Are Dotwork tattoos less painful? 5 crucial reasons why.

Are you considering getting a dotwork tattoo but wonder what the pain level might be? We give you all the information you need to find out if a dot work tattoo is right for you.

Dotwork tattoos are viewed as one of the least painful types of tattoo. The precise, delicate dots used to build up an image do not drag the skin and therefore cause less pain. Getting a dot work tattoo in a low pain location such as back of the shoulder will mean a relatively less painful tattoo.

Are you thinking about getting a tattoo but are worried about the pain? In this article, you will find out why a dotwork tattoo is a great choice when you want a low pain tattoo. You will also find out the best locations to have your dotwork tattoo if you want to make your tattoo as painless as possible.

Are Dotwork tattoos less painful?

Are dotwork tattoos less painful. Yes. Dotwork tattoos are seen as being one of the least painful tattoos you can have.

Combined with a delicate ethereal quality of design, this makes the dotwork tattoo a very popular tattoo choice.

Are dotwork tattoos less painful? Yes. There are several reasons why…

1 – Dotwork tattoo designs tend to be lighter and less solid

The delicate style which lends itself to dotwork tattoos is characterised by light lines and shading. It doesn’t tend to lend itself to solid heavy power lines or shapes. Avoiding these tattoo elements makes the tattoo less painful.

You can read more about the differences in pain in this post which asks the common question, does the outline of a tattoo hurt more?

2 – Dotwork Tattoos avoid solid black or colour which needs pigment packing in

Some tattoo styles, such as black tribal or bright colour tattoos require a heavy amount of ink to be packed into the skin. The artist will need to solidly work on a small area of skin, working the pigment in to get a consistent and smooth area of dark black or colour. This can be quite traumatic to the skin and therefore painful.

Dotwork avoids this, building up the darkest colour in tiny dots so it is less traumatic and painful on the skin.

3 – Dotwork Tattoo pain is more localised rather than radiating

Normal tattoo pain can be described as radiating over the entire area which can make it harder to handle. Because the skin trauma of a dot work tattoo is smaller in area, the pain tends to be more localised just to the area being worked on. This can make the pain much easier to handle.

If you are wondering what does getting a tattoo feel like check out this post.

4 – You don’t tend to get the dragging pain of a long line with a dot work tattoo

Anyone who has ever had a tattoo knows that the worst pain is when your artist is trying to pull a long line. It can feel like they are never going to stop. You lie with gritted teeth willing them to finish.

Dotwork tattoo designs are much less likely to contain these teeth-grittingly long lines. Lines are shorter or built up entirely from dots so you are more likely to avoid this kind of pain.

5 – One area of the dotwork tattoo is finished at a time so you aren’t working into the raw skin

Your tattoo artists will work on and finish one area of your tattoo at a time, building up the gradient in that area. Once they have finished the gradient they will move on and leave it alone. This means they probably won’t be returning to tattoo over previously tattooed and raw skin which saves you a LOT of pain.

Tattoo pain does depend on what you are comparing it to. However, a dot work tattoo will probably be much less painful than a tattoo needing solid black or areas of bright colour.

If you are worried about pain whilst getting your next tattoo please check out the post I wrote here about minimising your tattoo pain, with a tattoo pain chart and top 10 tips to minimize your pain.

Tattoo Pain Chart – 10 Tips To Minimize Your Pain

Does dotwork tattoo take longer?

This is an important thing to consider. Dotwork tattoos require precision tattooing to build up the gradients and shades within the tattoo.

For this reason, they tend to take a lot longer than a normal tattoo.

This is important to consider for 2 reasons.

1 – Longer under the needle can mean more pain

Although the dot work tattoo itself may be less painful, you will spend longer under the needle.

This can mean that your natural painkillers {endorphins} will start to run out.

{Endorphins. See how your body creates these natural pain killer chemicals in this research}

This can mean that you do start to experience more pain as the tattoo progresses and may be desperate for it to finish.

2 – Longer time tattooing will mean a more expensive tattoo.

Tattoo prices are generally related to how long the tattoo will take. An intricate dot work tattoo will take longer to execute and therefore may be more expensive.

How are Dotwork Tattoos made? What is tattoo Dotwork?

It’s helpful to understand how Dotwork tattoos are made. The technique is very simple.

Your tattooist places thousands of tiny tattoo dots into the skin to build up shades of grey.

The closer together the dots are the darker and denser the shading looks.

By using this simple method, the tattooist can create subtle and soft gradients of colour which have a lighter and more delicate feel than traditional tattoo techniques.

Where is the most painless place to get a tattoo?

Now that you understand that dot work tattooing techniques can minimise pain, you may be looking to take it a step further.

If you get a dot work tattoo in one of the places that are known to be less painful, you can absolutely minimise the tattoo pain that you will feel.

So where are the tattoo locations which are the least painful?

1. Back of the shoulder.
2. Behind the ear.
3. Outer side of the thigh.
4. Top side of the forearm.
5. Top of the arm – Outer side.
6. Top side of the wrist.
7. The backside/glutes.
8. Front of thigh.
9. Back of calf.

In general, avoid bony areas such as the foot or ribs and soft skin, such as the underarm if you want to avoid tattoo pain.

If you combine one of these locations with a dot work tattoo you should have a reasonably low pain tattoo experience.

Check out this post for more detail about The 15 Most and Least Painful Places To Get A Tattoo

Tattoo Pain Chart Female – A tattoo pain map for women

 

In Conclusion. Are Dotwork tattoos less painful?

Yes, Dotwork tattoos are often less painful than other styles.

If you combine a dot work tattoo with a lower pain area of the body you should be able to minimise your tattoo pain experience.

Examples of Dotwork Tattoos

Here are a few great examples of dot work tattoos to give you some inspiration for your next tattoo.

Talk to your tattoo artist about your ideas and they will be able to create a beautiful and unique tattoo just for you.