I hope other than the pain your experience is awesome and quick and less painful over time. Are you getting it done by a doctor? I'm so curious.

it hurts like a bisque and the anesthetic cream doesn't do much to provide relief. and it never gets any less painful.

my advice: grit your teeth and curl your toes and just know that it'll be over soon.

Out of curiosity, how expensive is it?

Sorry, Dubs. It doesn't sound like any fun at all.

Oh man, jessilikewhoa, I am so sorry to hear about your tattoo experience. That's awful!

It is being done by a doctor, yes. I know there are some shady places that don't have a doctor do it, but this place is highly recommended.

Calcy--he gave me stress balls to squeeze which helped. But by the end I knew I couldn't take even another second. Of course, the placement is apparently the worst for tattoo removal pain and tenacity of ink.

V-they do it by square inch. My tattoo's about 1.5 in^2 so it cost me $75 plus tax. So I guess it's $50 per square inch. And it's really no fun! But it's quick and it doesn't hurt anymore, unlike tattoos which have a longer heal time. Though he did tell me the first shower tomorrow would be unpleasant and that it may blister. :(

I have a tattoo that resulted in a lot of scarring and the tattoo is quite raised, it actually looks like a branding. I hate it and I would like to get it removed but I am unsure if that would help the raised skin look at all. I would just get it covered by another tattoo, but again, the raised skin will still look horrible. UGH, my 15 year old self made bad decisions.

J-dub, do you mind if I ask where your tattoo is? I'm curious about the ink tenacity thing you mentioned.

It's on the back of my neck--the other place he mentioned being bad for pain and tenacity of ink is inner wrist. Mine is also supersaturated with black ink so it'll take a fair number of sessions.

I would definitely inquire with a reputable doc if removal is a good idea--I'd worry that it might cause keloid scarring or some other kind of scarring which probably isn't what you're going for.

I have the same problem! I have one tattoo, it's text only that I decided to get on my shoulder blade where everyone can read it out loud to me even though it's personal. That's problem one. And the dude was a forking crasshole about having to do such a small tattoo and made it TOO small, so the words are all blurred and it looks horrible. I've considered just paying to have it covered up with a big black circle and then get another one on the other side so it looks purposeful.

I'm less terrified of removal now, it sounds bad, but not like the worst thing ever, which pictures of tattoos being lazered off had me fearing. I just want it to get light enough I can tattoo over it, but it's black, so that could still take awhile. I won't have the money for a few years yet, so I get to live with it until then.

I don't want to make any assumptions about your financial status, but I will say that I also thought I would have to wait and wait and wait, but it turns out it's a) much cheaper than I was expecting and b) you can go at most every six months, the longer you wait the fewer sessions you need. So it's much more affordable than I was expecting.