A lot of people always ask how to prepare for tattoo appointments. If there is something special they need to do the night before hand, or what to avoid doing. So here is a basic list of how to prepare for your next tattoo appointment. Get a good night of sleep. No one likes going anywhere if they haven’t gotten enough sleep the night before! Try to make sure you go to bed at a decent time, this will also help prevent you from sleeping through your alarm and showing up late. If you’re not a morning person, opt for an afternoon or evening appointment instead. Plan your schedule around your tattoo appointment, not the other way around. Your artist has that time set aside for you, and you alone. If you have errands or other things you need to do the same day as your appointment, try to plan it after your appointment. Trying to run errands before an appointment may not always be a great idea as it is easy to loose track of time while running around, and can result in you being late to your appointment. If you have no other choice but to complete your errands before your appointment, set a reminder on your phone for at least an hour before your appointment time. Make sure to eat something a few hours before your appointment. Getting tattooed affects blood sugar levels, and a sugar crash during a tattoo is not fun for anyone! Make sure you are well hydrated for a couple days, leading up to your appointment. And try to avoid over-doing it on caffeine. You will want to be able to sit calmly, for several hours if you have a long appointment. So use of coffee, energy drinks, etc. should be minimized on the day of your appointment. As much as possible, try to enter into the process of getting your tattoo with a relaxed state of mind. Try not to psyche yourself out, or think about if and how much it will hurt. For all you first timers, it doesn’t hurt as bad as you think it will. With that being said, yes a tattoo does hurt though. Those who say it doesn’t are full of shit. How much it hurts however, is completely dependent on the person, and the placement. A calm state of mind can help reduce the pain that much more.
Try to take extra care of yourself for a few days before, and a few days after your appointment. The healthier you are, the easier it will be for your body to heal the tattoo. Avoid excessive consumption of alcohol, or any physically taxing behaviors, to prepare your body to be as strong as possible for getting tattooed. For those that go to the gym frequently, you can still go, just try to take it easy a few days before your appointment. You don’t want to be going in to a tattoo the day after you just maxed out at the gym! Being hung over, or sore from a work out will make it harder for you to sit, which could lead to cutting your appointment time short.
If you are sick, feel that you are getting sick, not quite over being sick, or have any other health issues occur before your session, reschedule your appointment and give your body time to recover before getting your tattoo. You may think you can handle it, but do yourself and your artist a favor and reschedule. Your immune system is already going to be weak from being ill, and if you are experiencing body aches from being sick, getting tattooed on top of that will not be very pleasant Also, being sick can affect the healing process. Plus, the artist is going to be right next to you, sharing the same air as you… The last thing they want is to get sick!
Make sure you have the day off of work BEFORE you schedule! This may seem like a simple thing, but a lot of people end up scheduling their appointments on a normal work day for them, thinking they will get the time off, no problem. Then the day before their appointment, their time off request is denied, forcing them to call and cancel last minute. Leaving no time for the artist to try and fill that now canceled appointment. If you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment, try to give at least 72 hours notice, this at least gives the artist a chance to fill that time. Lastly, and I can not emphasize this enough, try to be on time! The artists are not paid hourly, so if you show up late, the artist doesn’t get paid for however late you are. And if the artist has other appointments that day, they aren’t going to be able to just push everyone else’s appointments around so you can still have the full amount of time you originally scheduled for. Be conscious of what time your appointment is. And as stated before, plan your schedule around your appointment, not your appointment around your schedule. This will save everyone a lot of time, and frustration.
Sincerely,
Kayla