Forum Topic: Thoughts on Numbing Creams
ThumperWabbt writes: “Lidocaine creams and patches take a long time (an hour or more) to actually numb the skin, and after that the numbing fades too quickly (15-30 minutes) to be of much use for the typical tattoo. And injections–it would take several to get an area of skin good and numb, and then you have issues with little holes in your skin where you want to get tattoo’d…plus it really stings when the lidocaine goes in. For that pain, you might as well get the tattoo without it… And then you have the issue of numb skin sometimes being more slack, which can result in a really screwed up looking tattoo.
I’m a major pain weenie…if I can get inked without numbing, anyone can. Creams and patches just aren’t worth the time and expense involved.”
tattoo.about.com
