What is the most painful place to be tattooed?
“Hell yeah, it hurts!”
Tattoos are painful. Anyone who says they aren’t was probably drunk when they got their ink. Those with high pain thresholds may describe the feelings as more akin to a scratch on a sunburn, but at the very least there is definitely a certain amount of discomfort associated with getting a tattoo.
This is always a fun conversation over a few drinks on a Friday night: whose tattoo hurt the most? Anyone with more than one tattoo probably has a tattoo “war story,” but is there any objective agreement on what tattoos hurt the most? Certainly everyone acknowledges that different people experience pain differently, but can’t we all agree that some places just hurt far more than others?
Fleshy spots like the thigh and the upper arm are probably safe spots for those who are afraid of a little pain. Bony areas are the ones that really bring the pain.
But what hurts the most? Is it the foot? The ankle? There is so little fat in these areas that the pain just has to be high.
How about the upper chest? The ribs? Again, these bony areas are among the worst as far as pain goes.
What about the hip?
One heavily tattooed tattoo artist I spoke to said that the tattoo on his head was by far the most painful.
Few people can confirm this, but the eyeball tattoo just has to be painful, and if it isn’t, at the very least it ranks high in the “ick” factor.
Readers - what was your most painful tattoo? Why do you think it was so bad?
March 27th, 2008 at 8:42 am
One of our readers sent the following comment:
“For me, the upper ribs into the armpit/breast area hurt the most. I have never, ever bruised from getting a tattoo…until I had my ribs done. It took a really long recovery too.”
March 27th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Another reader commented:
“My elbow hurt the worst out of all of my tattoos. Come to think of it, I need a touch up.”
April 1st, 2008 at 6:59 pm
got to agree with the peice im heaveley tattooed and the head is at least twice as painful as any where else but damn it looks coolhaving flames shooting across your temples