Why Don T Tattoo Artists Use Numbing Cream?
A lot of people like to use numbing cream to make tattooing a pain-free process. While it’s hard to understand for most artists, there are people out there that don’t think the discomfort of being tattooed is a good thing. We are going to uncover how numbing creams work, and how to correctly apply this to your skin! Why Don’t Tattoo Artists Use Numbing Cream? A lot of tattoo artists refuse to use their own numbing creams or sprays during their sessions. Two of the main reasons why they might not use creams are:
- They consider the pain of a tattoo part of the tradition
- They’ve used certain numbing creams before and they don’t feel like they worked
A large portion of the tattooed population considers pain to be an integral part of the tattooing process. People in this category tend to see any irritation or pain as just another aspect of their tattoo that adds to its significance. If you fall into this category, you should be aware that you will eventually encounter a customer who has a very low pain threshold.
For these clients, the pain isn’t tolerable – but that doesn’t make their tattoo any less important to them. If you’re in the second category, it’s likely that the numbing cream you used wasn’t particularly effective, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility that all numbing creams and sprays are worthless.
Continue reading to learn how numbing cream works and how to make it work for you. 
How Does Numbing Cream Work? How numbing cream works depends on which active ingredient is in the mix. Most tattoo numbing ingredients fall into three categories: nerve deadeners, nerve blockers, and vasoconstrictors. Nerve Deadeners Chemicals like Lidocaine, for example, momentarily paralyses nerves in the skin, preventing them from perceiving pain. Nerve relaxants are fantastic, but they rarely penetrate past the surface of the skin, therefore they won’t be 100% effective for tattoos, but they will definitely help the pain.
Nerve Blockers Because of these substances, your nerves still perceive pain, but they don’t deliver the “ouch!” signal to the brain. Tetracaine and benzocaine, its fellow nerve blocker, are both pH-neutral, as are most nerve blockers.
Nerve blockers are frequently paired with nerve deadeners to avoid involuntary flinching because they do not prevent nerves from reporting pain on their own. Vasoconstrictors Vasoconstrictor drugs are the most effective numbing agents available. Epinephrine is a vasoconstrictor that works by forcing blood vessels to tighten, reducing bleeding. Here are the best steps you can follow to keep your sessions pain-free:
- Pick the right set-up; not every numbing cream is right for every tattoo.
If a client comes in with a random numbing cream off the shelf they’re going to need to reschedule; the right numbing cream makes a huge difference in how long it lasts and if it can be applied during their session. If they bring in a cream without epinephrine, it’s going to wear off halfway through their tattoo and they’re going to get a very unpleasant surprise.
- Wash the client’s skin with green soap
You’ll want to remove dead skin and oil before you apply your numbing solution. Green soap will work just fine, but some green soaps do contain a small amount of alcohol, which can make skin more acidic and slow down or stop some creams and sprays.
- Apply the numbing cream
Because you’ll need to wait 5-30 minutes for the area to numb after using your cream or spray, it’s best if a client can execute stages 2 and 3 at home. The length of time it takes to numb depends on the type of numbing cream you use and the area you apply it to: thicker skin takes longer to numb than thin skin.
- Wash off your numbing cream and start the tattoo.
You’ll wash off the solution and begin the tattoo after the area is numb. It doesn’t have to be on the skin to function, and certain topically safe numbing creams might irritate injured skin. 
Click here to buy some great tattoo numbing creams and sprays today. Hopefully these tips can help you when deciding whether or not to use tattoo numbing cream/spray in your next tattoo session. What’s your personal experience with numbing solutions? Let us know in the comments below! Blog Inspiration: Wet Tattoo ← Previous Post Next Post →.
Do tattoo artists care if you use numbing cream?
If your artist knows that you have used a numbing cream, he will have a peace of mind that you won’t scream out of pain. Getting a tattoo is not a fun. Pain, screams and discomfort not only torments the client, but also disturbs a tattoo artist. Luckily, numbing cream is here to make tattooing painless as possible. Besides, it lets the tattoo artist do his work with much ease. Therefore, many tattoo artists use a numbing cream or recommend their clients to do so. Some tattoo artists may not appreciate their clients for using a numbing cream. For example, they think that pain is the part of the process and a client should tolerate it.
It is a topical anesthetic that dulls the skin patch so that you don’t feel anything happening to your skin. Secondly, the pain prompts a client to take rest which in turn results in delays. And tattoo artist will charge for such delays.
Some tattoo artists also believe that numbing cream will interact with the ink and the needle process. But not all tattoo artists have the same approach when it comes to a numbing cream. Here are the reasons why to inform your tattoo artist that you have used a numbing cream.
Does numbing cream ruin tattoos?
This information is for both tattooERS and tattooEES. Because really the tattooing process involves at least two people. Most of the time. Sometimes it also involves three people, but that’s usually not as fun as it sounds. Kinda awkward actually. Planning ahead means less pain and frustration for everyone involved.
It might sound like overkill to start this process an hour before the tattoo begins, but it’s worth it! You’ll need to apply the cream to dry, unwashed skin at least 45 minutes before the tattoo begins.
Forty-five minutes may seem like a long time, but remember that the anesthetic needs to fully penetrate the top layers of skin and get to the subdermal layer — that’s where the needle and ink is going. Don’t forget to wear a glove while applying the cream. Unless you want to recreate the chili scene from The Office because you can’t feel a dang thing after having anesthetized your own hand. If you would like to recreate Kevin’s chili scene from The Office , please have someone record that and send it to me because I’d really love to see it! Heck, I’ll even give you a COUPON toward your next purchase of numbing cream if you send me the video.
Just make sure you don’t hurt yourself. That would suck, and I’d probably feel bad after laughing hysterically , but I’d still give you the coupon. Okay, back to the numbing cream! Don’t rub the cream in like a lotion.
Anesthetic cream might feel like a lotion, but it has a completely different purpose, so it needs to be applied differently. Put it on so it’s thick enough that you can see it sitting on your skin. 
Make sure you cover the entire area that’s going to be tattooed, overlapping by about an inch all around. After you’ve applied the cream, cover the whole area with plastic wrap, such as Saran Wrap. If the cream dries out, it won’t work as well, so make sure the plastic wrap stays where it’s supposed to be to get the full anesthetic effect. When it’s time for the tattoo process to begin, unwrap and wash the skin using whatever soap the artist prefers. Make sure to wash the skin thoroughly, otherwise the cream can interfere with the stencil, making it too easy to wash off. The anesthetics we sell at Bloody Wolf Tattoo Supply don’t interfere with the tattooing process, but please beware of knock-off anesthetic creams.
They can cause infection, scarring, the ink can actually be pushed out of your skin. Even if you decide not to buy your anesthetic cream from us, please make sure you’re buying from a reputable source such as DrNumb.
com or AnestenCream. com. It’ll cost you more to buy cream from legit sources rather than eBay or Amazon, but doing so means you can rest assured that you won’t get an infection and that your tattoo won’t be damaged. The anesthetic will last about 4 hours for most people. The silver lining here is that redheads often have a higher pain tolerance than the rest of us, so that’s awesome! If the anesthetic effect starts to wear off during the tattoo process, take a break. Don’t wash the skin again with soap and water — this will make your skin more sensitive and actually neutralize some of the anesthetics. That’s not a good thing. Instead apply more anesthetic cream directly onto the skin. Don’t worry about the ink and blood on the skin.
Redheaded individuals will find that the anesthetic doesn’t work as well for them. Anesthetic cream doesn’t care about ink and blood. Let it sit for a couple minutes before washing the skin once again, and then you can get right back to tattooing! If you’re an artist interested in using anesthetic cream and you tattoo wet, consider swapping out your glide of choice for the anesthetic cream.
Some artists don’t like the way it makes the skin feel, but it won’t interfere with the tattooing process and it keeps the skin “wet” much like glides do while keeping the customer good and numbed up. After the tattoo is finished, start aftercare as per your artist’s normal instructions. Make sure you wash the cream off after 20 minutes. No need to cover with plastic. It may sound a little gruesome, but your skin is already open and the cream will easily make its way down to the areas of pain because you recently had thousands of holes poked into your skin, opening the way for the cream to do its job.
- If you’d like more pain relief, feel free to apply a very thin layer of anesthetic cream to the tattoo once or twice daily;
- Lovely thought, I know, but hey, the end result is you have a beautiful tattoo, so don’t worry about the details that sound like they’re straight out of a HORROR movie;
If you have any questions about anesthetic creams or anything else tattoo-related, please feel free to comment below or send a message to the shop through our website or any of our social media accounts. I’d be happy to help you out! Bunny .
