Can you get a tattoo before you have surgery?

Answer 1

== == Getting a tattoo actually becomes addicting after you've had one. It's comparable to getting scratched on a bad sunburn - but in a good way. The longer the artist has to spend on one area, the more sore it will get and some people can tolerate it after more than three or so hours. The artist will understand this and you can talk to him or her about the option of going in for multiple appointments. Also, a sidenote on the pain subjectthat I've heard from every tattoo artist that has inked me - women take the pain a lot better. I did a little research on it awhile back and found that this is most likely due to the fact that men are stronger for shorter periods (lifting really heavy things into place) while women are stronger for longer periods (giving birth to a child). The pain is part of the experience, and it can be a tremendous release. In a short answer, no. Absolutely not. General anesethia carries a risk of DEATH, while getting a tattoo carries a risk of hurting for a few minutes. If you can't handle the sensation, you have no business getting tattooed. No. However, you can obtain topical anasthetics from your local pharmacy. These are simply gauze-like pads saturated with a novocaine or similar-based substance which numbs your nerve endings, much like orajel for teething babies and toothaches. Some tattooists offer a topical anasthetic for a fee.

No, anesthesia can be dangerous, and as far as topical anesthetics I would say don't waste your money. As a heavily tattooed girl, I can tell you that those things won't make a difference and the pain isn't that severe anyways.

Answer 2

It would be unwise to put a tattoo over the site where surgery is going to occur. However if you want to put a tattoo in a place other than the surgical site, it is probably ok to do so as long as you consider a) the standard risks, b) tell your nursing team/doctors that you have a recent tattoo, since they'll need to be aware of this to be able to carefully move you around whilst under anesthetic so that they don't accidentally knock/bruise the area c) because of having a tattoo, they may ask you to do a blood-test to screen for hepatitis and HIV before they operate on you - it's health and safety for you and the surgeons d) if, for example, you're having surgery on your abdomen, it would be unwise to put a tattoo on your back, since you may end up lying on it for a long time causing a bed-sore like infection. You should also consider that if you were to get any side-effects from the tattoo (e.g infection), this could result in your surgery being postponed.