I have a symbol tattoo. Got it in early 98.

SnakePeel said:

Yea actually I was thinking of getting the symbol tattoo...hmmm....but I'm still not sure.
I don;t have any tattoo's yet...where do yas think it would look nice and sexy on a layydeee??/.....keep it clean!

I have two tattoos...one on my hip and one on my lower abdomen. The latter one just felt like what it was, a needle repeatedly poking into my skin...sort of like a lot of bee stings. There was only one part that hurt a little bit--it was when she drew the longest line. The one on my hip tickled so much that the guy giving me the tattoo had to tell me to quit laughing because it was making me move too much.


I've also had my ears pierced 9 times (one I did myself) and my nose pierced. I'd say than the ear piercing in the middle part hurt the worst at the time. (More that the nose & the one I did myself.) Piercings & tats are two different types of pain, imo. Piercings are sore for awhile whereas the tattoo is just while you're getting it done. But with the tattoo you have to wait for the skin to peel off/heal (b/c it makes sort of a scab when the needle goes under your skin).

Like Handclapsfingasnapz said, the fleshier the body part probably the less painful. Maybe check and see if they'll let you take a couple aspirin before you get it done.


Anyway if you want one (even if it is a ) you should do it. I love both of mine, although one is kinda cliche now. The other I wish I would have gotten bigger and in a more prominent place. Pretty obvious, but when you go, make sure you feel comfortable with the place and that they use new needles, etc...

LleeLlee said:

Yes it can be compared to that I have the symbol on my right shoulder blade, and a crying dove on my right ankle. The tattoo on my ankle hurt the most.

This may change your mind
H E A L T H S T O R Y

Eaten alive by infected tattoo
02 December 2006
By DAVID DICKENS

Doctors watched in horror as a flesh-eating disease ravaged the body of a man who was hours from death after being infected during Samoan tattoo sessions.


The victim - one of three young Samoan men hospitalised after the traditional tattooing went horribly wrong - narrowly cheated death.

Now he faces weeks of skin grafts.

He was one of two men who contracted the flesh-eating bacterial disease necrotising fasciitis, sparking an investigation into the actions of a Samoan tattooist.

A third man contracted cellulitis, an acute skin inflammation linked to an infected wound.

It is understood the tattooist, who is cooperating with health officials, did some of the work with traditional boar's tusk tattoo combs.

The Health Ministry confirmed the outbreak yesterday after a Dominion Post investigation this week. Health authorities and Labour Department officials have started an inquiry.

"We have identified who did this and asked him to cease his practice until we can address infectious control issues with him," said Wellington medical officer of health Margot McLean. "He is complying."

One of the men who contracted the flesh-eating disease required surgery and skin grafts. He and the cellulitis patient have been discharged.

However, the sickest of the three, who is in his 20s, remains in Hutt Hospital after arriving at its emergency department on Thursday last week.

He was hours from death when surgeons began operating.

The surgery took more than five hours and plastic surgeon Charles Davis said the patient's life was in danger throughout.

"The skin that had been tattooed was bubbling and obviously grossly infected. He was going into multiple organ failure.

"His kidneys stopped working first and his other organs followed."

The treatment was a race against the rapid spread of the infection.

"The infection spread very rapidly. We could almost see the borders of it growing hour by hour.

"All the skin that had been tattooed had melted away and the fat was liquefied underneath - it just rotted away."

Nearly 25 per cent of the patient's total body surface, including skin, fat and infected tissue was removed, said Mr Davis, who performed the surgery with fellow plastic surgeon Tim Hewitt and anaesthetist Poleon Yee.

"He lost five litres of blood in the operation, the whole blood volume of a normal person."

The man was now in a stable condition, Mr Davis said, but faced a long and painful recovery, including skin grafts over several weeks.

The tattoo, which took several days, covered the patient's abdomen, buttocks and back.

The most recent tattooing - understood to have involved tusk material - took place two days before he went to hospital.

Mr Davis said a different medical team worked on the second man with necrotising fasciitis and the tattoo link was not identified till both patients' notes were compared.

Auckland man James Leota-Tui, 29, died in July 2002 from necrotising fasciitis and septicaemia after receiving a Samoan tattoo.

Samoan Council deputy chairman Tino Pereira condemned unsafe tattooing practices as unacceptable.

A Labour Department spokeswoman said investigators had to determine whether the tattooist was "at work" when the infection was caused.

It was too early to say if prosecution could follow - and this was the first time a tattooist had been investigated in such circumstances.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

It's worth the pain 4 Prince!

Rosebud said:

there's a huge difference between getting a tat that way, where there obviously is no way of sterilizing a needle of that type, and going to a reputable establishment where they can sterilize things properly.

nice try at scare tactics there, but it don't fly.

Why would you want a tattoo that so many other people have? You'll be a walking cliché.

Genesia said:

that's what i don't understand when it comes to these tats. as imaginative as a lot of the fanbase is, you'd think that perhaps they'd come up with something of their own design. it's kinda disappointing, imo.

Genesia said:

Is it really that many people?

FruitToAttractBears said:

at any prince function, you'd be surprised to see exactly how many people have one. it's just surreal.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Agreed. Plus, when you die and they lay you out on the slab, you just know someone's gonna see that ink and go over your cold, dead body.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Yeah I guess in Princeworld, but in the grand scheme I wonder how common it is. I'm pretty sure it's got nothing on the butterfly tramp stamp.

DevotedPuppy said:

Hey thanks for all the info

Yea a friend of mine had a tattoo on her hip and said its wasn't as sore as the one she had done on her ankle. So yea...I guess the fleshier the better.....that only leaves my ass then!!

Seriously though, I think I'll get either on my lower back or over to the side on my lower abs (then again if I have a baby?!) ....yea think I'll get it on my back.
Actually a few years ago I designed my own tattoo for my lower back. I knew what I wanted in my head, but never actually saw it anywhere. I've always been arty so I enjoyed designing it.
When I brought my design to the tat parlour he said there was a copyright fee I had to pay which came to something like 200quid .....so I was like.... seeeya! Have you ever heard of this?

I was a student at the time so couldn't afford it anyway, I still have the design kinda glad I didn't get it done cause it was a little big, would've covered the entire width of my back...

Just pictured myself at about 60 in the summer strollin' along eating an icecream in a strappy top, think I'd get very strange looks

Just thinking, if I do get the symbol done I think I'll take my very strong (prescribed) pain killers for my migraines to ease the pain..

beautifullandb said:

there's no such thing. it seems like the guy was trying to weasel you out of some extra money. good thing you didn't end up having him do it...i wonder how many other people have fallen for his "copyright fee" bullshit?

I think piercing is 10 times more painful than tattooing...the thought that you or someone else can accidentally rip the jewelry out makes piercing the most painful concept for me - hands down (that and watching that big ass needle go straight through you skin ). I'd rather get 10 more tattoos to go with the 6 I already have than ever get pierced again.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

really? why the little s%&t!!

Yea I thought he was trying to rip me off, a few people said it to me. I didn't try anywhere else, life just kinda took over and I forgot about it!
I mite create a new one and incorporate into it somehow. Instead of just that by itself, make it a bit unique you know?

And I'll stear clear of the rip off merchants

It was not as painful as I thought it would be

Shanti1 said:

i love it!!

Sexy Back

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

well thats because everyones there because of Prince.
If i went to the beach i bet id be the only person there
with a symbol tattoo,unlike the scores of people with panthers crawling
up their arm or Russel Crowe from Romper Stomper look-a-likes.

I passed out when I got my tatt.

I'm not looking forward to going back to re-touch.

But I luv it.

I have a rose tattoo.

Don't do it on the lower part of your back.

I have one, it doesn't hurt too bad, but the healing process was the worst it itches and you cn't scratch it and you have to wait for the scab to fall off, I love my tatoo but i wouldn't do it again, not the way Prince is acting against his fansites!
[Edited 12/4/06 3:00am]

I've been a fan form years, but only joined the org a few weeks ago. I'm really enjoying it here....so far!
In what was does Prince act out against these sites?? I'm not aware of it?

I just got my 8th tattoo last week.. On the inside of my left forearm.. That one hurt like hell....

I do have the symbol tattoo.. It was cheap and I love it..

My one word of advice to anyone thinking of getting a tattoo.. No matter how cliche some may think it is, it should mean something to you. If you worry about what ANYBODY else will think, then don't. I have the cross that Tupac had on his back (cliche), the symbol (cliche), the Laugh Now Cry Later (super cliche) I also have a freaking Buddha Toad (no cliche whats so ever).

When I look at my symbol, its a reminder for me to be myself, and buck all trends.. Don't give a damn about what anybody else thinks..

NewPowerToad said:

Even if it means getting a tattoo that a gazillion other people have.

Always remember that you're unique -- just like everybody else.

Genesia said:

i swear, i must be the only person among the fanbase who has prince-related tattoos that are actually unique. i've seriously thought about offering up my talents and helping people design tats and such. a symbol tattoo is a symbol tattoo is a symbol tattoo.

Yes, but the symbol is such a beautiful design, apart from the fact that it's a Prince symbol.

Anyway, I got one on my shoulder and it didn't hurt, it was more irritating than painfull. I did almost faint at one point so the guy gave me water and I was back. He said it was normal.