What getting a tattoo REALLY feels like

So, I did it. I got my first tattoo at the grand old age of 43. While not huge, it is larger than most 'first' tattoos I've seen; about 3x3 inches.

No matter who you ask, everyone has different ways of describing the feeling of getting a tattoo. You hear of people who pass out, have to stop often for breathers, or can't even get it finished. Then you have those that say it's not painful at all -- no more so that sticking yourself with a pin.

Just to confuse you more, here is exactly how it felt to me -- and my memory is less than 4 hours old.

The outline, which is what was done first. Feels like about 16 individual needles so small and close to each other they are less than pencil lead thick. But, and it's a big one, it doesn't feel like they are poking you at all. What it feels like is that the group of needles is stuck into your flesh and then dragged 1/16th of an inch. Then it is reset, right next to the last gouge and dragged again. It feels very much like a small plow digging trenches into your skin.

Filling in the tattoo was slightly different. Instead of a round bundle of needles there is a double row of them, more like a rake times two. Because of the lack of density, the pain is different. However, the strokes were longer.

Good news? Yeah, there is some. First, if the tattoo is not going over nerves or bone, it's a lot less painful. Yeah, I heard that a head of time, but truly did not appreciate it until about five minutes under the gun. Since my ink was put on my neck; I had a lot of tender and painful places. But when the design wasn't on bone or nerves, it was like a picnic -- in comparison. First timer worried about pain? AVOID BONES.

Also, it was livable. Sort of like getting a paper cut. Well, three or four hundred of them in a 3x3 inch space over a period of an hour and a half.

Will I ever get another one? Maybe.