Why tattoo artists are against numbing cream
Numbing cream is such a controversial topic. As tattoo artists, who have been tattooed before, we understand the tattoos hurt, and sometimes it helps to have something take the edge off.
However, most tattoo artists prefer to work without numbing cream, for these reasons:
Adverse reactions may occur. Clients may be allergic and develop rashes. Patch testing is important; but it does not take into consideration the trauma that will occur to the skin during the tattoo process from the wiping and the needles puncturing the skin.
Numbing cream begins to wear off as soon as the skin is punctured. This results in the tattoo artist having to rush a specific area and move on to another part of the tattoo before the client begins to feel the pain. A tattoo artist having to rush a tattoo means they won’t ever get to do their best work.
Tattoos tend to heal “muted”. This doesn’t mean the tattoo doesn’t heal well, it just means it doesn’t heal as well as it could have.
The skin becomes more difficult to work with, and a result can cause more unnecessary trauma to the skin, make the session longer, and can affect the effectiveness of the stencil.
When the cream wears off, clients tend to be in more pain than they would have been without the cream. When your body is numbed to a sensation, it cannot respond naturally to the pain. This means the pain hits all at once, and usually results in the client “tapping out”.
In addition to the effect numbing cream has throughout the tattoo process and the end result itself, improper use is very serious and can be life threatening. There are reports of deaths from the improper use of lidocaine creams .
We understand that every cream, client and artist is different, and a lot of people use numbing cream without an adverse result. However, there is an increased risk to the client with the usage of such creams. We are also not medically trained professionals. Our interest lies in the safety and health of each client in addition to providing clients the best tattoo possible.
For these reasons, we prefer to err on the side of caution and prefer to work without it.
It is always best to speak to your tattoo artist about their preference, and if numbing cream is a must for you as a client, then please do your research as not all products and bodies are created equal.