OK. I’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo for absolute ages. I’ve had the design all picked out but needed to work up the gumption to actually go “under the needle”. Well, today I had the day off work and decided that it was now or never.
What can I say? It really wasn’t that bad, but then again I have gone through natural childbirth twice .
Here’s a picture pretty much fresh from under the dressing. It is a bit shiny, but that’s the Zambuk. They’re kind of like potato chips - now I want another one.
Size wise it’s just under 10cm (about 4 inches) long.
When I got my first I thought it hurt like hell (same for second and third ones). I asked my wife, who had gotten her first 2 months before, why she didn’t warn me. Apparently the whole childbirth thing seemed to have something to do with it.
On my back, roughly equidistant between bra strap and hipster trousers top. I left the body sides out so you can’t see just how much I bulge;) I picked the one spot on my body that isn’t likely to be plagued by either stretch marks or cellulite in the immediate future.
Well, the worst thing about it was bending over forwards with my back skin stretched and my body relaxed. Kind of claustrophobic. A girl at the juggling club got one a few weeks ago, and a friend got one a few years ago. Neither of them have kids and they both moaned about the pain.
i used to frequent a skin-artist in the mountain kingdom of Kaapschehoop in the Mpumalanga province
against the wall, directly in fornt of ‘the chair’, he had a sign ‘Tattoo - Cause it F#%$ing Hurts!’
subtlety is not a Kaapschehoop export
it was in that chair that i had a Celtic Ring tattooed around the second toe on my left foot so maybe i just remember it because of that
Well - the friend that got the tattoo spent so long dithering and letting other customers go in front of her that the tattooist eventually walked up to her and told her to get her rear in the chair or Fk off out of his shop as she was scaring away customers. She then asked him to name the most painful location to have a tattoo applied. His response "Wherever the FK you’re having it done".
Subtlety isn’t in fashion anywhere in RSA tattoo parlours.
Thanks. Duh, I found that when I did my own search but for some reason I misread the post and thought the tattoo was of something called a Zambuk or something.
the name is based on an antiquated version of the word ‘Sjambok’
this example shows plastic and rubber versions of a weapon that was traditionally cut from the hide of a hippopottamus (i think, it may also have been from rhino skin)
i’m not sure if the naming of the ointment had anything to do with the weapon itself
it would strike me as being to close to imagine it did not
the ointment is (fairly) generally regarded as a "grandparent’ treatment as a generation or two ago would’ve treated a myocardial infarction with zambuk
i remember a tub of it having permanent residence on my fathers bedside table
it was rather weird to be handed a tub of it by a swiss-french, body building tattoo-artist and told to use it on the tattoo
NO - you WATCHED natural childbirth once - there is a difference
If they aren’t that busy - and a Monday afternoon isn’t rush hour at most tattoo parlours - you can get an appointment right away. I was actually lucky as they’d had a cancellation and could fit me right it. Mine took about 20 minutes or so - much less time than natural childbirth.
Dave has already explained that. It is wonderful stuff - no first aid cabinet should be without it. It is also excellent for mozzie bites, as long as you apply it BEFORE scratching a hole in the skin. Otherwise it stings - A LOT.
Jayne, you female chauvinist pig. No, I mean 43 years ago I went through natural childbirth.
20 minutes is pretty quick. My longest took 2 1/4 hours. Close to the end of the 2nd hour I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take. People go for 5 to 7 hours at a time and I can’t imagine doing that. Ouch!
Yeah - 5 to 7 hours seems a bit much, but I can imagine wanting to get all the healing over in one shot, rather than repeating the process for the same piece of skin. That said, I did want to go easy on myself the first time round. I am strongly considering getting some shading done sometime, but then I like it the way it is too. I’ll see how I feel in a few weeks.
I hear that how much tatooing hurts depends on where on the body you get it. Ancles hurt, shoulders don’t, hands hurt etc. Someone should draw pain-map of the body.
You keep confusing me about when you are talking about tatoos and when you are talking about childbirth. By now I understand so much that JJuggle haven’t given birth to 3 children after all.
Do you know where on the ankle/foot is particularly painful? I’ve considered getting a small black silhouette of a uni tatto there. It’s still a possibility. Or lower leg maybe? Any suggestions? If I did get a tatoo I’d want it to be small and keep crisp edges, etc.
My own feeling is that the more detail the better. When I went in to get my unicycle tattoo I also had the idea of getting something more stylized with less realistic detail. What I came out with is something I’m very happy with. Check out some of the tattoos at BMEZine. There’s a ton of images there and a lot to give you an idea of what is possible and what to avoid. I think if you’re not a member you’ll only be allowed to view 150 images.
With tattoos the most common advice is to talk to the artist about what you want and make sure he or she understands or is explicit about what he or she intends to do and that you agree and look through the artists portfolio to make sure you like their work. Also, you get what you pay for; you’ll have the tattoo for life so don’t try to get one on the cheap.
As for the pain, it’s going to hurt no matter what. Put it where you want it.
Good luck with it and definitely let us see how it turns out.
I’m still only considering getting a tattoo. It’s a very permanent thing and while I know I’ll be unicycling until body stops me, I’m a bit worried about changing my mind about the tyre/size/placement of a tattoo after it’s been done.
The other thing is, I don’t really like the idea of having to shave my arm or leg or wherever I might put a tattoo.
I’m thinking possibly a small silhouette of a unicycle 50mm high at the most and about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up from my foot to my knee. My legs aren’t extremely hairy and it’s light in colour anyway. Given that it would be black and wouldn’t have any fine details, how do you think a uni tattoo would look without constantly shaving?
Once again, I haven’t decided yet whether or not I want one at all. Do you have any regrets?
Well thanks to Alex Toms’ editing skills I’ve now got a possible design sorted. What do you think? Here’s how it went…
> Original edited pic
>> Silhouette, thicker frame and seatpost
>>> Spokes and valve removed
>>>> Seatpost and seat lowered, seat enlarged
As I said I’m thinking lower leg on the outside, 40 or 50mm high. The only thing I might have against that location is that it would always be visible. Other thoughts have been very upper arm/shoulder, and foot.
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