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t0
Deinonychus
Joined: Mar 24, 2008
Posts: 373
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 Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 12:46 pm Post subject: Tattoos and hypersensitivity to touch |
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| Anyone have a tattoo that is also hypersensitive to touch? Does it bother you? Just the idea of having a tattoo makes me tense. I saw a sarcastic mention of an "ASD tattoo" and it made me curious as to what physical effects people on the spectrum with tattoos experience. |
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kip
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 14, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 687
Location: Las Vegas NV USA
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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I have two tattoos, one on each wrist. The one on the left was done professionally, therefore the ink is deeper. It feels... weird. It's like getting a backrub right in that little spot. Its very nice. But the other one is no different than any other bit of skin. It was done at home with a tat gun off ebay.
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LoveableNerd
Velociraptor
Joined: Apr 24, 2008
Posts: 435
Location: Kentucky, USA
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 12:53 pm Post subject: |
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That is one thing I can't put my head around. I know there are several ppl on here with tats, but my question is why? Most of us are hypersensitive to touch. I can't wear sweaters and cut the tags off my shirt. The needles may only hurt for a little while, but the skin under that tat will always be dry and irritated... I couldn't imagine.
And that's if the artist doesn't screw up. I have a friend who had the artist royally mess up one this weekend and now she is going to have to get it lasered off. She was drop dead gorgeous, flawless skin, but now she'll have a nice large permanent scar not unlike that of a burn victim.
She is most likely NT, so I can understand her to a degree. But it's not like many of us give a flying f*** about peer pressure or fads. So why get them? The same goes for body piercing, and tanning beds/sun worship.
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If I want to see man-made artwork, I'll go to a gallery.
The natural human body is the greatest work of art there is, and can never be topped by anything a human artist could do.
You can't improve perfection, so give me all naturalle, virgin skin baby! |
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Onibunny
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Apr 09, 2008
Posts: 72
Location: California
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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| i enjoy tattoos but not getting tattooed. however the artist isn't touching you with their hands as much as you think. The pain also keeps me from focusing on well anything. I guess that may be why i like it so much. I rarely get to have an empty mind. Example: everyone loves yoga, and i like the idea of yoga, but i can not clear my mind and be calm. I usually have 6 or more thoughts i focus on and juggle rendering it impossible to "clear my mind". Same thing with massage, i really want to enjoy it but i can't seem to relax enough, people tell me they fall asleep! how?!?! I can barely fall asleep at night by myself. Also I like the that tattoos eventually, for me at least, are just my skin. I don't dislike any of them and they don't bother me, sometimes i forget they are even there. They are just a part of me. I look forward to getting more and having reminders of things that interest me. I have a cutting and i like the raised pattern on my skin, i enjoy the tactile sensation of running my finger tips over it. meh to each his own, even those on the spectrum. |
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EvilKimEvil
zoo-music girl
Joined: Sep 27, 2007
Posts: 3040
Location: highway to hell
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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I have tattoos. It's a mild repetitive pain. I'd say it's about equivalent to getting stung by a bunch of bees (not wasps, which sting more painfully, or fire ants). After about 10 minutes of such pain, a rush of endorphins flow in to compensate. Of course this all varies from person to person.
I know of one member here who is a tattoo artist and could shed more light on the subject.
Where's Willard? |
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gitchel
Blue Jay
Joined: Aug 21, 2007
Age: 54
Posts: 84
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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I have several tattoos. The pain of getting one installed can be rather significant, though the endorphines made it all worthwhile 
There is a brief period during the healing where the itching gets very tedious. After everything was healed, though, I felt nothing different at all arouind the tattoo.
I'm fairly sure the tats are at a level below most of the "touchy" nerves. Still, as you can tell by my scientific term "touchy nerves", I'm not a doctor or tattoo artist 
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PunkyKat
Phoenix
Joined: May 15, 2008
Posts: 577
Location: Twlight Zone
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm hypersensetive to touch but am dying to get a tatoo. The pain would be worth it. Shots and blood draws don't phase me so maybe a tatoo needle would not either. I want to get several tatoos. I know I want a Simba cub near my ankle and a meerkat somewhere. |
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zghost
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 29, 2007
Posts: 617
Location: Southeast Texas
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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It feels like cat scratches. I can block pain and mostly ignore it. I have no fear of needles.
1 tatt, 5 peircings. |
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Willard
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 24, 2008
Posts: 584
Location: Confederate States of America
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:39 pm Post subject: |
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| EvilKimEvil wrote: | I have tattoos. It's a mild repetitive pain. I'd say it's about equivalent to getting stung by a bunch of bees (not wasps, which sting more painfully, or fire ants). After about 10 minutes of such pain, a rush of endorphins flow in to compensate. Of course this all varies from person to person.
I know of one member here who is a tattoo artist and could shed more light on the subject.
Where's Willard? |
You said it. It varies tremendously from person to person, body part to body part, day to day, mood to mood. So many mitigating factors. But the buzz of the machine, the release of endorphins, the smell of antisceptic soap, all lend themselves to a mild hypnotic state (if you're not a whiny p***y). It can actually be like a religious ritual. It's what got me addicted to the experience and eventually into the profession.
| Quote: | | The one on the left was done professionally, therefore the ink is deeper. |
Three layers of epidermis. tattoo ink goes between layers 2 and 3, any deeper and it creates a 'blowout', the line blurs into fatty tissue, looking smudged. homemade or pro, the ink lodges in the same place, or it's visibly flawed.
| Quote: | | I know there are several ppl on here with tats, but my question is why? |
There are as many reasons for inking oneself as there are individuals. Some of the motivations are deeply personal, some superficial. That's what makes it self-expression. Either you understand the notion of 'self-expression' or you don't. (not insulting you, I'm just saying). Some of us decorate our bodies for the same reasons others paint flames on their cars or clouds on their bedroom walls.
For me the pictures on the outside represent the mind and soul on the inside and it's journey through this hellish life. It's like spiritual armour that stands between me and the world that finds amusement in abusing me. A sort of "This is who i am, and f**k you if you don't care to get it" statement, as well as a personal attempt to communicate myself to a world that seems to find me obtuse and enigmatic.
As for the body as a perfect work of art in itself: If God didn't intend for you to decorate yourself, why did he cover you in so much blank canvas?
I don't understand why some churches decorate their sanctuaries with images of torture and murder. I get the whole sacrifice thing, but how anyone can feel worshipful and attuned to their maker surrounded by such morbidity is beyond me. Apparently it works for some.
As I've noted before, the primary difference between those with ink and those without: People WITH tattoos don't discriminate against those without them.
| Quote: | | And that's if the artist doesn't screw up. I have a friend who had the artist royally mess up one this weekend and now she is going to have to get it lasered off. She was drop dead gorgeous, flawless skin, but now she'll have a nice large permanent scar not unlike that of a burn victim. |
Licensing laws vary significantly from state to state. Know your tattooist, look at their portfolio beforehand. Ask around, hacks gain a hack reputation and pros get popular. Depending on the bad piece's size and shape, I'd recommend considering a high quality coverup over laser surgery. Hurts a lot less, and a talented professional can create something stunning. Just be more careful picking a tattooist (they're not all artists).
| Quote: | | the artist isn't touching you with their hands as much as you think. |
 I don't touch anyone at all. Yuk! That's what those lovely latex gloves are for. I have no idea where your body has been. Or when it was washed last.
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- Bill Hicks |
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LoveableNerd
Velociraptor
Joined: Apr 24, 2008
Posts: 435
Location: Kentucky, USA
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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Fair enough. Not discriminating, just asking cause I never "got it". 
BTW I asked my friend why she couldn't just get it touched up, instead of lasering, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet.
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Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.---George Bernard Shaw
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pineapple
Deinonychus
Joined: May 01, 2006
Age: 24
Posts: 373
Location: san francisco
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, I have a tattoo. It kind of felt like I was being branded with a hot iron. The guy getting his next to me said, "when I was getting my back piece, I fell asleep." I have no idea how that's possible. People say the endorphins or adrenaline kick in, but mine never seemed to...
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Go here, be asexy------> http://theonepercentclub.blogspot.com |
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Callista
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 04, 2006
Age: 25
Posts: 1361
Location: Central USA
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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Having tattoos isn't just communication; I think it's also a way of affirming to yourself something about yourself. I don't have any tattoos, but I do have some decorative scarring among the rest (no, I don't recommend it)... That's why, for me; and those are the ones I like. The others are just annoying.
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Willard
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 24, 2008
Posts: 584
Location: Confederate States of America
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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Again, the discomfort varies, sometimes radically. I've had some that were no more than a mild pricking, some that nearly made me crack teeth gritting so hard. I can say that there is a general concensus that the feet are one of the more sensitive areas. My wife wanted lacy little vines and flowers on the outsides of both feet and I very nearly had to lock her feet in a vice to keep her from squirming. Squirming is baaad.
Oh, BTW, several here have mentioned tats itching or making actual ridges under the skin and such - I have a photorealistic monarch butterfly on the inside of my right forearm that's done in the same brand of ink and the same colors as a pinup girl and vine armband on the shoulder of the same arm. The piece on the forearm took to lumping up under the skin and itching like a sumb**tch after about a year, but the pinup didn't. It itched like crazy for about a month, then stopped. Several months later, it happened again, then stopped just as mysteriously. This went on for over two years, as the sleeve on my other arm was in progress. After another year or so, parts of the other forearm began to whelp and itch, too. Long story short, I finally figured out what was happening. The tattoo inks were reacting with the varnish used on my computer desk, and during periods when I was spending lots and lots of time at the 'puter, the skin would act up. Freaky.
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- Bill Hicks |
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RampionRampage
Velociraptor
Joined: Feb 04, 2008
Age: 25
Posts: 426
Location: Greater Philly Area, PA
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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my tattoo took four hours... was fine until two hours in, when the artist took a bathroom break. when he came back, and resumed, ARGH i almost broke my boyfriends' hands. :-p
i love my tatt, though. i got in after my grandfather died and i think the physical pain helped with the emotional pain, as i have a tendency to bury those kinds of emotions.
eta. the artist, before starting, ran the needle on me without ink so that i would know what i was in for. my reaction? "that tickles!" so we knew i'd be fine.
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craola
Deinonychus
Joined: Mar 21, 2008
Age: 20
Posts: 342
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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Well I was/am a self harmer and my entire left arm from just below my shoulder to my wrist is scarred quite thickly and permanently. And tattoos and piercings were one of my obsessions for a while but not in a way that I would get one, but then I discovered the artist/tattooist Christ Garver and fell in love with his work and then I found out he was in Miami which I stop in when going from London-Cayman Islands so I have decided I am going to build myself up to being able to have him tattoo me, because if I have all those ugly permanent scars I want at least one beautiful permanent mark as well.
It will take a lot of building up as im really touch sensative and I hate people touching me, but Im really really hoping I can do it. |
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