Tattoo Pain Chart: Which Parts Hurts the Most and Least?
Just as crucial as the design is where you get your tattoo. You need to consider several factors, like the size of the tattoo you want and the amount of pain you’ll experience when getting it tattooed. When deciding where your body should get inked, you should know that some parts of your body would be more painful than others. The thin skin, proximity to bone, and dense concentration of nerve endings in some body parts will influence how much pain you experience.
Does Getting A Tattoo Hurt?
When you get a tattoo, a sharp needle covered in ink repeatedly pierces the top layer of your skin. So, while various people may feel different pain levels, getting a tattoo is always difficult. Additionally, the discomfort associated with getting tattoos varies depending on the area of the body.
Here is a general opinion: The fattiest, least nerve-endowed, and thickest skin areas are the least painful for tattooing. Less fat, more nerve endings, and thinner skin make for the most painful tattooing areas. Bony regions frequently ache a lot. Pain manifests itself in many ways for everyone. Your tattoo’s placement, sex, and age can influence how painful it is.
Our tattoo pain chart below will let you quickly identify the most and most minor painful tattoo locations.
Female Tattoo pain chart
According to studies, it’s thought that women react to pain more intensely. Since everyone has a different pain threshold, we cannot claim with certainty that tattoos hurt women more than they do males. Additionally, it’s claimed that biological females have a lower pain tolerance. There are specific variances between the pain charts of biological males and females, such as that women are less painfully sensitive to head, butt, and back leg tattoos.
Male Tattoo Pain Chart
There is no way to definitively say that biological men can tolerate tattoo pain better than biological women; however, certain studies seem to support this. According to the pain chart for biological men, tattoos on the leg’s foot, head, butt, and rear will cause them more pain. Conversely, males experience less pain in their fingers, chest, and back.
What are the most painful places to get a tattoo?
Most painful
Armpit tattoo pain
Tattooing can be extremely painful, especially in the armpit. Some people could even say that this is the most painful spot of the body to tattoo. Because the skin is thin, above lymph nodes, and has a high concentration of nerve endings, the pain you will feel when having a tattoo here will be very intense. Since tattooing here might be challenging, most tattoo artists advise avoiding getting ink under the armpits. However, knowing your pain tolerance level before trying this is preferable if you decide to go through with it.
Chest tattoo pain
One of the most painful tattoo locations for many individuals is the chest. On the pain scale, these are rated as severe. This, however, depends on the individual and the particular place of the chest that gets inked. For example, the sternum and collarbone will hurt because of their close closeness to bone and thin skin. Those receiving a tattoo on their breasts, though not on the actual breast muscle, can experience less pain because of the thicker skin and insulating fat around the breasts.
Knee/Kneecap Tattoo pain
The rear and front of the knee are painful places to get inked. Your bones are located just below the skin in your kneecaps. Tattooing over the bone can cause high to severe pain due to vibrations.
The front of the kneecap, which is made of bone and is very sensitive, and the rear, which has thin, stretchy skin and a lot of nerve endings, are connected by the sciatic nerve, which travels through the legs. Due to these qualities, this area is susceptible to tattoo needles.
Ribcage tattoo pain
For most folks, getting a tattoo on the rib cage is one of the most painful locations due to the skin’s fragility and closeness to the bone. Compared to most other areas of your body, the skin around your ribs is exceptionally tight and incredibly thin and contains little fat or muscle to act as padding around the rib cage. Additionally, even after getting a tattoo, breathing causes the pain to feel worse!
Elbow Tattoo pain
Since the bone is right under the elbow’s skin, this region is susceptible to pain. Due to the nerve endings and thin skin on the inside of the elbow, it is susceptible.
Breasts And Nipples Tattoo Pain
Being tattooed on the breasts and nipples can be painful because these are such sensitive places. These shouldn’t be gotten without giving it some thought; therefore, getting a tattoo there will be excruciatingly painful.
Tattoo Pain on The Ankles And Shins
On the pain spectrum, the ankles and shins are among the most painful areas. Your shinbones and ankle bones are located directly below the surface of your skin, making tattooing these areas exceedingly painful. Tattoos on the shins and ankles typically hurt a lot. It hurts about as much as getting a tattoo across your ribcage.
Because the shins and ankles do not have the same fat cushioning as other body areas like the thigh or upper arm, they are more painful. The advantage of these designs is that they are frequently modest, ensuring that the discomfort will pass quickly.
Other parts of the body considered painful include.
Hands and feet.
Groin
Hips
Neck and Spine
Head, ears and face
Stomach
Lips
Inner Bicep
Underboob
Wrist tattoo
Inner thigh
Least painful
Tattooed areas with tight skin, little nerve endings, little fat padding, and a distance from bones are likely to hurt the least. Pain is subjective, so it’s vital to remember that not everyone experiences pain similarly. It is challenging to evaluate pain because of this, but you can start here for guidance. These locations will experience mild to moderate pain.
Upper Outer Thigh tattoo pain
According to our tattoo pain chart, the upper outer thigh often has the fewest nerve endings and most padding in the form of fat, making it the least painful area to receive a tattoo.
Forearm Tattoo pain
You have thick skin, a lot of muscle, and few nerve endings on your forearms. Forearm tattoos often hurt only mildly to moderately.
Outer bicep tattoo pain
While having a tattoo on the inner bicep can be uncomfortable, doing so on the outer bicep is typically less painful. Because of the presence of muscle and thick skin that act as a cushion, this area is moderately painful.
Lower and Upper Back tattoo pain
The back, except for the spinal region itself, tends to be less sensitive to pain since there are fewer nerve endings and the skin is relatively thick.
Shoulders Tattoo pain
It is one of the least painful places to tattoo your body because the outer part of your shoulders has thick skin and few nerve endings. The pain associated with getting a tattoo here is often mild to low.
Butt Ink pain
The local fat and muscle cushion your tattoo, so there would be less pain. Additionally, there is not an abundance of nerve endings. Concentrating your design on the top half of the buttocks is preferable because the bottom might be excruciatingly painful—the pain increases by the difficulty of tattooing that location.
Factors influencing tattoo pain
Depending on many circumstances, you may feel pain when receiving a tattoo. This includes your biological sex, age, weight, tattoo-related experience, and knowledge of your chosen artist. The primary determinant is your pain tolerance, which differs widely from person to person.
Sex: According to research, biological females are more sensitive to pain than men. Additionally, certain body parts are more painful in different places in males than in women, and vice versa. This might be brought on by the physical and chemical variations between the bodies of men and women. There isn’t any concrete evidence, though, that men are more likely to feel less pain throughout the tattooing process than women.
Age and body mass
Since extra weight stretches out the skin more, making it more sensitive, being heavier can worsen tattoo pain. The skin may get thinner because of ageing, and this could also influence pain levels. Due to the lack of padding in their bones, thin persons may also feel more pain.
Experience
According to research, people with tattoos may be more tolerant of pressure pain than those who get their first tattoos. Additionally, the discomfort of your tattoo is influenced by the tattoo artist’s experience. An accomplished artist won’t make mistakes. It’s also important to remember that pain could worsen if you expect to experience a lot of it and feel anxious.
Endorphins
Hormonal changes can reduce a tattoo’s pain. Endorphins are chemicals released by the body in response to pain that temporarily lessen the feeling of pain.
FAQs on Tattoo pain chart
How Long Before the Tattoo Stops Hurting?
When the procedure is done, the tattoo shouldn’t hurt. Naturally, there will be some discomfort in the following days, but it shouldn’t be as severe. You should anticipate experiencing pain for three to seven days following the procedure, depending on the size and location of your design. You may also experience bruising, swelling, and redness. Following an aftercare regimen is crucial for tattoo maintenance to prevent infection and irritation.
Where Is A Tattoo Most Painful To Have?
Some of the most painful places to have tattoos are on bony parts like the ribs, spine, fingers, and shins.
After Getting a Tattoo, What Should I Do?
Following the aftercare guidelines is the most crucial action after getting a tattoo. This entails regularly using an antibacterial ointment and cleaning the region with mild soap and water.
