Where?

[Nixx]

My apologies if this has been discussed, but here it goes:  I'm considering a tattoo, but I'm not sure where to get one.  I'm in the gym a lot, and I know that I'm going to be growing.  My concern is that the tattoo may get stretched or disfigured.  Is there some strategic place where it should go, or is the stretching, etc pretty negligible?  I figure that some of you may have been in this situation before...  Thanks for the info!

[Mikekoz13]

Nick-

            My best advice is to get where you will be most comfortable with it. If you haven't been tattooed before, you should know that there are some places that are a bit more uncomfortable to gat a tattoo than others. head, neck, and back from what I've been told by my artist. i can't speak from experience since currently my only tattoo is a half sleeve on my upper arm. That area didn't really hurt at all.

You should get it where you can enjoy too. My wife got a great tatto on her back (that she added to later) and her complaint is that she can't see it to enjoy it.


               As for the stretching, I imagine that it really isn't that much of an issue, but others may know better.

[PianoMan]

I got my 1st tat a almost a year ago and thought about the same thing.  I ended up placing it on my outer right calf.  It works for me.  Location depends alot on what kind of tat you get to make sure it "fits".  Just ask your artist what they would recommend.
Good luck, and let me know how you do! 

[Timmay]

reminds me of a joke I heard once about a jamacian and a stretching tattoo......if you want to hear it ....let me know...and I will post it....its kinda rated....so if i have permission I will post it....

Timmayy

[PigPen]

I got my first on my back. Since I had decided what it would be years before that, I stuck to it. It was originally going to be on my left shoulder blade. It ended up being the entire upper half of my back. Looks pretty sweet though, my old man has one to match. The next two I have planned are going to be on my left pec, near my heart. I hear the chest hurts too, but the one on my back was eight hours and goes down to the ribs, on my spine, and part of the shoulder blades.

Good luck! Let us know how it turns out, and post a pic!

[Marz]

stretching is not a huge concern. Most stretching issues I have seen were people that got tattoos really young and then went on to being much larger (like tons of lbs or going from little boy arms to 22" bicepts etc.) and even then it was not that bad. I got a home made jail style tattoo on my shoulder when I was 16 (a bat) and it is now about 2"up at the top of my shoulder now but still looks the exact same (sans fading). At the time I was about 5'5" and weighed 130 lbs, now I am 5' 10" and weigh about 185 to give you an example.

I can tell you that most of the areas that seem tender are, places like arms, legs, chest and back are pretty tough and dont hurt that bad. When they have to go over a fleshless area that is mostly skin and bone... that can be irritating.

Tattooing your belly HURTS! There are tons of nerve endings there and when I was getting my belly done it would make my legs jump involuntarily and stuff. I had some of the most inked up gangsta home boys surrounding me when I was in the shop telling me I was crazy and asking how bad it hurt.

I have the same complaint about the tatt on my back, I never see it.

Get what you want where you want, deal with the pain, its well worth getting what you want and its not that bad really.

[Nixx]

Thanks, guys.  I haven't yet decided what I want yet, but I'll surely let you know about any developments.   

[baldntat05]

I can testify to the upper arms and back.  The arms aren't bad except when you get the underside, it gets a little painful.  On the back some areas really hurt others felt like you were getting a massage.  I have had about 35 hours of work done, and I usually do sessions of about 5 hours.  Most times I take a pillow and go to sleep.  My tat artist is the best and is very gentle.

[Tommo]

My fisrt tatoo i got 14 years ago, played safe got it done on my left shoulder, out of site out of mind as they say, but my next one is Definitely  going to be the barcode, agent 47 in the Hitman film.....right on the the back of my head..

[nomad]

just remember this for places that hurt the most are places that have less fat and muscle under the skin, and parts like your sides(ribcage), inside your arms, feet, and anywhere around the nipples just name a few.

[buddha]

Dudes! I must have been going to the wrong tattoo artists all these years. I have 5 individual tats on different parts of my upper body and each and every one hurt like hell.
I would like the addresses of the artists who cause no pain during the process 'cuz I want to go there for my next one!
 

[nomad]

They all tickle a little but some places just tickle a bit more

[JDog]

Tattoos hurt! No two ways about it! My collarbone tattoo hurt the worst, but the pain isnt a traditional type of pain as anyone with ink will attest to. I cant wait to get more.

[skiking]

They all tickle a little but some places just tickle a bit more

Hoo Hoo that tickles

[PBurke]

i have both upper arms and both calves done. one on the back of the calf and one on the outside of it. for some reason the back of the calf had me squealing like a girl. the rest were more of an annoying pain.