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The Pain and Gain of Tattooing

It was one of those things that I always talked about doing but never got around to doing. I once had decided I wanted this double set of Chinese scripture tattoos on the tops of both arms when I was 16. After much debate with my parents, they finally agreed to take me to get them done. I later ended up spending my money at Busch Gardens (an amusement park) and cancelled the tattoo appointment. I'm glad I did because I later found a couple of designs I wanted.

It's taken me 4 years since my first attempt to finally go through with getting a tattoo that I was happy with. A girl from work told me about her boyfriend who tattooed at this place called Body Works in Harrisonburg, VA. I saw some of his work and he was willing to give me a decent price for what I wanted, so I agreed to get my first permanent body installment in mid-October.

The two designs I had in mind fit well together. Over the top of my left arm, wrapping from the front…over the end of the collar bone…to the back of the top I got a black tribal speed design. Encompassed by the jagged design I had IRA done in Old English lettering with each letter containing a color of Ireland's flag in order. The IRA stands for Irish Republican Army, in case you didn't know.

Chris (the tattoo artist) sat me down in a chair and sprayed a soap-like cleanser on my arm, then proceeded to shave the parts of my arm that would be covered. He then drew the tribal design freehand with a watercolor marker and did something similar with IRA letters. Then the pain begins.

He loaded three small thimble-like cups with ink of different colors and inserted a new sterile needle into his tattoo gun and adjusted the length. The gun was hooked into a power source he built into a human size black skull with eyes that glowed green every time he used the gun. All in all, the tattoo took about an hour to complete. How does it feel? Well, it doesn't feel good by any means. It'll give you some goosebumps, but it's pain that you can bear pretty easily if you have a good threshold. I can't really describe the actual feeling itself. It's like nothing else you'll ever feel.

Finally it was done. I was given some Bactracin ointment to treat the tattoo with to help it heal and given a sheet of care instructions. I bled a lot over the bone area, so I went back a couple of weeks later and got a touch up. I'm happy with the way it came out. It's kind of a pain in the ass while it heals because of all of the caring for it, but once it heals, it's just a normal part of your body like anything else.