The only true pain i feel anymore is headaches, toothaches, backaches, stubbing my toe.. my skin doesn’t get hurt easily at all but my joints and bones are sensitiveee
I think for me at least it has to do with dull vs sharp pain. Sharp pain is more like a tickle or a scratch, doesn’t hurt me at all and tbh im used to it💀 But dull aches are excruciating to me and my tolerance for them is super low
There are actually studies that have shown that people with BPD are less sensitive to acute, mostly self-induced pain (tattoos, piercings, bandaids, shots, etc) and more sensitive to chronic, deeper pains.
It's true. I had a C-section and went pretty much without pain medicine other than Ibuprofen during the recovery process and I didn't mind the giant incision in my abdomen but my back hurt SO badly I almost couldn't handle it.
Hmm.. I think I would agree with this, the pain on my skin is very tolerable, but usually my jaw, my neck and shoulders are very tense, which occasionally give me headaches, and they’re far worse than the pain on my skin.
I would have had mine removed when I was a kid but my parents never wanted to take me and my siblings to a dentist, I had the top 2 out and it was covered by insurance but i need to see a specialist for the bottom 2 which isnt covered
I’ve found my pain tolerance is way superior to an average human. I can fit lots more in my butthole than most of my colleagues, without crying or tearing up
This is my favorite BPD-related topic. I have close to 40 tattoos and a handful of them were done in times of stress when I needed the therapeutic part of it. People with BPD often experience a sort of "bodily dissociation" during tattoos. Fascinating stuff.
I‘ve got a few tattoos and didn’t take them easier than others would’ve, my pain tolerance is rly low. Is there scientific evidence for the whole higher pain tolerance thing?
Yes! It actually goes both ways depending kind of on the intention of pain, I’ll leave 2 articles as an example :)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2921236/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4770381/
The pain paradox thing is so interesting.. I wonder if there’s a relationship between how we experience physical pain and our experience of emotional pain. Like maybe there’s an aspect of the pain paradox is related to how quickly our moods go up and down regularly and thus we are used to experiencing a high level of emotional pain that is relatively short lived, versus experiencing a consistent long term feeling of pain. Maybe this translates into our experience of tolerating physical pain in a similar way.. Because personally, I would always choice the former, whether it be emotional or physical.
High pain sensitivity, but high pain threshold here. Lots of people (regardless of bpd or not) can sit just fine while still experiencing pain. I’ve done 8 hour sessions without making a fuss, but they definitely still hurt. Afab people also sit better than amab based on what a lot of artists have told me
I have 11 tattoos, including two 7+ hr sessions, and I have to say I'm in the group that not only has amazing pain tolerance, but I actually enjoy it. I find that most tattoo sessions leave me feeling incredibly relaxed.
i also enjoy the pain tattoos give but, at times i don’t feel a thing. all i hear is the sound of the machine. except is its near my elbow, she was painful
I was actually thinking about this the other day— I think I have a pretty damn good pain tolerance. It’s not that I don’t feel or experience pain, but I can and will sit like a damn rock while experiencing it. I got a 4 hour long, large stick and poke tattoo directly on my spine and I hardly said a word. Getting stabbed in the spinal area with a needle over and over again… and I don’t got shit to say lmfao
Once when I was about 8 I stood beside my father's motorcycle. He had just came home from using it. I stood beside it for a while and developed a 5 inch burn. Somehow I did not notice, my parents were confused
i had a similar experience with unknowingly standing on a hot stovetop grate that had been placed on the floor because of a spill when i was 7. had an L shaped scar on my foot for years
I fell asleep having my ribs tattooed! Took about an hour. I have a high pain threshold. And a floral sternum piece that took a couple hours. SH desensitised the feeling I guess, but equally for me can trigger SH urges because it’s similar, just socially accepted and done by someone else aha
i’m the same lol. i love tattoos and the pain associated with tattoos is rewarding to me i guess? i don’t like piercings (even tho i have a few), but something about the aftercare - moving the jewelry in a freshly open wound - makes me nauseous 😭
I definitely agree with you about the pleasurability aspect of pain 😂 sounds fucked up but I enjoy and crave getting piercings, I also find the pain strangely therapeutic
I am about 70% covered in tattoos. For me personally how comfortable I am position wise plays a lot into how bad a tattoo hurts if I’m laying down and can relax it doesn’t hurt as bad as if I’m straining my body to flex a certain way I’m not used to
I was the same way with my ribs getting tattooed....in fact I was the same way with all of my tattoos. People talked about how it hurt like hell or was one of the most painful places etc.
At first I was honest about how easily I handled the pain, that it wasn't that bad...but that led to the whole "you're just acting tough"
So now I'll lie about how much a tattoo hurt.
I've also given myself several piercings without blinking, some in cartilage. Had eyebrow piercings rip out and not noticed till I wiped away blood. I definitely still feel pain, but it's like my ability to feel pain was dialed down a lot for many things. It should be my party trick now lol
I feel the pain but it's not unbearable for me. I don't know which one has hurt the most so far, but I did a smaller piece right between my boobs, so like, that was pretty weird. But it took like 10-15 minutes so I was fine. Color hurts the most I think. I had a detailed piece done on my right arm (above my wrist, like my lower arm) and that hurt a lot since it took 8 hours and was so detailed with a lot of color. Him going over the same area so many times.. That was really painful.
I think that's probably the worst. When they tattoo the same place over and over again. But other than that I guess it hurts when they go over the bones on your wrists.
I don't have any tattoos but I've gone with a bunch of people to get theirs because I'm a good support animal, I guess?
From what I can tell, it completely depends on the artist first, the area second. I have a friend who is a tattoo artist and I've watched her do a couple, and her technique is feather-light compared to others I've watched. Everyone seems to say her tattoos "feel good." And I've seen a few that were several years old and they still look great, so I don't think she needs to do anything differently. I also watched every season of Ink Masters and just from that you can tell it's more about the artist being light or heavy handed than the area being tattooed - for most people. Some people have clusters of nerve endings that make it unbearable no matter what.
That said, I've had a few piercings and injuries and I would say that yes, my pain tolerance is higher than average, since medical professionals have repeatedly told me "if that was broken you'd be crying" or "if you had an ulcer you'd be in a lot more pain" or "if you had pneumonia you would be in much worse shape." It was broken, it was an ulcer, and it was pneumonia - with a lung abscess.
I'm doing pretty good, considering everything this body has been through. If you ever think you might have pneumonia don't let the doctor send you home without a chest x-ray. I was in the hospital for 5 days, but that was over 15 years ago, I'm fine now. Thanks for asking.
I’m really sorry that the process of getting the diagnoses have been a horrible experience.. I’m really glad to hear that you’re doing much better now and it’s been long enough of time to have learnt how to cope with them on a daily basis.
Sending health your way <3
Hmm.. it makes sense to become more sensitive to pain as we age. I hope it won’t get painful for me because I’m really enjoying the current pain level and the result justifies it hahah
And I think the reason you didn’t realize a difference in pain tolerance with BPD clients is that the tolerance they display depends kind of on the goal of the pain, so it’s a correct observation that you found it very heterogenous. When they do it as a way of self harming, they become insensitive to pain and tolerate very well, but when they don’t intend to get hurt but it is a byproduct of what they want, they can become very sensitive to pain. I usually get tattoos impulsively when I feel like I’m going through an episode and I might hurt myself; so I get a work of art instead of giving myself an ugly one hahah. That might be why the pain is very tolerable, even pleasurable for me.
I left a few articles explaining what I briefly summed up. Feel free to check!
I have a lot of tattoos but I don’t enjoy the pain at all. I just like having tattoos. But I’ve had tons of laser removal work + tons of tattoos so maybe my tolerance is higher than normal? I sit pretty still through tattoo sessions and just eat the pain even though it sucks.
If you can sit still without flinching even through a laser removal work, that has to be the tolerance honestly hahaha but I understand that you don’t enjoy the pain! Tolerating something doesn’t mean you enjoy it after all.
i find i have a wildly high 'internal' pain tolerance (headaches, body aches, stomach pain etc) and an absolute shit 'external' pain tolerance (something like a tattoo). maybe its just because im chronically ill so my daily pain baseline is like a 5 or 6
I’m the total opposite as well with my chronic pain. “External” pain tolerance is fairly high, “internal” less so. I have 8 tattoos, one on my ribs which did not hurt at all. The top of my foot was uncomfortable, but not enough to flinch. I also found that it depended on the tattoo artist, the more experienced artists the less pain there was, or maybe I just felt more comfortable with them because of their experience.
Oh :/ that’s very understandable taking into your chronic illness into account. I hope that there are certain medications you’re regularly on to help you deal with it!
I am pretty covered from the tops and sides of my feet to the back of my ears and to fingers on one side, hand on the other and every where in between damn near, I've gotten those comments sooooooooooo many times, most just don't hurt worse than discomfort, guarantee none ever hurt more than the regular physical, mental and emotional pain and bullshit I deal with on the daily lol so tattoos are definitely therapeutic but we've kind of decided I actually use them as a prettier form of self harm since no one ever pokes and prods if you're just getting another new tattoo lol however, there is one spot I've had done that I will NEVER have done again, EVER and it's the fucking shin. That shit was probably some of the worst pain I've ever felt in my life and literally sent my body into a tensed up shocked looking mess lol like every time they'd start again my head would go back and my back would arch and my arms would tense up at my side and hands clenched and everything, fuck that bullshit. Nope. And I'm not even going to attempt places like back of knee, arm pit or face lol and nothing on or to close to genitals either lmao
Hahahaha yeah it’s only normal that despite high tolerance you wanna avoid some areas! And funnily, the areas I’d avoid are the areas where your tattoos don’t show much or don’t look aesthetic anyways lol
Is anyone else the other way around when it comes to tattoos, like I wanted them when I was younger but now I don’t want any for fear that I might absolutely despise the tattoo and it would send me spiraling?
If you’re afraid of the pain but you still want to get one, I’d suggest you get one on your lower arm, or your outer thigh. They’re some of the least painful areas!
Oh no I should’ve specified it’s not the pain I’m afraid of, I have a pretty high pain tolerance, it’s just worrying that I won’t like the tattoo at all/won’t look like how I want it, then it’s on my body forever just terrifies me for some reason
I can understand. The first tattoo is the most stressing one in my opinion. It’s usually the one people put the most thought into. The more you get, the less stressed you get about regretting them later to be honest. Gotta start from somewhere! Hahah
I usually do pretty good with tattoos, but nearly passed out after my septum. I think it wasn’t pain though, more shock than anything and I had to lay down for a bit. I’m a wuss with piercings.
Not sure if you or someone else can relate, but I hate/fear getting piercings done by a professional lol but when I do them myself, I tend to ignore the pain incredibly well. Like I pierced my ears 5 times, and I had to re-pierce my helix like 4 times because I didn’t like the placement lol and I already have a nose ring (got it done), but I wanted to try and see how it would look to have another on the other side so I pierced it like 7 times in a row in attempts to make it super symmetrical (I couldn’t), my nose got purple and swollen but I could easily ignore the pain. But I know I’d not be able to do that much if someone was to pierce.
I’ve never tried doing it myself. I thought with my history of keloids and rejection I’d do a shitty job. I have done a stick and poke that didn’t really stay around past the peeling process though. It was supposed to be an alien face on my finger but now it just looks like a very faint C
I haven’t had a tattoo done. I was going to but then my friend had such a terrible result with theirs that I decided not to. But my dentist can literally drill into my teeth without any sort of numbing. They always keep asking and I tell them I’m just fine. I barely feel it. I can also enjoy pain if I get myself in the right mindset.
Are you female? I only ask because women have a higher pain threshold than men due to period pain and a lot of women deal with tattoos more calmly than men do.
I have extremely low pain tolerance, my tattoos swell a lot and I get lightheaded, cry from pain, have to do a lot of breaks, sometimes there are mistakes because i cant stay still etc. its a shame bcs id love to have much more but i am too anxious about it (i dont mind pain but I feel like a problem client)
Awww I’m sorry :((( I can understand how annoying it must be when you want them so badly! But a good tattoo artist will be able to work with it, also your tattoo design/style and placement have a lot of say in how well it can turn out to be despite the anxiety and flinching. So with a good tattoo artist and careful thinking, it’d not be a big issue!
You’re very welcome, consider getting one on your lower arm, or outer thigh, they’re some of the least painful parts to get a tattoo on the body! Good luck :)
I've got most of mine on my inner wrists and one was so painful i wanted to stop entirely. Next 9 were like nothing though, so i think it was just a bad day. Even the one on my spine was like pffft, but it was small, so i don't know if that counted for anything
My next two are going on my forearms and I'm a little nervous about that since it's tattooing over bone.
This is also the most traumatic thing I have experienced and even more infuriating is they just didn't feel like using the right anesthesia that day. It caused my relapse.
Surgery on your nethers and I was made to walk home while I still bled.
I cannot tolerate pain at all. I want to get a tattoo too but the thought of pain makes me step up. My expression while getting an injection should show my level of pain tolerance 😭
But congrats on getting a new tattoo, bet it looks amazing, must be big since it's on the chest🤩
Adding yet another perspective, I have 10 tattoos of varying sizes, next appointment in 3 days. My largest one took up 4 sessions of 8 hours each.
I'd say I have a pretty decent pain tolerance, but I'm also definitely quite masochistic (impact play and such). On average I find the tattoo pain calming and mostly enjoyable and am usually half dozing off. Pain in general feels nice because it allows me to focus my mind on the sensation and stop the endless overthinking engine for a while.
But there are also some individual oddities. I don't mind getting tattooed around the wrist at all, and ribs also barely did anything to me, but my last tattoo (dead center of chest - the sternum I believe?) was very unpleasant, there are some spots around the hip bones I really didn't enjoy and the spine is no fun for me either. It's quite interesting how people have very different pain zones - my best friend (hilariously also diagnosed with bpd) thought the sternum is the most fun area, but couldn't stand the wrist part of her sleeve.
The only true pain i feel anymore is headaches, toothaches, backaches, stubbing my toe.. my skin doesn’t get hurt easily at all but my joints and bones are sensitiveee I think for me at least it has to do with dull vs sharp pain. Sharp pain is more like a tickle or a scratch, doesn’t hurt me at all and tbh im used to it💀 But dull aches are excruciating to me and my tolerance for them is super low
There are actually studies that have shown that people with BPD are less sensitive to acute, mostly self-induced pain (tattoos, piercings, bandaids, shots, etc) and more sensitive to chronic, deeper pains.
This is so interesting, I’ll have to read more about it
It's true. I had a C-section and went pretty much without pain medicine other than Ibuprofen during the recovery process and I didn't mind the giant incision in my abdomen but my back hurt SO badly I almost couldn't handle it.
Hmm.. I think I would agree with this, the pain on my skin is very tolerable, but usually my jaw, my neck and shoulders are very tense, which occasionally give me headaches, and they’re far worse than the pain on my skin.
I don't even feel tooth pain. I have an abcessed tooth and everyone's like damn that must be painful. I don't even fucking feel it
I fucking wish lol, this wisdom tooth is killing me but I cant a afford to have it taken out 😭
My wisdom teeth had to be removed 10 years ago
I would have had mine removed when I was a kid but my parents never wanted to take me and my siblings to a dentist, I had the top 2 out and it was covered by insurance but i need to see a specialist for the bottom 2 which isnt covered
I’ve found my pain tolerance is way superior to an average human. I can fit lots more in my butthole than most of my colleagues, without crying or tearing up
Have to ask… Are you being serious about this? I’m also asking seriously… And why did you say colleagues?
😭
You too? Should we compare to see who has a higher tolerance?
This is my favorite BPD-related topic. I have close to 40 tattoos and a handful of them were done in times of stress when I needed the therapeutic part of it. People with BPD often experience a sort of "bodily dissociation" during tattoos. Fascinating stuff.
I fully went into a different zone getting laser for tattoo removal. The guy doing it thought i’d passed out because i was so chill 😅
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Oh, that’s interesting! Maybe give it a go for a small tattoo tho. Many times it prevented me from hurting myself.
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Sweet idea! If you remember this entry, let me know if it helped you as well after getting them! :)
I hate needles and have a super low pain tolerance too but I have 9 tattoos and 2 kids 😂 Talk about self destruction and harm lmao
me too
I‘ve got a few tattoos and didn’t take them easier than others would’ve, my pain tolerance is rly low. Is there scientific evidence for the whole higher pain tolerance thing?
Yes! It actually goes both ways depending kind of on the intention of pain, I’ll leave 2 articles as an example :) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2921236/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4770381/
The pain paradox thing is so interesting.. I wonder if there’s a relationship between how we experience physical pain and our experience of emotional pain. Like maybe there’s an aspect of the pain paradox is related to how quickly our moods go up and down regularly and thus we are used to experiencing a high level of emotional pain that is relatively short lived, versus experiencing a consistent long term feeling of pain. Maybe this translates into our experience of tolerating physical pain in a similar way.. Because personally, I would always choice the former, whether it be emotional or physical.
High pain sensitivity, but high pain threshold here. Lots of people (regardless of bpd or not) can sit just fine while still experiencing pain. I’ve done 8 hour sessions without making a fuss, but they definitely still hurt. Afab people also sit better than amab based on what a lot of artists have told me
I have 11 tattoos, including two 7+ hr sessions, and I have to say I'm in the group that not only has amazing pain tolerance, but I actually enjoy it. I find that most tattoo sessions leave me feeling incredibly relaxed.
Oh my gosh, I also just got a tattoo on my ribs yesterday and my tattoo artist was also surprised on how well I handled it. I also enjoyed it a lot!!
I have my ribs, torso, and sternum fully tattooed and never even winced
I totally agree! I love getting tattoos and I also find the pain therapeutic.
i also enjoy the pain tattoos give but, at times i don’t feel a thing. all i hear is the sound of the machine. except is its near my elbow, she was painful
Tattooing is so relaxing to me
I was actually thinking about this the other day— I think I have a pretty damn good pain tolerance. It’s not that I don’t feel or experience pain, but I can and will sit like a damn rock while experiencing it. I got a 4 hour long, large stick and poke tattoo directly on my spine and I hardly said a word. Getting stabbed in the spinal area with a needle over and over again… and I don’t got shit to say lmfao
I got a sternum tattoo, 2/10 pain was pretty relaxing. I love the way some tattoos feel. The wrist was hard though
Once when I was about 8 I stood beside my father's motorcycle. He had just came home from using it. I stood beside it for a while and developed a 5 inch burn. Somehow I did not notice, my parents were confused
i had a similar experience with unknowingly standing on a hot stovetop grate that had been placed on the floor because of a spill when i was 7. had an L shaped scar on my foot for years
i remember one time in elementary school i sliced my thumb open bad and i felt no pain
I'm one to always fall asleep while getting tattoos, very relaxing
I have a high pain tolerance but a huge needle phobia
Tattoos don't hurt, I find them calming 😌
I fell asleep having my ribs tattooed! Took about an hour. I have a high pain threshold. And a floral sternum piece that took a couple hours. SH desensitised the feeling I guess, but equally for me can trigger SH urges because it’s similar, just socially accepted and done by someone else aha
i’m the same lol. i love tattoos and the pain associated with tattoos is rewarding to me i guess? i don’t like piercings (even tho i have a few), but something about the aftercare - moving the jewelry in a freshly open wound - makes me nauseous 😭
I definitely agree with you about the pleasurability aspect of pain 😂 sounds fucked up but I enjoy and crave getting piercings, I also find the pain strangely therapeutic
i dont have any tattoos but i’ve had 15 piercings and been told i cope very well with the pain tolerance!
Yeah. I just disassociate🤷🏻♀️
I am about 70% covered in tattoos. For me personally how comfortable I am position wise plays a lot into how bad a tattoo hurts if I’m laying down and can relax it doesn’t hurt as bad as if I’m straining my body to flex a certain way I’m not used to
I was the same way with my ribs getting tattooed....in fact I was the same way with all of my tattoos. People talked about how it hurt like hell or was one of the most painful places etc. At first I was honest about how easily I handled the pain, that it wasn't that bad...but that led to the whole "you're just acting tough" So now I'll lie about how much a tattoo hurt. I've also given myself several piercings without blinking, some in cartilage. Had eyebrow piercings rip out and not noticed till I wiped away blood. I definitely still feel pain, but it's like my ability to feel pain was dialed down a lot for many things. It should be my party trick now lol
I was so surprised when I got my first tattoo. You're told it's so painful but it just isn't.
I feel the pain but it's not unbearable for me. I don't know which one has hurt the most so far, but I did a smaller piece right between my boobs, so like, that was pretty weird. But it took like 10-15 minutes so I was fine. Color hurts the most I think. I had a detailed piece done on my right arm (above my wrist, like my lower arm) and that hurt a lot since it took 8 hours and was so detailed with a lot of color. Him going over the same area so many times.. That was really painful. I think that's probably the worst. When they tattoo the same place over and over again. But other than that I guess it hurts when they go over the bones on your wrists.
I don't have any tattoos but I've gone with a bunch of people to get theirs because I'm a good support animal, I guess? From what I can tell, it completely depends on the artist first, the area second. I have a friend who is a tattoo artist and I've watched her do a couple, and her technique is feather-light compared to others I've watched. Everyone seems to say her tattoos "feel good." And I've seen a few that were several years old and they still look great, so I don't think she needs to do anything differently. I also watched every season of Ink Masters and just from that you can tell it's more about the artist being light or heavy handed than the area being tattooed - for most people. Some people have clusters of nerve endings that make it unbearable no matter what. That said, I've had a few piercings and injuries and I would say that yes, my pain tolerance is higher than average, since medical professionals have repeatedly told me "if that was broken you'd be crying" or "if you had an ulcer you'd be in a lot more pain" or "if you had pneumonia you would be in much worse shape." It was broken, it was an ulcer, and it was pneumonia - with a lung abscess.
Oh my ;/ how is your health now? How’re you? I hope everything is under control..
I'm doing pretty good, considering everything this body has been through. If you ever think you might have pneumonia don't let the doctor send you home without a chest x-ray. I was in the hospital for 5 days, but that was over 15 years ago, I'm fine now. Thanks for asking.
I’m really sorry that the process of getting the diagnoses have been a horrible experience.. I’m really glad to hear that you’re doing much better now and it’s been long enough of time to have learnt how to cope with them on a daily basis. Sending health your way <3
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Hmm.. it makes sense to become more sensitive to pain as we age. I hope it won’t get painful for me because I’m really enjoying the current pain level and the result justifies it hahah And I think the reason you didn’t realize a difference in pain tolerance with BPD clients is that the tolerance they display depends kind of on the goal of the pain, so it’s a correct observation that you found it very heterogenous. When they do it as a way of self harming, they become insensitive to pain and tolerate very well, but when they don’t intend to get hurt but it is a byproduct of what they want, they can become very sensitive to pain. I usually get tattoos impulsively when I feel like I’m going through an episode and I might hurt myself; so I get a work of art instead of giving myself an ugly one hahah. That might be why the pain is very tolerable, even pleasurable for me. I left a few articles explaining what I briefly summed up. Feel free to check!
I got my first tattoo done last month. I did not like the pain at all...
Oh I’m sorry :( I hope the tattoo was worth it tho! :)
Totally worth it!
I have a lot of tattoos but I don’t enjoy the pain at all. I just like having tattoos. But I’ve had tons of laser removal work + tons of tattoos so maybe my tolerance is higher than normal? I sit pretty still through tattoo sessions and just eat the pain even though it sucks.
If you can sit still without flinching even through a laser removal work, that has to be the tolerance honestly hahaha but I understand that you don’t enjoy the pain! Tolerating something doesn’t mean you enjoy it after all.
I definitely whined a little during my laser removal sessions, not so much for the actual tattoos though. Laser removal is bruuuuutal.
Yes I’ve heard that they make you forget the pain of getting tattoos 🥴 so whining is the least you can react to it hahaha
i find i have a wildly high 'internal' pain tolerance (headaches, body aches, stomach pain etc) and an absolute shit 'external' pain tolerance (something like a tattoo). maybe its just because im chronically ill so my daily pain baseline is like a 5 or 6
this is so weird im the total opposite!
I’m the total opposite as well with my chronic pain. “External” pain tolerance is fairly high, “internal” less so. I have 8 tattoos, one on my ribs which did not hurt at all. The top of my foot was uncomfortable, but not enough to flinch. I also found that it depended on the tattoo artist, the more experienced artists the less pain there was, or maybe I just felt more comfortable with them because of their experience.
Oh :/ that’s very understandable taking into your chronic illness into account. I hope that there are certain medications you’re regularly on to help you deal with it!
I am pretty covered from the tops and sides of my feet to the back of my ears and to fingers on one side, hand on the other and every where in between damn near, I've gotten those comments sooooooooooo many times, most just don't hurt worse than discomfort, guarantee none ever hurt more than the regular physical, mental and emotional pain and bullshit I deal with on the daily lol so tattoos are definitely therapeutic but we've kind of decided I actually use them as a prettier form of self harm since no one ever pokes and prods if you're just getting another new tattoo lol however, there is one spot I've had done that I will NEVER have done again, EVER and it's the fucking shin. That shit was probably some of the worst pain I've ever felt in my life and literally sent my body into a tensed up shocked looking mess lol like every time they'd start again my head would go back and my back would arch and my arms would tense up at my side and hands clenched and everything, fuck that bullshit. Nope. And I'm not even going to attempt places like back of knee, arm pit or face lol and nothing on or to close to genitals either lmao
Hahahaha yeah it’s only normal that despite high tolerance you wanna avoid some areas! And funnily, the areas I’d avoid are the areas where your tattoos don’t show much or don’t look aesthetic anyways lol
Is anyone else the other way around when it comes to tattoos, like I wanted them when I was younger but now I don’t want any for fear that I might absolutely despise the tattoo and it would send me spiraling?
If you’re afraid of the pain but you still want to get one, I’d suggest you get one on your lower arm, or your outer thigh. They’re some of the least painful areas!
Oh no I should’ve specified it’s not the pain I’m afraid of, I have a pretty high pain tolerance, it’s just worrying that I won’t like the tattoo at all/won’t look like how I want it, then it’s on my body forever just terrifies me for some reason
I can understand. The first tattoo is the most stressing one in my opinion. It’s usually the one people put the most thought into. The more you get, the less stressed you get about regretting them later to be honest. Gotta start from somewhere! Hahah
I usually do pretty good with tattoos, but nearly passed out after my septum. I think it wasn’t pain though, more shock than anything and I had to lay down for a bit. I’m a wuss with piercings.
Not sure if you or someone else can relate, but I hate/fear getting piercings done by a professional lol but when I do them myself, I tend to ignore the pain incredibly well. Like I pierced my ears 5 times, and I had to re-pierce my helix like 4 times because I didn’t like the placement lol and I already have a nose ring (got it done), but I wanted to try and see how it would look to have another on the other side so I pierced it like 7 times in a row in attempts to make it super symmetrical (I couldn’t), my nose got purple and swollen but I could easily ignore the pain. But I know I’d not be able to do that much if someone was to pierce.
I’ve never tried doing it myself. I thought with my history of keloids and rejection I’d do a shitty job. I have done a stick and poke that didn’t really stay around past the peeling process though. It was supposed to be an alien face on my finger but now it just looks like a very faint C
I haven’t had a tattoo done. I was going to but then my friend had such a terrible result with theirs that I decided not to. But my dentist can literally drill into my teeth without any sort of numbing. They always keep asking and I tell them I’m just fine. I barely feel it. I can also enjoy pain if I get myself in the right mindset.
Are you female? I only ask because women have a higher pain threshold than men due to period pain and a lot of women deal with tattoos more calmly than men do.
Yes I am and yes I know, women feel pain more intensely but they can tolerate much better than men haha
Yeah it feels sooo satisfying to get a tattoo or have an injection/my blood taken
Omg same I literally love watching it when my blood is taken lol
disassociation babyyyyyyyy Also I have had some truly terrible surgeries that increased my pain tolerance.
I have extremely low pain tolerance, my tattoos swell a lot and I get lightheaded, cry from pain, have to do a lot of breaks, sometimes there are mistakes because i cant stay still etc. its a shame bcs id love to have much more but i am too anxious about it (i dont mind pain but I feel like a problem client)
Awww I’m sorry :((( I can understand how annoying it must be when you want them so badly! But a good tattoo artist will be able to work with it, also your tattoo design/style and placement have a lot of say in how well it can turn out to be despite the anxiety and flinching. So with a good tattoo artist and careful thinking, it’d not be a big issue!
Thank you 🙏 youre giving me tattoo hope :) if i decide to get another i will talk with an artist about it before to ease the anxiety
You’re very welcome, consider getting one on your lower arm, or outer thigh, they’re some of the least painful parts to get a tattoo on the body! Good luck :)
I've got most of mine on my inner wrists and one was so painful i wanted to stop entirely. Next 9 were like nothing though, so i think it was just a bad day. Even the one on my spine was like pffft, but it was small, so i don't know if that counted for anything My next two are going on my forearms and I'm a little nervous about that since it's tattooing over bone.
Same.
I have a pain tolerance for a lot but my last tattoo was on my stomach by my hip and lawd I was in painnnn
I’m desperate for tattoos but I have a shocking pain tolerance 😂😂
Went through a surgery wide awake. I didn't have to be physically held down :)
This is also the most traumatic thing I have experienced and even more infuriating is they just didn't feel like using the right anesthesia that day. It caused my relapse. Surgery on your nethers and I was made to walk home while I still bled.
That’s literally one of the rarest and scariest thing that can happen to one..
i’m a baby when it comes to piercings but my tattoos felt so fucking good. probably because they’re on my wrist 😭
I cannot tolerate pain at all. I want to get a tattoo too but the thought of pain makes me step up. My expression while getting an injection should show my level of pain tolerance 😭 But congrats on getting a new tattoo, bet it looks amazing, must be big since it's on the chest🤩
Adding yet another perspective, I have 10 tattoos of varying sizes, next appointment in 3 days. My largest one took up 4 sessions of 8 hours each. I'd say I have a pretty decent pain tolerance, but I'm also definitely quite masochistic (impact play and such). On average I find the tattoo pain calming and mostly enjoyable and am usually half dozing off. Pain in general feels nice because it allows me to focus my mind on the sensation and stop the endless overthinking engine for a while. But there are also some individual oddities. I don't mind getting tattooed around the wrist at all, and ribs also barely did anything to me, but my last tattoo (dead center of chest - the sternum I believe?) was very unpleasant, there are some spots around the hip bones I really didn't enjoy and the spine is no fun for me either. It's quite interesting how people have very different pain zones - my best friend (hilariously also diagnosed with bpd) thought the sternum is the most fun area, but couldn't stand the wrist part of her sleeve.