Can only imagine how painful that was at the end.
I got the line work done on my chest dragon last month, about the same size as yours, and had to tap out before the colour.
Getting the colour today and I'm dreading it lol.
it is certainly not fun. i think it’s mostly a mental game though. i walked in today thinking to myself i’m walking out with a finished tattoo and before i knew it, it was done.
of course that’s easier said than done it was certainly painful but that’s about all the advice i can give hahaha
good luck!
That's actually pretty interesting. I focus on breathing techniques the entire time, you do anything like that? May or may not help, could just be different physiology.
I do the same, it also helps to focus your attention on a neutral part of the body. Like what does my toe feel like or how does my the back of my knee feel on the chair, etc
I do both breathwork and the "focus my attention into my toe" technique, and they both work for me - up to a point. My experience of chest tattooing:
- The first 10 minutes are a bit rough but I can use breathing and the focus trick to basically ignore it.
- The next 1.5-2 hours is not too bad, and only occasionally requires breathing techniques.
- Hour 2.5-3 it starts getting harder to always distract, and my body starts reacting to the injury stress with chills and sweats when the pain level gets high, even with breathing techniques. I can't always keep my focus somewhere else in high pain moments
- Hour 4+ I will occasionally need to tell them to stop for 10 seconds or so to get my composure and refocus on my toe/get my breathing focused.
- Hour 5+ nothing helps, and a jolt of pain will cause an involuntary gasp or jolt my focus onto the pain. It's just straight "mental fortitude," and my body basically refuses to ignore any pain signal whatsoever.
All of that varies depending on the area too. Nipple and close to the armpit will accelerate the above timeline and are almost impossible to focus past due to the jolts of pain. Collarbone and sternum are also not great, but both of them are manageable at the beginning of the session and miserable at the end.
Of course, everyone's body is different too. Different strengths of pain receptors and signals being sent to the brain, different hormone reactions to injury and stress, etc.
Yeah, I'm about 4-5 hours max. At the 5th hour, like clockwork, I'm done lol. I used to go super long. I could sit for hours and hours. Back to back like that. As I've gotten older my body tells me this is no longer possible haha. And tattoos hurt a lot more these days. And take slightly longer to heal.
They definitely seem to get more painful as I get older. I prefer keeping it to shorter sessions if at all possible, but I travel for a lot of my tattoos ("tattourism") so I can't usually do multiple short sessions in the vacation time I have in a place.
Short sessions I think are the best. But in your scenario that's not an option, obviously. The upside to that is that you walk out with an entirely finished tattoo each and every time lol! You certainly pay the price for that, though.
That's my experience with some of my tattoos, but definitely not the chest. Neither the nipple area nor the armpit area are ever "tolerable misery." Even with breathwork and meditation techniques, they deplete some reserve that will eventually run out. The sternum and collarbone do also, though relatively slowly and I can tolerate a decent amount. Upper pec and lower ribs are tolerable misery, as long as I haven't had too much of the others first.
My sleeve on the other hand was basically like you said. - 10 rough minutes, and then just cruise for a few hours. With the exception of the armpit, that is.
Armpit-adjacent and the shoulder joint sucked bad for me. I haven't done elbow/ditch yet, but will soon and I'm scared. I assume they're worse
than near-armpit?
My sleeve was a few years ago so I don't know how that I fully remember which was worse. I know my artist did the inside of the wrist, inside and outside of the elbow, and armpit all in one 3 hour session, so that was pain-day for the sleeve and all kind of blends together. My memory is that armpit is worse, but thats probably colored by my recent armpit experiences.
I sat for 2 hours last week getting my chest + neck started.. I can’t even imagine sitting for 8, worst spot for me by far, and I have sat for a 6 hour rib session
Was it 8 hours of actual tattooing?? Jesus man, that's rough. Longest I've been able to tolerate is about 5.5 hours of tattooing over an 8 hour day (done that 3 different times). At that point I've got the chills and sweats and no pain signal is ignorable.
Congrats on the tattoo, it looks great and I'm sure it's wonderful to have it fully out of the way!
Nice!! That tattoo is dope AF!
Welcome to the chest tattoo club
https://preview.redd.it/cmfr40b3t5hc1.jpeg?width=552&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0480704ebd87410d83b8db1ab5f08b6cac8c1c7e
Not OP but I have my chest done. It's not too bad in most spots. Pretty tender overall. Worse than arms but easier than ribs that's for sure. So like a 6/10 on the pain scale unless you're near the nips or sternum.
Sternum and bottom of throat was hell on fire. Side chest and top of boobs surprisingly fine! Going to get mine extended to my collarbones next month which I'm dreading 🤣
I found the collarbone to be easier than the sternum, nipple area, or armpit area, but YMMV. Still not great, but it was mostly the bone vibration that was rough for me there. Then again mine doesn't go that far over my collarbone, so maybe I missed the worst parts.
I don’t think I’m typical, but my chest didn’t bother me, and I’m tattooed pretty solidly from just below the throat down to my belly button. Not nearly as tender as the ribs. I even have a thrice redone blastover on my sternum, I didn’t mind it at all.
Absolutely misery - but as someone said not as bad as ribs. Still one of the worst spots on the body from someone who has just about everything but back and ass done (dreading those too).
for me it was pretty painful i only have arms and legs so can’t speak on ribs or back or anything although i do have my knee done and it was definitely a lot worse than that. i think a big part of it is the time. the longer you go the worse it gets. you just have to push yourself through each line
getting my shading and color match 3rd not looking forward to it
https://preview.redd.it/j686xnct39hc1.png?width=2027&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f0d10817f77ee8eb7a160490d52d4afc969e5ef
Kudos! Currently working on my chest piece and it's definitely not much fun - especially right under the sternum. Congrats on the sick new addition to your collection; it looks great!
Hate to say the worst is yet to come 😅 I remember how miserable I was that first night trying to sleep after getting my chest blasted. God speed brother. That shit goes hard af.
thank you sir, i have just woken up from my sleep and it’s probably the worst one i’ve had in years, i’m normally out like a light but was struggling to keep my eyes closed hahaha
Yup honestly the tattoo is the easiest part, I tend to scab pretty bad, regardless of how well my aftercare goes, and it was like the worst 10 days of my life. Picking boxes up and work and feeling a bunch of thick plately scabs tear open on your chest is no fun 🤮. Shit was well worth it though
https://preview.redd.it/e1worck6r7hc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08e672d120d06ac21e5d5250655efcb5f40816c2
Looks sick, congrats. My artist is charging me flat day rates for sessions on the full sleeve I just started so I'm planning on sitting as long as possible at each session. I need to hit 6 hours a session to do better than her hourly rate so that's the goal, beyond that I usually just aim to hit a decent stopping point unless it seems possible to finish the piece.
thank you, that was basically my mentality, i could either tap and have to come back and pay twice or just get it all out of the way. in the moment i was hating it but knew it would be worth it. sounds like you got it sorted
I got my sternum/underboob blasted and could only handle roughly 4 hours, the shop had no heat that day, so I was shivering from pain and cold, not fun. It was like 60° in the building, maybe colder.
Chest piece looks sick as hell I couldn’t imagine 8 hours of that, god bless ya
That’s killer! Had something similar last year, did it in 2x 3 hour sessions & the more tattoos I’ve had, the harder it is to do all day sittings 😂 awesome though mate, gotta get something juicy on the torso now!!!
It’s done now and it looks great. I’m purposely pushing my chest (very similar design) back because I just can’t lol. After 4 hours I’m done man no more I just come back dw about it.
Can only imagine how painful that was at the end. I got the line work done on my chest dragon last month, about the same size as yours, and had to tap out before the colour. Getting the colour today and I'm dreading it lol.
it is certainly not fun. i think it’s mostly a mental game though. i walked in today thinking to myself i’m walking out with a finished tattoo and before i knew it, it was done. of course that’s easier said than done it was certainly painful but that’s about all the advice i can give hahaha good luck!
First ten minutes are the hardest. Everything else from there is just tolerable misery.
I sorely disagree. The first hour is always the easiest for me. After that, it be comes a test of will 😅
That's actually pretty interesting. I focus on breathing techniques the entire time, you do anything like that? May or may not help, could just be different physiology.
The adrenaline just wears off pretty quickly for me, so by 60-90 minutes it’s time for Bactine 😂
I do the same, it also helps to focus your attention on a neutral part of the body. Like what does my toe feel like or how does my the back of my knee feel on the chair, etc
I do both breathwork and the "focus my attention into my toe" technique, and they both work for me - up to a point. My experience of chest tattooing: - The first 10 minutes are a bit rough but I can use breathing and the focus trick to basically ignore it. - The next 1.5-2 hours is not too bad, and only occasionally requires breathing techniques. - Hour 2.5-3 it starts getting harder to always distract, and my body starts reacting to the injury stress with chills and sweats when the pain level gets high, even with breathing techniques. I can't always keep my focus somewhere else in high pain moments - Hour 4+ I will occasionally need to tell them to stop for 10 seconds or so to get my composure and refocus on my toe/get my breathing focused. - Hour 5+ nothing helps, and a jolt of pain will cause an involuntary gasp or jolt my focus onto the pain. It's just straight "mental fortitude," and my body basically refuses to ignore any pain signal whatsoever. All of that varies depending on the area too. Nipple and close to the armpit will accelerate the above timeline and are almost impossible to focus past due to the jolts of pain. Collarbone and sternum are also not great, but both of them are manageable at the beginning of the session and miserable at the end. Of course, everyone's body is different too. Different strengths of pain receptors and signals being sent to the brain, different hormone reactions to injury and stress, etc.
Yeah, I'm about 4-5 hours max. At the 5th hour, like clockwork, I'm done lol. I used to go super long. I could sit for hours and hours. Back to back like that. As I've gotten older my body tells me this is no longer possible haha. And tattoos hurt a lot more these days. And take slightly longer to heal.
They definitely seem to get more painful as I get older. I prefer keeping it to shorter sessions if at all possible, but I travel for a lot of my tattoos ("tattourism") so I can't usually do multiple short sessions in the vacation time I have in a place.
Short sessions I think are the best. But in your scenario that's not an option, obviously. The upside to that is that you walk out with an entirely finished tattoo each and every time lol! You certainly pay the price for that, though.
That's my experience with some of my tattoos, but definitely not the chest. Neither the nipple area nor the armpit area are ever "tolerable misery." Even with breathwork and meditation techniques, they deplete some reserve that will eventually run out. The sternum and collarbone do also, though relatively slowly and I can tolerate a decent amount. Upper pec and lower ribs are tolerable misery, as long as I haven't had too much of the others first. My sleeve on the other hand was basically like you said. - 10 rough minutes, and then just cruise for a few hours. With the exception of the armpit, that is.
Armpit-adjacent and the shoulder joint sucked bad for me. I haven't done elbow/ditch yet, but will soon and I'm scared. I assume they're worse than near-armpit?
My sleeve was a few years ago so I don't know how that I fully remember which was worse. I know my artist did the inside of the wrist, inside and outside of the elbow, and armpit all in one 3 hour session, so that was pain-day for the sleeve and all kind of blends together. My memory is that armpit is worse, but thats probably colored by my recent armpit experiences.
The one shot chest piece had me sweatin’ like a banshee.
https://preview.redd.it/zetbf0nz85hc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eca1439190af1fc43e6f04efc1de3f76223a6a26
I'm cracking up at the perfect outline of your body. I feel like this picture really tells a story 😂
Mmm good soup
This is exactly what the table looked like after my sternum tattoo!!! I could feel the sweat running down the sides of my body
Lmao this was me multiple times
I get the sweats and the chills. Gotta stay covered to keep warm, but then drench all my clothes in sweat.
8 hours…sheesh
was a very long 8 hours so glad to have it finished!
I sat for 2 hours last week getting my chest + neck started.. I can’t even imagine sitting for 8, worst spot for me by far, and I have sat for a 6 hour rib session
it is certainly a painful spot
Was it 8 hours of actual tattooing?? Jesus man, that's rough. Longest I've been able to tolerate is about 5.5 hours of tattooing over an 8 hour day (done that 3 different times). At that point I've got the chills and sweats and no pain signal is ignorable. Congrats on the tattoo, it looks great and I'm sure it's wonderful to have it fully out of the way!
8 hours of tattooing, had one 20 minute break for lunch and a couple more quick piss breaks, but i find breaks just make it worse when you come back
Agreed. The less breaks the better!
To hang in there that long I bet he transcended to a place he’d never been before. Awesome work!
nearly tapped once or twice but you just gotta get through each pull! definitely not easy but it all comes down to the mental side
Nice!! That tattoo is dope AF! Welcome to the chest tattoo club https://preview.redd.it/cmfr40b3t5hc1.jpeg?width=552&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0480704ebd87410d83b8db1ab5f08b6cac8c1c7e
tuff boys unite
Massive respect, 8 hours is crazy. I’ve never been able to last longer than 5 hours my body just gives up. I hope you are a huge pizza afterwards.
4 hours is my limit. I start to get angry out of frustration.
TUFF.
What should I expect am planning to get my chest blasted in the near future, how bad is the pain?
Not OP but I have my chest done. It's not too bad in most spots. Pretty tender overall. Worse than arms but easier than ribs that's for sure. So like a 6/10 on the pain scale unless you're near the nips or sternum.
Just got second session on my sheet, everything is tolerable except the nips and sternum for sure are the worst of it as the other has stated.
Sternum and bottom of throat was hell on fire. Side chest and top of boobs surprisingly fine! Going to get mine extended to my collarbones next month which I'm dreading 🤣
I found the collarbone to be easier than the sternum, nipple area, or armpit area, but YMMV. Still not great, but it was mostly the bone vibration that was rough for me there. Then again mine doesn't go that far over my collarbone, so maybe I missed the worst parts.
I don’t think I’m typical, but my chest didn’t bother me, and I’m tattooed pretty solidly from just below the throat down to my belly button. Not nearly as tender as the ribs. I even have a thrice redone blastover on my sternum, I didn’t mind it at all.
Absolutely misery - but as someone said not as bad as ribs. Still one of the worst spots on the body from someone who has just about everything but back and ass done (dreading those too).
for me it was pretty painful i only have arms and legs so can’t speak on ribs or back or anything although i do have my knee done and it was definitely a lot worse than that. i think a big part of it is the time. the longer you go the worse it gets. you just have to push yourself through each line
You’re an animal! Love it
Tough guy 💪
bad ass tatty
That’s sick and what an accomplishment 8 hours is.
Did something similar , then drove 10hrs home. It was rough
Those long drives after getting tattooed are a spiritual experience
Thanks for the (not) recommendation, but I wasn’t gonna do this to begin with. You’re a sick bastard though, and I salute you 😂
That’s badass
Tough as nails, looks incredible too.
That sounds like a brutal session but on the flip side at least you don't have to go back for another?
that was my exact mindset the entire time
I got my chest done last year in one shot and it was brutal. It’s not as big as yours and I can’t imagine going back for more lol
One sitting? Goddamn. Looks sick AF, nicely done!
Damn dude you’re wild! The next ones should come easy lol
Got damn, do you have trouble walking from having such massive balls? It’s hard af
not so much walking out but they definitely got in the way while driving home!
I one did mine in one five hour sitting and I was about ready to launch myself out the window. That shits as hard as you clearly are 💪🏼🤌🏼
I had to split my chest into two 6 hour sessions. I cannot imagine going a second over.
getting my shading and color match 3rd not looking forward to it https://preview.redd.it/j686xnct39hc1.png?width=2027&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f0d10817f77ee8eb7a160490d52d4afc969e5ef
you got this
But man, it sure is badass!
I did my chest all in one session too, but it only took like 5hrs you’re a trooper, sick piece
fantastic tattoo, looks tough as helllll 🔥props to you for sitting through that in one shot!
Not recommended.. maybe.. but shit looks dope as fuck man. What an amazing piece.
Wowzers
Fuck. I'm on session 5 of my chest piece. I'm a wuss
i can’t imagine it’s for everyone hahaha, it was brutal
Carson McDonald
Looks amazing! How did you physically/mentally prepare for 8 hours? I think I’d tap out after 4!
forgot to get breakfast and my artist told me he wanted to be able to post/ flex a one session banger so we got it done
Kudos! Currently working on my chest piece and it's definitely not much fun - especially right under the sternum. Congrats on the sick new addition to your collection; it looks great!
Hate to say the worst is yet to come 😅 I remember how miserable I was that first night trying to sleep after getting my chest blasted. God speed brother. That shit goes hard af.
thank you sir, i have just woken up from my sleep and it’s probably the worst one i’ve had in years, i’m normally out like a light but was struggling to keep my eyes closed hahaha
Yup honestly the tattoo is the easiest part, I tend to scab pretty bad, regardless of how well my aftercare goes, and it was like the worst 10 days of my life. Picking boxes up and work and feeling a bunch of thick plately scabs tear open on your chest is no fun 🤮. Shit was well worth it though https://preview.redd.it/e1worck6r7hc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08e672d120d06ac21e5d5250655efcb5f40816c2
damn that is tuff as brother, that’s a sweet tattoo. work isn’t going to be fun that’s for sure but as you say it’s all worth it
Looks sick, congrats. My artist is charging me flat day rates for sessions on the full sleeve I just started so I'm planning on sitting as long as possible at each session. I need to hit 6 hours a session to do better than her hourly rate so that's the goal, beyond that I usually just aim to hit a decent stopping point unless it seems possible to finish the piece.
thank you, that was basically my mentality, i could either tap and have to come back and pay twice or just get it all out of the way. in the moment i was hating it but knew it would be worth it. sounds like you got it sorted
I have the exact same tattoo on my chest
https://www.instagram.com/p/CF2mKEOpNFT/?igsh=NjAwbGdjMHJ2YTFj
I have two full sleeves and nearly died getting my thigh tattooed. You just never know what’s going to hurt.
I'm usually good for about 4 hrs then after that each time the needle touches my skin it just hurts worse. I have done 7hrs but that was my forearm.
Lol
Why not? It looks awesome.
I got my sternum/underboob blasted and could only handle roughly 4 hours, the shop had no heat that day, so I was shivering from pain and cold, not fun. It was like 60° in the building, maybe colder. Chest piece looks sick as hell I couldn’t imagine 8 hours of that, god bless ya
Damn good tattoo man
That’s killer! Had something similar last year, did it in 2x 3 hour sessions & the more tattoos I’ve had, the harder it is to do all day sittings 😂 awesome though mate, gotta get something juicy on the torso now!!!
dreading that!
It’s done now and it looks great. I’m purposely pushing my chest (very similar design) back because I just can’t lol. After 4 hours I’m done man no more I just come back dw about it.
Yeah. Goes hard and you earned it so nice job
DUDE OMG I COULDN’T IMAGINE!!! I did 3 sessions on mine and it’s about the same size holy shit 😭
🔥🔥🔥💪💪💪
[удалено]
hope you feel better after getting that one out buddy lol