Tattoo Advice:

Sprinkles22

Angel with a Crooked Halo
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
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So ... Sprinkles is considering a new tattoo. From those who've had experience, tell me which is more painful ... top of foot or outside ankle?

In _this_ particular case, I'd prefer to choose the less painful spot. ;)
 
i have one on my outside ankle and it wasn't painful at all.

i have heard the top of the foot is brutal.
 
Not a fan of foot tattoos. My friend owns a tattoo shop and I hang there often. The foot tattoos just simply do not heal well and turn to mush fairly fast. There is too much flexing and activity in that area. C doesn't even like to do them as she feels it's not good for her reputation to have all these crappy looking tattoos on people's feet all the time after a few years.

I have one on my inside ankle and an anklet on the other. Neither hurt much at all, but then again, I love tattoo pain so I'm not one to ask pain-wise.

I would consider the longevity of a foot tattoo before heading in that direction, and from what I've seen of the few feet C and J have done, they are extremely painful as there is nothing but bone there.
 
Not a fan of foot tattoos. My friend owns a tattoo shop and I hang there often. The foot tattoos just simply do not heal well and turn to mush fairly fast. There is too much flexing and activity in that area. C doesn't even like to do them as she feels it's not good for her reputation to have all these crappy looking tattoos on people's feet all the time after a few years.

I have one on my inside ankle and an anklet on the other. Neither hurt much at all, but then again, I love tattoo pain so I'm not one to ask pain-wise.

I would consider the longevity of a foot tattoo before heading in that direction, and from what I've seen of the few feet C and J have done, they are extremely painful as there is nothing but bone there.

Thank you, Seri ...

If I'm going to suffer the procedure of having myself inked, I definitely want it to last and not fade away or look like crap. Good information to know.

:)
 
I've got one on the top of my foot. I didn't consider it to be too bad.... there were a few places when I jerked unconsciously, but I was able to carry on a conversation for almost the entire time. I haven't got any other tattoos so I've nothing to compare it to, but I don't think it was too painful
 
I've only had the one on my shoulder so far, so I can't contribute to the main thrust of the thread directly.

I don't think that it is the movement of the foot so much that ruins the ink on feet (I use my shoulder and move my arm around a lot and except for the red tending to fade a bit it still looks great after 6-1/2 years) but it's the bit that our feet tend to swell and contract, swell and contract, swell and contract. Stretching the skin blurs the ink, so unless your feet are really swollen when you get the tattoo done, a few 16 hour days where you are on your feet all day will probably stretch out the tattoo.

At least that seems logical to me. I've seen ink that was done on someone when they were thin, and when they gained weight, the tats blurred.

My own tattooing experience was that the meaty, fleshy part of the arm was not so bad, but boney part at the tip of my shoulder was pretty damned painful while the needle was doing it's thing, but it stopped hurting pretty quickly once the artist was done there. The fleshy part on the back and inside of my arm didn't hurt so bad while the ink was being done, but dayum, that lowgrade ache lasted for days. If I get a foot or ankle done, I'll let you know how it goes!
 
I don't have one on my foot, but my ankle wasn't too bad. The lower he got so that he moved away from flesh and toward bone, the more it hurt. But even then, it wasn't too bad until he took the yellow and went back over the red he had just done - needling into a fresh, open wound was a bit painful. But like be_ignited, I was able to carry on a comfortable conversation the entire time.

Frankly, I like the look of some foot tattoos, but I don't think I'd ever get one. There's just no padding there. :)
 
So ... Sprinkles is considering a new tattoo. From those who've had experience, tell me which is more painful ... top of foot or outside ankle?

In _this_ particular case, I'd prefer to choose the less painful spot. ;)


I actually JUST got one last week that starts on the outside of my ankle and wraps around the front/partly top of my foot.

It didnt hurt as much as I expected but the most painful part was the top of my foot.

I'll put some pics up here to show where it was, 2 are before shading and the other is with the shading.

Hope I was able to help!
 
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Sorry but im hijacking this thread with another tattoo related-question (thought it made sense to right hear)

I promised myself a tattoo for christmas and now have finally decided what i want... but can i ask, would where would it be less painful... the hip or the shoulder blade (both on the back)?
 
Sorry but im hijacking this thread with another tattoo related-question (thought it made sense to right hear)

I promised myself a tattoo for christmas and now have finally decided what i want... but can i ask, would where would it be less painful... the hip or the shoulder blade (both on the back)?

I hear shoulder blade is one of the places that hurts less than anything.
 
As a general rule, the less padding the more painful. Any area where bone or tendon is close to the surface will hurt more than others. The ink will bleed over time. On smaller, more delicate designs it is more noticeable than with ones that are bold or cover a large area.
 
Here's a pic of mine - click me. My daughter helped design it for me. The bottom is about an inch above my left ankle bone.
 
I hear shoulder blade is one of the places that hurts less than anything.

I have one on my lower right leg and one on my left shoulderblade. I honestly didnt notice a difference.

My best friend has one on her lower back and one that represents her son on her foot. I cant testify for how painful it was, but I think it's beautiful... even now, 4 years later
 
i have had tattoos done on my outside right ankle, right upper arm, right and left shoulder blades, one on my left calf, and one in process on the bigger part of my back.

With mine, the ankle only seemed to have pain involved when it got to the points where there is very little (or no) meat between the skin and the bone itself.

According to the guy who does mine, the top of the foot has so little meat between skin and bones that he has seen some people pass out from having a tattoo done there.

So IMO go with the ankle, because you do normally have some meat between skin and bones there; unlike the top of the foot.

As far as the shoulder blade or hip, the shoulder blade doesnt hurt at all; except for the black on any tattoo; because that color has to be imbedded deeper.

If you do get it on the shoulder blade, just be prepared to not jerk when the gun starts up so close to your ear. Sometimes it freaks people out.

Hope this helped.
 
Cheers for the advice peeps... i preferred the shoulder blade but wanted a 2nd opinion...

As far as the shoulder blade or hip, the shoulder blade doesnt hurt at all; except for the black on any tattoo; because that color has to be imbedded deeper.

If you do get it on the shoulder blade, just be prepared to not jerk when the gun starts up so close to your ear. Sometimes it freaks people out.

Hope this helped.


shame considering i want a black-coloured tattoo, but then, nothing is painless in the world.
 
Cheers for the advice peeps... i preferred the shoulder blade but wanted a 2nd opinion...




shame considering i want a black-coloured tattoo, but then, nothing is painless in the world.

I have black in mine. My shoulderblade tat is a Union Jack with "3W" in the middle in black (stands for 3 Wives). I dont think it hurt any more than my tigger tattoo.. black stripes...
 
Black is used in some form in most tattoos, either as to outline and defining, or as color within. It just has to go a bit deeper so as to not fade as much, so the definition of the art stays as clear as possible; and so the black doesnt fade out.

i am not sure why, but black and reds seem to fade out faster than other colors, if not set deeper.
 
http://www.dream-designs.net/shared/3wtat.jpg

that was the day I got it...

and I need to get it touched up now. It's almost 2 years old. (Forgive the crappy picture, it was cell phone too)

As you can see in the "W", is another risk of using anything that has heavy of one color (especially black), it'll scar or they'll go too deep and it'll be lighter or missing pigment

http://www.dream-designs.net/shared/3w.jpg

But I will say, there's nothing quite like going to your GYN for your yearly woman checkup and hearing, "Do you know you have a British flag on your shoulderblade?" Ok.. there is one thing better. Explaining to the same doctor why your husband has 3 wives....
 
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Actually on mine, the yellow was the most painful. First, it's very thin compared to the other colors so they have to both go deep and go back over the already done area. Second, he took the yellow back over the red to make orange. He did the same with red and blue in the center of the peace sign to make purple but it didn't hurt nearly as much as the yellow. The outline in black probably hurt the least, except when he got to the very bottom across bone. But I have a pretty high pain tolerance, so I don't know how much of a judge I'd be for someone else.

My daughter got her lower back tat, which is about 5 inches in diameter (a fairy), and one on her right hip that is probably 16 inches long from top to bottom (2 hibiscus flowers with lots of embellishment), both done in all black, which she prefers to colors. She didn't mention that the black was more painful, and she's a wimp when it comes to pain. :) If I remember correctly, she said that the angel wings between her shoulder blades was the most painful, and they are directly over her spine and in color.
 
I would agree that bone hurts more which is why I would not recommend the outside of the ankle! All of mine have been on fairly padded places (mid-back, upper thigh, upper arm) but I think getting one on the bone would be just awful.

As for tattoos on the shoulder blade - don't count on seeing it much! I virtually never see the one on my back. :D
 
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