How painful are tattoos??

[Pippyls67]

Ds 18 has booked to have a big tattoo done on his upper arm. He’s got his A levels coming up and there’s only a month between the tattoo and the first exam. He’s struggling revising already and can’t concentrate so surely this is only going to be a bigger bloody distraction? He says they’re not that painful. He’s never had one before though so he has no actual experience of what it’s like. It’s a cuff tattoo all around the upper arm and about an inch and a half wide. What are the experiences of those of you who have them already? Am I being unreasonable to think the timing of this is a really bad idea?

He'll be fine. He can deal with a tattoo and exams at the same time for sure.

I have a lot of tattoos. I'd say it depends on body placement in terms of pain getting it done, ribs are more painful than arm for example, upper arm shouldn't be too bad. Assuming no complications it should heal relatively quickly - the scabbing takes a while but the initial soreness and swelling should be gone in a few days so a month is really no problem

Upper arm is one of the less painful places to get a tattoo. Still hurts though, especially closer to the shoulder and elbow area. I’d advise anyone getting a tattoo to get a small one first. It will be like sunburn for the following week, itchy and will likely stain clothes. Needs a cool boiled water wipe and appropriate cream every few hours, if he has a school uniform to wear it’s likely to stain it.

Saying it doesn’t hurt when he’s never had one is silly. Of course it’s painful but it’s how you tolerate it and also location. I find the itchy part afterwards the worst bit.

He will be fine. It's a bit sore at the time after a while but totally manageable, and the healing stage feels a bit like mild sunburn.

They hurt, because it's a needle repetitively and constantly darting in and out of your skin. The upper arm is a large area so if he is getting any kind of filling in or colour, it will hurt considerably more than a simple lined design and will likely be at least a half day sitting. I describe it to people like getting a scratchy burn, but over the course of a few hours it does get very sore.

Yes there is filling in. It’s a bold solid design approx an inch and a half wide around the upper arm. It will be all in black.

Why would he not wait until after his exams? Or do you feel this will give him an excuse not to revise so if he doesn't do well he can blame the healing of the tattoo?

Of course they hurt, it is needles punching through the skin. It is how well you tolerate pain and also healing afterwards, I agree with the sunburn and the itching comments.

If you want to see an incredible close up video of a tattoo and the multiple needles punching into the skin, this is it. It will start in the middle where they close up shoot the tattoo, before that they explain all about the tattoo machine and the needles they use. Destin (presenter) is an aerospace engineer who does a lot of really interesting videos on his channel.

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I don't find they hurt. When they're getting it done it feels like hot metal and vibrations, that's the only way I can describe it, like when you've left a metal spoon in a cup of tea and then pick it up - it's hot but not hot enough to burn/hurt - that, but with buzzing.

When it's healing, the worst part is the itching but I've never had pain or swelling or a sunburn feeling while healing just a scratchy feeling.

He's probably best waiting until he no longer needs to wear school uniform and has the freedom to wear short sleeves to make healing more comfortable and cleaning/moisturising it more convenient.

After exams is the way to go as a reward - you pay.

Upper arm isn’t very painful. It only hurts whilst you’re actually having the tattoo (and can feel a bit stingy/bruised for a day or two afterwards) - nothing that should distract him from exams. The pain is a bit like a burning sensation, if you pinch your skin and twist it you’ll get an idea of what it feels like. Filling in, to me, doesn’t hurt as much as line work.

I find them extremely painful, but I have a very low pain tolerance. Arms are one of the least painful areas. It won't be bad afterwards, bit tender, maybe a bit swollen for a bit. As PPs say, the itching is the worst!

Bit scratchy to get done. Then feels like a graze for a few days. That’s all.
He will be fine. I have 10.

@BlinkFifteen - thanks for that video, it's fascinating.

@Pippyls67 - not particularly painful to have one, unless it's over bone, but very painful and expensive to have removed. I speak from experience!

I had two when I was younger on my inner wrists, found them very painful...even more painful to have them lazered off! I do have a very low pain threshold and took ibuprofen beforehand too

Does his school have any guidance on whether he would have to cover it? Does he have to wear a uniform or not? Mine went to a non-uniform sixth form but they had a strict dress code. Although tattoos are not mentioned I think they would have insisted it was covered.

It's really no big deal. It's hard to describe the sensation of the process of being tattooed, and of course everyone has a different pain threshold. I genuinely find it quite pleasant (in the same way that scratching an itch or scrubbing really hard with a loofah is pleasant) but obviously. It's more of a burning, scratching, buzzing feeling - the needle doesn't penetrate very far and it's vibrating very very fast so it doesn't feel anything like being jabbed with a needle at all, really.

While a tattoo is healing it just feels slightly sore, like a graze or sunburn, for a couple of days and then after that, barely anything. Certainly nothing that would be particularly distracting. It might a bit itchy as the skin peels, but keeping it moisturised as per the artist's instructions should help a lot with that.

Upper arms are about the easiest and least uncomfortable spots for a tattoo.

He's an adult anyway, so you can't stop him from getting it done whenever he wants.

depends where you get them done, if its boney or an area with not much flesh it hurts more, if I remember the top of the arm was not too bad.

I know this is a stupid way of saying it, but it is literally like someone scratching you with a needle over and over (because I know that's basically what a tattoo is). It will scab over and be itchy for a week or so but should be OK if he uses the creams recommended and doesn't scratch it

The OP says it's an upper arm cuff and only about an inch and a half wide, so it won't be difficult to cover with normal clothes.

I have a fairly small tattoo on the inside of my wrist and it hurt like hell! My niece has several and she describes it as like cat scratches …… a fricking tiger maybe!!!
I’ve had two children and consider myself to have quite a high pain tolerance.
I’d definitely encourage him to wait until after his exams if I were you

I’ve had my ribs and feet tattooed which are supposedly some of the worst places and they were a bit painful but fine.Ribs took over 3 hours too and was only the last 10/15 mins I started to struggle a bit.

No one can really say how painful a tattoo is as we all perceive pain differently. Ive had them done in the morning and gone straight to work after for a 10 hour bar shift. Others I've taken a couple of days off because I knew the area would swell and make moving around difficult. Upper arm, he might have a couple of days of bad sleep, difficulty lifting but nothing too horrible.

It will be sore on the day being done and perhaps a bit tender in the following day or two. Nothing to stop him studying, nothing that will damage his chances at exams. A brief bit of arm pain shouldn’t make any difference to his academic progress.

You’re being a bit precious.

Do everything you can to put him off, new research links them to certain cancers

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-025-21413-3

I’ve just had a small wrist one , no pain but some bits were a bit tender . I did remember thinking I wouldn’t want a large one done .