Pain levels

[Jada59]

When I look at porn, the first things I notice are multiple piercings, and tattoos. Those are a turn off to me to begin with, but I don't like them at all in BDSM porn because I feel like the person is just a pain addict. I used to talk to a woman online and she had almost every square inch of her body tattooed.

Every few weeks, she'd say that she was craving some fresh pain so she'd go get a new tattoo or as things progressed, have a tattoo tattooed over again.

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this except... I just watched a quick clip of two subs. The title was something like... Which sub can endure more pain? As it turned out, one had no tattoos and no obvious piercings. The other had many tattoos and some piercings. The clip really turned nothing up as neither of them seemed to be suffering more than the other when they were being whipped.

I could be wrong here but it seems to me that the person with no tattoos or piercings might suffer more when it comes to pain.

Or maybe it's just types of pain. I fainted after I had one ear pierced. I got revived just long enough to get the other one pierced. They used the gun that shoots the earrings through your ears.

I can't even contemplate getting a tattoo from the pain standpoint, but there's also the matter of me not wanting a permanent picture on my body.

Thoughts?

 

[ToPleaseHim]

Some people really love pain and can endure a lot of it, others not so much. This is a preference thing and not sure it’s directly correlated with tattoos and piercings. Certainly it is for some, but for many ink and metal are art and not one iota related to BDSM. I have a low pain tolerance, but can endure a fair amount when my dom likes to inflict it (ah, memories). I have a tattoo and plans for more. But for me these are not related at all

Also, seeing someone as a “pain addict” and saying that it’s not BDSM then doesn’t make sense to me, really. Seems like they would really be able to scratch that itch with the right partner.

 

[Jada59]

Some people really love pain and can endure a lot of it, others not so much. This is a preference thing and not sure it’s directly correlated with tattoos and piercings. Certainly it is for some, but for many ink and metal are art and not one iota related to BDSM. I have a low pain tolerance, but can endure a fair amount when my dom likes to inflict it (ah, memories). I have a tattoo and plans for more. But for me these are not related at all

Also, seeing someone as a “pain addict” and saying that it’s not BDSM then doesn’t make sense to me, really. Seems like they would really be able to scratch that itch with the right partner.

Thanks!

 

[AnnieLit]

Thoughts...
1. Everybody is different, but most people don't faint from pain when they have their ears pierced. More then that, many girls have it done at rather young age. I don't think many parents would bring their daughters to do this, if fainting were a known common reaction.

2. Most tattoos these days are done with topical analgesic, so there is not much pain during the procedure. I guess it is possible to go without it, but probably not many people do it. The way your friend was using tattoos to satisfy her pain cravings is probably not the most typical one, for one thing bdsm is much cheaper.

Tattoos, piercings, body modifications -- these are art forms, pain there is the price, not the goal in itself. Do these people have higher pain tolerance? Somewhat. They are not likely tp be on the lower end (like you are), but you will never know if they are somewhere in the middle or on the higher end. It depends on the age of course, but many photographers complain that these days it is almost impossible to find models with no ink on them. Models for fashion shoots, not bdsm

3. You can never make any conclusions about person's pain tolerance based solely on the absence of tattoos and piercings. Maybe they don't like the look, maybe they have )or hope to have one day) jobs where you can't be covered in ink. Have you seen many lawers with visible tattoos? Doctors? Teachers? They all have an image to maintain, and head to toe ink is not part of that image.

4. Different people like different types of pain. My hasband is absolutely terrified of any needles, but loves being spanked. I always squeal in the dentist chair and make my doctor very uncomfortable by doing that, but I LOVE the intentional bdsm pain and have been told that I can handle quite a lot of it. Between the two of us we have zero tattoos and one set of piercings.

 

[Lysander444]

I used to know a full time sub, she was so addicted to pain that she could not even got a tattoo otherwise she would start creaming herself. She even got some dirty looks from a doctor because she was actively enjoying a painful medical procedure! To each his own, I guess.

 

[AnnieLit]

she could not even got a tattoo otherwise she would start creaming herself.

You do realize this was an excuse, right? Women are not men, they can get aroused and even cum without anybody noticing a thing.

 

[Bramblethorn]

2. Most tattoos these days are done with topical analgesic, so there is not much pain during the procedure. I guess it is possible to go without it, but probably not many people do it.

Are you sure of that? I don't have broad experience here, only the one tattoo, but when I was doing my homework beforehand I got the impression that a lot of tattoo artists frown on using topicals. Partly an attitude of "pain is part of the experience", partly caution in case it interferes with the process. My tattooist never suggested it.

Tattoos, piercings, body modifications -- these are art forms, pain there is the price, not the goal in itself.

Yes and no.

This is difficult to articulate, but for me, getting a tattoo was a way of processing something awful, and the pain was a big part of that catharsis. I don't think I would have wanted mine pain-free. The physical pain blurred in with the emotion.

I don't think it's always possible to separate the artwork from the price, because we feel different about things that we've had to pay for.

People have been using pain to process grief for a very long time, enough so that Leviticus has a specific prohibition against cutting oneself for the dead.

3. You can never make any conclusions about person's pain tolerance based solely on the absence of tattoos and piercings. Maybe they don't like the look, maybe they have )or hope to have one day) jobs where you can't be covered in ink. Have you seen many lawers with visible tattoos? Doctors? Teachers? They all have an image to maintain, and head to toe ink is not part of that image.

This is something that varies by workplace. Some places are still very anti-ink, but a lot that used to be that way have relaxed about it, as long as the tattoos aren't offensive. I work in a very white-collar setting and while visible tattoos are uncommon, one of our directors has a large sleeve tattoo. I do know both lawyers and teachers with visible ink, and then there's this lady...

 

[AnnieLit]

Are you sure of that? I don't have broad experience here, only the one tattoo, but when I was doing my homework beforehand I got the impression that a lot of tattoo artists frown on using topicals. Partly an attitude of "pain is part of the experience", partly caution in case it interferes with the process. My tattooist never suggested it..

My experience with this is very second hand as I don't have any tattoos at all. But few months ago I needed a topical analgesic for something else, found a brand, and was looking through the reviews. Turned out there were pages upon pages of people raving about how well it worked for them in the tattoo setting.

 

[Primalex]

Also, seeing someone as a “pain addict” and saying that it’s not BDSM then doesn’t make sense to me, really. Seems like they would really be able to scratch that itch with the right partner.

Cynical and rhetorical objection:

Why aren't nymphomaniacs just working as prostitutes?

 

[ToPleaseHim]

Are you sure of that? I don't have broad experience here, only the one tattoo, but when I was doing my homework beforehand I got the impression that a lot of tattoo artists frown on using topicals. Partly an attitude of "pain is part of the experience", partly caution in case it interferes with the process. My tattooist never suggested it.

This matches my experience, too. While I just have the one tattoo, my daughter has multiple as do some of my closest friends. None have used or even had it suggested to use a topical analgesic. I didn’t event know that was a thing.

Cynical and rhetorical objection:

Why aren't nymphomaniacs just working as prostitutes?

Seems like a possible win-win. Of course, sex work should be legal and all that jazz. (Sorry for answering a rhetorical question.)

 

[AnnieLit]

500+ reviews, on the first glance 90% tattoos, 10% waxing, but probably something in the mix too.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00F...crb_top?ie=UTF8#cm_cr_carousel_images_section

 

[Bramblethorn]

My experience with this is very second hand as I don't have any tattoos at all. But few months ago I needed a topical analgesic for something else, found a brand, and was looking through the reviews. Turned out there were pages upon pages of people raving about how well it worked for them in the tattoo setting.

It does happen, but I'm not convinced that it's "most tattoos" being done that way.

Creams will change the texture of the skin during the tattoo, it can mess with the stencil, and anything that's on the skin will get pushed inside it with possible effects on the healing process, all of which I've heard as reasons why some artists refuse to work with them. This is fairly of the comments I've heard on the subject: https://inkaddict.com/blogs/default-blog/tattoo-faq-do-tattoo-artists-use-numbing-cream

 

[ultramarineblue]

I just wanted to add that my own tolerance of pain fluctuates according to hormone cycle, physical health, mental status, arousal, other factors.

 

[KinzyTaylor]

.....

 

[AnnieLit]

It does happen, but I'm not convinced that it's "most tattoos" being done that way.

Creams will change the texture of the skin during the tattoo, it can mess with the stencil, and anything that's on the skin will get pushed inside it with possible effects on the healing process, all of which I've heard as reasons why some artists refuse to work with them. This is fairly of the comments I've heard on the subject: https://inkaddict.com/blogs/default-blog/tattoo-faq-do-tattoo-artists-use-numbing-cream

I can't speak about all possible creams, but lidocaine that I gave a link to above does not have these problems. It needs to be applied about an hour before the procedure and then gets completely washed off right before. Soap, alcohol, any other agent that will get it off the surface. There is nothing left ON the skin by the time the artists starts their work.

 

[ToPleaseHim]

I can't speak about all possible creams, but lidocaine that I gave a link to above does not have these problems. It needs to be applied about an hour before the procedure and then gets completely washed off right before. Soap, alcohol, any other agent that will get it off the surface. There is nothing left ON the skin by the time the artists starts their work.

No one has countered your claim that these creams exist and are used, just the statement that “most” tattoos are done with these creams now. I’m really perplexed at your commitment to this topic despite having no tattoos and not being a tattoo artist, but it did prompt me to reach out to my tattoo artist. She and her father have a very successful and long running business and neither of them will tattoo a person who has used a topical numbing cream. They say that it makes the skin rubbery and difficult to work with, that they don’t get the feedback they need and it makes them less confident that they can deliver the desired quality. She said she’s surprised that there are tattoo artists that will work with the creams. She did mention another option that is a spray, but that it only works after the first run. I could see this being helpful as the second run is what hurt like a motherfucker. But, alas, she’s not comfortable using it either.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I can't speak about all possible creams, but lidocaine that I gave a link to above does not have these problems. It needs to be applied about an hour before the procedure and then gets completely washed off right before. Soap, alcohol, any other agent that will get it off the surface. There is nothing left ON the skin by the time the artists starts their work.

"...most sessions starting with a pre-numbing ointment wound up disastrously unproductive. No matter how hard I'd try to rid the skin of this ointment—the oily residue just wouldn't budge. By that point it's pretty-well absorbed, creating a barrier between my stencil and the skin."

And if it's numbing pain sensation, then it's affecting muscle tone, which gets us back to the "rubbery skin" issue.

 

[ultramarineblue]

Exactly. Depnding on the play at the time, mood, and all of the above, tolerance to different types of pain tend to be different.

I really don't like when my tolerance is lower than normal so that's something I need to work on accepting.

 

[Goldenfinger]

Everybody’s different I have many tattoos. I was told getting one on your ribs was painful and had no issues. I once had a heavy handed tattooer and when he hit my collar bone I could feel it.

 

[Jada59]

Thanks for the responses!

 

[cookiecat]

I like sweet romantic rides on unicorns. Don't hate.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I like sweet romantic rides on unicorns. Don't hate.

Just be careful about which end.

 

[Moochienanu]

When I look at porn, the first things I notice are multiple piercings, and tattoos. Those are a turn off to me to begin with, but I don't like them at all in BDSM porn because I feel like the person is just a pain addict. I used to talk to a woman online and she had almost every square inch of her body tattooed.

Every few weeks, she'd say that she was craving some fresh pain so she'd go get a new tattoo or as things progressed, have a tattoo tattooed over again.

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this except... I just watched a quick clip of two subs. The title was something like... Which sub can endure more pain? As it turned out, one had no tattoos and no obvious piercings. The other had many tattoos and some piercings. The clip really turned nothing up as neither of them seemed to be suffering more than the other when they were being whipped.

I could be wrong here but it seems to me that the person with no tattoos or piercings might suffer more when it comes to pain.

Or maybe it's just types of pain. I fainted after I had one ear pierced. I got revived just long enough to get the other one pierced. They used the gun that shoots the earrings through your ears.

I can't even contemplate getting a tattoo from the pain standpoint, but there's also the matter of me not wanting a permanent picture on my body.

Thoughts?

Thoughts...? so many.

I have three tattoos.
I want more.
All three were in places that many have warned were “especially painful.”
(The front of my pelvis, my ribs, and my ankle)
It doesn’t have anything to do with the added benefit of the pain,
But rather about the story I want to tell with my body.

I have a few... unconventional... piercings.
I would get more,
But want another tattoo first,
And I don’t do both in the same year.
The piercings have made my nipples
So much more sensitive
After what I thought
Would be forever that they felt numbed
From breastfeeding for a year and a half.

Am I a masochist? Yes.
Does my Daddy take advantage of my now extra-sensitive nipples? Yes.
But I don’t equate my body modifications with the pain of first getting them
Unless someone asks me if they hurt (FYI: kinda, but not as bad as when He bites my inner thigh and makes my mind whirl around like I’ve left the planet and am floating in a new place where the pain of His teeth is the only link to gravity).

 

[SeeMeRolling]

I never got a tattoo because I always thought I couldn’t handle the pain.

Now I have embraced pain, and enjoy pain, and can’t wait to get the right tattoo.