Tattoo Pain Chart: Where It Hurts Most (and Least)

Even if you have many tattoos, you may be surprised to learn which places hurt the most and the least. Take a quick look at the following tattoo pain chart before your next tattoo to learn more about how tattoo pain affects different areas of the body.

Factors Affecting Tattoo Pain

How much pain you feel while getting a tattoo is not solely reliant on its location. In fact, many other factors play an important role. Knowing these factors and how much they can affect your experience can help you better plan and prepare for your next tattoo.

Men and women respond to pain differently, and research suggests that women respond to pain more intensely. However, it’s impossible to determine if tattoos hurt women more than males because everyone’s pain tolerance is different.

It’s also been stated that biological females have a lower pain tolerance than males but are more accepting of pain. While it hasn’t been proven, some agree that women experience less pain than their male counterparts on the head, butt, and the back of the legs.

Men and women respond to pain differently, and research suggests that women respond to pain more intensely. However, it’s impossible to determine if tattoos hurt women more than males because everyone’s pain tolerance is different.

It’s also been stated that biological females have a lower pain tolerance than males but are more accepting of pain. While it hasn’t been proven, some agree that women experience less pain than their male counterparts on the head, butt, and the back of the legs.

While everyone has their own tolerance and individual response to pain, there are a few areas on the body that most can agree are more painful than others. You may want to reconsider these areas if you have a lower pain tolerance.

– Head

Your head has very little fat to cushion some of the impacts from the needle. This means that your bones and nerves are much more vulnerable to feeling pain.

– Hands, Fingers, and Wrists

Much like the head, your hands, fingers, and wrists have very little fat. These areas typically have thinner skin, making them more likely to feel a great amount of pain during the process.

– Feet

It only takes a quick look to notice that your feet have almost no fat on them. Most of us can see the movement of our own bones underneath the skin. This is something to keep in mind as the needle is likely going to put a lot of pressure on your bones and the many nerves in the feet.

– Ribs and Chest

Men are more likely than women to feel additional pain in their ribs and chest. This is because the bones in these areas are very prominent and not typically covered by much fat. Women can carry more fat in this area, but that doesn’t mean they are immune to experiencing more pain.

 

While it is impossible to make the tattoo experience pain-free, there are a few things you can do to help minimize the amount of pain you feel. Knowing this information can be especially helpful if you feel you have a low pain tolerance or are particularly nervous about your experience.