While a truly pain-free tattoo is rare and depends on individual pain tolerance, you can get very close using topical numbing creams, choosing less sensitive body areas (like fleshy parts of the arm or thigh), getting adequate rest and hydration, and even opting for medical sedation in specialized clinics for large pieces. Numbing creams with lidocaine block pain signals, while avoiding bony spots or areas with high nerve concentration minimizes discomfort, making the experience more tolerable and less stressful for both you and the artist.
Numb the Area With Lidocaine
Lidocaine can block pain signals, causing you to feel less discomfort when you get a tattoo. It won't be completely painless, but most people find that over-the-counter lidocaine tattoo prep gels and topical anesthetic creams can significantly reduce the pain they feel during a tattoo.
If you are looking to avoid pain, getting tattooed on the outer bicep is an excellent choice. The upper arm has a good amount of fat and minimal blood vessels, making it an ideal spot for a tattoo.
Painless tattoo numbing cream typically lasts between 1 to 8 hours, depending on the specific product and how it's used. Understanding the duration of numbing effects can help you plan your tattooing session more effectively.
Generally speaking, areas with few nerve endings and more fat and muscle, such as the thighs, lower back, shoulders, and upper arms, tend to be less painful when getting inked. Although these spots may still be uncomfortable for some people, they generally cause less discomfort than more sensitive areas of the body.
Things we know help and which we recommend:
Among the rest of the Stories & Ink team, the most painful places to get a tattoo include:
As tattoo artists, who have been tattooed before, we understand the tattoos hurt, and sometimes it helps to have something take the edge off. However, most tattoo artists prefer to work without numbing cream, for these reasons: Adverse reactions may occur. Clients may be allergic and develop rashes.
Tattoo Shading
Color and shading simply provide more dimension than line work. Contrary to what you might expect, many people report that the shading hurts significantly less than the outlining of the tattoo. If you've already made it through your line work, pat yourself on the back.
Yes, a $50 tip on a $300 tattoo is a good tip, falling slightly below the standard 20% ($60) but representing a solid 16.7%, showing appreciation, especially if you had a good experience; however, tipping $60-$75 (20-25%) is generally considered excellent for great service, so $50 is a respectable amount.
Here's what you need to do to reduce pain after a tattoo and speed up natural healing:
A $500 tattoo is typically a medium-sized piece, often around palm-sized or slightly larger (roughly 4-6 inches), but the actual size heavily depends on the artist's hourly rate (usually $100-$200/hour), design complexity, color, and location, allowing for 2-5 hours of work, potentially resulting in a detailed forearm piece or a smaller chest/back design, rather than a full sleeve.
No, $200 an hour is generally not considered a lot for a professional, experienced tattoo artist in 2025-2026, often falling into the standard or even lower-mid range, especially in major cities or for specialized styles like realism or fine-line work, though rates vary significantly by location, artist demand, and expertise. While some talented artists charge around $100-$150/hour, high-demand or highly specialized artists can easily charge $250-$300+ per hour.
If you have a medical problem such as heart disease, allergies, diabetes, skin problems like eczema or psoriasis, a weak immune system, or a bleeding problem, talk to your doctor before getting a tattoo. Also, if you get keloids (an overgrowth of scar tissue) you probably should not get a tattoo.
A tattoo pain scale of 1-10 varies by body part, but generally, lower numbers (1-3) are like light scratches, mid-range (4-6) feel like a bee sting/sunburn, and high numbers (7-10) are intense burning, cutting, or sharp pain, common on bony areas (ankles, ribs, spine, elbows) or areas with many nerve endings (hands, inner thigh). Fleshy areas with muscle/fat (outer forearm, thigh, upper back) tend to be less painful (3-6), while areas close to bone or with thin skin (feet, head, sternum) rank higher (7-10).
Gen Z is regretting tattoos due to impulsive decisions driven by social media trends (like fine-line or patchwork styles), getting inked during emotional highs or lows, a lack of personal meaning, and changing aesthetics (e.g., moving from WFH casual to needing to cover up for office jobs). The visibility of this regret on platforms like TikTok, combined with evolving personal identities and the desire to fit new trends, highlights a growing disillusionment with tattoos that once felt significant but now feel dated or embarrassing.
Red ink is still the most likely color to cause skin problems. Why? Red tattoo inks are the most likely to cause health complications, including rashes and pseudolymphomas, both symptoms of an allergic reaction.
For a $500 tattoo, a standard tip is $75 to $100 (15-20%), but you can tip more, even $125 or higher (25%+), for exceptional work, a long session, or custom design, with factors like artist's expertise and your satisfaction influencing the amount. Tipping 20% ($100) is generally considered great service, but tipping less is also okay if you're on a tight budget, while tipping more shows extra appreciation.
Sometimes, people disrespect a tattoo artist without even meaning to. They sit there and talk about the tattoos they already have or the work they've seen on other people for hours on end. Even worse, they start comparing what the tattoo artist is doing to what others have done. Don't be this person.
Not all artists are fans of numbing cream — and there's a reason. While it can reduce pain for some clients, it may also affect the skin's texture, change how the ink goes in, or mess with the healing process. Some creams also stop working mid-session, making the pain feel worse by contrast.
Here's what the experience typically feels like: after the numbing cream has had time to work (usually 20-30 minutes), you'll feel pressure and maybe a slight pinch, but not sharp pain.
5 body parts where you should NOT get a tattoo
Mild burning: Some people describe the pain of a tattoo as a mild burning sensation, similar to that of a sunburn. Lot of scratching: Others compare him to a lot of scratching or redness. Vibration: In some areas, particularly the areas of bone, you can feel a vibration similar to that of a tunnel boring machine.