Least Painful Place to Get a Tattoo

Getting a tattoo can be quite a painful experience, especially if your skin is sensitive. Knowing the least painful place to get a tattoo will benefit you, and save you a lot of unwanted pain and discomfort.
Least Painful Place to Get a Tattoo
The effect of great tattoos is never complete unless their positioning is perfect. You may have the best design in mind, and it may mean a lot to you, but if you end up getting it inked in the wrong place you will end up disappointed. The place where you get your tattoo done is important not only because of its visibility and accessibility, but also because of the amount of pain it causes. To avoid experiencing excessive pain while getting tattooed, it is necessary for you to know about the least painful places to get tattooed. Read more on tattoos: body art or curse.

Painful Places to Get a Tattoo
The amount of pain and discomfort experienced by a person while getting a tattoo will always differ from one person to another and also from area to area. The sensitivity of certain areas of the body will always differ from person to person and as such, it is very hard to accurately state the most painful and the least painful place to get a tattoo. It is generally observed that the center of the upper back, the sides of the lower back and kidney area, the ribs, the inside of the upper arm and bony areas are the most sensitive and experience the most pain while getting tattooed. Again, this is relative and may vary from person to person. It depends on the sensitivity and the pain threshold of the individual more than anything. Learn more about tattoo history.

It is also important to remember that sometimes, excessive pain can be caused by the recklessness of the tattoo artist as well. If he applies excessive pressure or is heavy-handed, you may experience unnecessary discomfort, even if you know the least painful place to have a tattoo. This would obviously be painful, and it would simultaneously harm the way your tattoo will look eventually as well. Please note that tattoos will hurt to some extent, no matter where you get them. You may constantly hear people say that it does not hurt and it only stings mildly, but if a mechanized needle is constantly sewing against your skin, it is bound to hurt. Also read further on tattoo care instructions.

Here is a list of parts of your body that experience the most pain when getting tattooed. The list is in descending order of pain, and the last item on the list is the least painful place to get a tattoo on your body.
  • Ribs: The ribs are very sensitive areas on your body and respond to any touch in different ways. It can be very ticklish and getting a tattoo there can end up hurting a lot. The tattoo sessions for ribs usually last very long, and as a result, cause more pain. For a person getting their first tattoo, it is recommended to not get it done on the ribs, as it may well end up being the last.
  • Collarbone: It goes without saying that any area on the body where the skin is thin and the bones are near the surface, is going to hurt a lot. Collarbones are good places to get tattooed due to the fact that you can cover them up or display them as and when you wish. Getting needles poked in this area will feel like an intense burn.
  • Forearm: The forearm is an area that is ticklish for most people. Any area that is ticklish will hurt more than other areas. As a result, some people may feel extreme pain while getting their forearm tattooed whereas other people may experience moderate pain. Again, the whole ordeal depends more on the person's pain tolerance levels.
  • Neck: The back of the neck is a very popular spot for getting tattoos done, and the lower you go along the neck, the lesser the pain experienced. The bones become shallower where the neck ends and the spine begins, and the fleshy part above these bones is a place that would not cause much pain.
  • Back: The back is an area that is considered a low pain area, due to the lesser density of nerve endings on the back. As you may have noticed, softer touches on your back will not be completely felt by you. This is due to the presence of lesser number of touch receptors on the back of a human body. As a result, the pain experienced while getting a tattoo on the back is quite low.
  • Outer Shoulder: Out of all the places on your body, this is the least painful place to get a tattoo. The amount of muscle and fat present on this part of the body makes it an almost non-painful experience and as a result, this is a very popular place to get tattooed for most people. The sensitivity in this area is very low and almost everyone will agree that this is the place least likely to hurt while getting a tattoo.
All in all, the level of pain experienced by a person will depend entirely on the pain threshold of that person. Also read further on neck tattoo pain and foot tattoos - do they hurt. Some areas will hurt more for some individuals, and those same areas would not hurt at all for other individuals. The skill of the tattoo artist also plays a great part in the amount of pain experienced.

By Rahul Thadani
Published: 10/29/2009
 
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