Tattoos hurt - that’s a fact. Unless you’re lucky enough to tattoo Superman (could he get tattoos?), there will be a part of your customer’s body that doesn’t appreciate being stabbed by sharp objects at over 10,000 RPM.

But the human body has lots of fun little quirks, so different places will affect different people in different ways. Let’s explore just a few of those intensely painful body parts and how we can mitigate the pain!

Which is the most painful place on the body to get tattooed?

Honestly, it varies - it depends on your customer’s assigned gender at birth, their body shape and fat distribution, as well as their personal pain tolerance level.

There are three general types of location on the body where tattoos are likely to hurt the most. These are the extremities - head, face, hands, fingers, feet and toes - areas with low body fat such as rib cages, shoulders, collarbones, hips and ankles, and areas with large clusters of nerve endings such as the armpit, groin or buttocks.

For high-pain areas, consider treating your customer to a natural numbing solution like BIOTAT’s numbing green soap - which is available concentrated, ready-to-use, and in the form of biodegradable wipes - or UNISTAR’s Inkcarnation Numb. Unlike products with lidocaine in, these products won’t affect the quality of the skin being tattooed, and can be used throughout the tattoo process rather than just at the very beginning.

Stomach Tattoo Pain - 8/10

The pain of a stomach tattoo will largely depend on the amount and distribution of fat around your customer’s waist. For many people assigned female at birth, the centre of the stomach is more painful, and belly buttons aren’t fun for anyone - although that might be more to do with ticklishness.

Elbow/Knee Tattoo Pain - 8/10

Both knee and elbow tattoos rank high on the pain scale thanks to their bony positioning - which is a shame, because they’re such noticeable places to get tattooed! An additional issue when it comes to tattoos in places that flex a lot is that the healing process can take longer because of the constant movement.

Foot Tattoo Pain - 8.5/10

It doesn’t matter where you tattoo on the foot - it is going to hurt! Take the top of the foot - a perfect spot for something ornamental that they can show off in the summer months - this area has incredibly skin thin and a LOT of bones. The sural nerve runs along the outside of the foot, while the tibial nerve runs down the inside of the ankle and toward the big toe. The sole of the foot is a whole other issue - you can be pretty sure that if it’s a ticklish spot, it’s full of nerve endings!

Rib Tattoo Pain - 9/10

The ribs, sternum and underboob areas are high up there for pain, as they’re all areas that usually have thin skin stretched over bone. The feeling of a tattoo machine reverberating through bone can be good, and it can be bad - if they’re lucky, the intense vibrations might even have an overall numbing effect for your customer.

Head Tattoo Pain - 9.5/10

Heads are a super popular place to get tattooed, especially among the follicly-challenged, but they’re also a very high pain spot for the usual reasons - low fat, muscle and skin content over a very bony area. The very thin skin on the dome means your customer will bleed more than in other spots, and the most painful spot is likely to be where the forehead meets the hairline.

Genital Tattoo Pain - 10/10

We’re pretty confident in placing this as the most painful place you could possibly get a tattoo, and would love to hear from anyone who’s tattooed or been tattooed here! Unless they’ve been in some freak accident that’s removed all feeling from their private parts, these areas are absolutely FILLED with very thin nerve membranes, and don’t often have a lot of fat to soak up the vibrations. The healing process can also be difficult and particularly painful!

How to manage my tattoo pain?

Deep, yogic breathing is usually the way to get through a bout of particularly bad pain. Of course, this might cause problems in customers who are getting their sternum, ribs or stomach tattooed - a surprising amount of movement can occur when deep breathing is involved!

Tattoos are painful - unless you’re incredibly lucky, that’s just a fact of life! But ultimately everyone’s pain tolerance is different, so make sure your customer is aware when they’ve picked a particularly difficult spot; advise them to be well-fed and hydrated before the appointment; and give them the room to tap out if needed, with minimal judgement.

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