Getting tattoos is a common form of bodily art and self-expression, although since it involves repeated punctures of the skin with needles, there can be pain involved, and anxious tattoo customers may in fact make it worse with hyping themselves about the expected pain and even blood, and this can lead to migraines or general stress that is very unpleasant. A person considering a tattoo should first be aware of they have a serious fear of needles, and if not, they should know what they are in for, as well as what they are not. Knowing how to handle the fear of tattoo pain is not dissimilar from the fear of chronic pain from other conditions like back pain or a migraine. A tattoo might indirectly lead to a migraine if the person is too stressed about the process of visiting a tattoo parlor and getting ink, and the same may be said of nipple piercing or group tattoos. What can a person do?
Tattoos and Piercings
A migraine might be the result of chronic pain like a back problem or a piercing gone wrong, but in many cases, people get piercings or tattoos and have no serious trouble, so naturally there are ways to get body art without pain or a migraine involved. In fact, it has been determined that around 14% of all Americans, young and old, have at least one tattoo on their body, and among all those people with tattoos, around 11% of them have had one removed, or are currently getting one removed. Even covering one tattoo with another is a possibility, and 5% of the American population has done this. Tattoos are particularly popular among middle aged and younger adults; 47% of all Millenials and 36% of Gen Xers have at least one tattoo, according to data from a 2015 Harris Poll. And with 21,000 tattoo parlors to be found across the United States to be found, a person can easily find one and get a tattoo that they want. How should they handle the biological aspect of visiting a tattoo shop or getting piercings?
Manage Pain
According to Migraine Again, there are some common techniques that a person who recently got a tattoo, and someone who suffers chronic pain from other sources, can try out to manage their pain. For one thing, it is rare for a person to pass out from the pain of getting a tattoo; more often, the person’s blood sugar is too low or they work themselves up in stress and end up passing out from that instead; it is simple fear, and as with chronic pain, fear only controls person if they allow it, and it does not have to dominate everyday life for the person.
Avoiding focusing on pain, like with a migraine or tattoo needle work, can also help a person. One can look away from the tattoo needle and the area being worked on so they can lower anxiety about it, and someone who does what they must for back or migraine pain should think less about it and instead distract themselves with some pleasant like an outdoor garden or music. For another thing, keeping pain in perspective is important when getting a tattoo, a piercing, or suffering a migraine or back issues. A tattoo needle in fact only penetrates 1/16 of an inch into the skin, which very rarely results in bleeding, and for someone suffering a migraine or back pain, they can remind themselves that it will not kill them, and should not ruin the rest of their daily life, as more serious disabilities like total paralysis might. Finally, the person can remember why they have pain to begin with and use that to focus on the bright side. Someone getting a tattoo or piercing will not like the pain of getting one, but the pain is only temporary, and once the process is done, he or she will have a desirable and fashionable tattoo for many years to come, and the same can be said of a piercing. And someone who is suffering a migraine or back issue can network with other people with that problem so that they do not feel alone, and they can find new ways to manage it in their everyday lives.
