Frank Charles, a pet-resort owner and former five-term mayor of St. Augustine, Florida, wanted a tattoo. He just wasn’t sure that he could take the pain. Then he started seeing advertisements for a place in Miami called Sedation Ink, which offers clients the attention of its licensed anesthesiologists.
Long story short, the guy spent $29k to be put under for eight hours while a large tattoo got done.
I've got four tattoos (OK, five, but one of them, a teenage girlfriend's name, was covered by another).
Getting all of them involved at least a little pain during their creation, especially the tribal around my lower leg just above the ankle for some reason. The least painful ones were probably the girl's name and the anarchy symbol I gave myself as a teenager using a sewing needle, thread, and India ink (I later had a tattoo artist improve the anarchy symbol).
But all of them involved a certain amount of pain afterward, too, while healing. Or at least tenderness.
The idea of letting someone put me under anesthesia is something I dislike in general. I've had one general anesthesia experience, which went well, but I see too many "died of complications during surgery" stories, some of them anesthesia-related, to find the idea attractive. Especially at a tattoo shop.
Damn, people. If you want ink, put up with the pain. If you're a drinker, maybe get just lit enough to be relaxed right before, but not so drunk that the tattoo artist questions your competence to consent.
I've seen guys cry while getting tattoos done, but I don't remember any of them saying they regretted it afterward. And personally, I consider the pain a part of the experience that makes the art special.
If I could afford it, I'd have a lot more ink. Full sleeves, big back piece, etc. A few years ago, my daughter indicated an interest in becoming a tattoo artist. I bought her the gun, needles, ink, etc., and told her she was free to practice on me, and if she messed up, no biggie. Apparently she found that idea scary. She practiced on synthetic skin made for that purpose, anddid a couple of small cover-ups for friends. Then when she ran out of sterile new needles, she decided it just wasn't for her.
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