For one student, pain pays off
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| By Sunny Tunget Apache staff What's it like to get a tattoo? During the process, it feels like a sunburn. It does hurt, but not intolerably bad. I know from personal experience because I recently had a small dolphin in front of a wave tattooed on my ankle. |
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Apache photo/Marla Buchanan |
The process started with Ron Bertalot of Blue Skys Tattoos in LaSalle helping me to select a design.
At the shop, there are posters on the wall of diferent types of tattoos, there are catalogs on the counter, and carousels of flash, tattoo drawings on the floor.
Before I sat down, Bertalot sprayed the chair with alcohol. Then I stretched out on a padded recliner and he sprayed my ankle with the alcohol also.
Bertalot, wearing gloves, unwrapped a single-use needle and proceeded. He started first with the outline of the wave and dolphin, in black ink.
Shortly after he started, I almost blacked out. Bertalot stopped working and was very kind. He got me a cold, wet towel and a small glass of sugar water and laid back the recliner, which snapped me right out of it.
I had come to the shop in the early afternoon, but I had lunch, which Bertalot said was a good idea.
Within a few minutes, we were back to tattooing. After he was finished with the outline, Bertalot cleaned the needles with alcohol and went to the color. This process was not as painful as the outline.
The entire process took about an hour including 15 minutes of preparation time and 45 minutes of pain. The final product was this beautiful two inch by two inch 3-D dolphin.
At first, he put a bandage over the tattoo. An hour later, I had to remove the bandage and let the tattoo air for that day. For three or four days, I have to apply antibacterial ointment one to three times per day. After that, I have to use a fragrance free lotion to keep the area moist for a week. Then, the tattoo should be healed.
I was told not to wear a sock or have anything touching the tattoo for a few days. As it heals, the skin will be itchy, but I'm not to scratch.
The process went very well, but I won't be getting another tattoo. It's not the pain, but the fact that I am an elementary education major and grade schools might not hire me if they know I have tattoos. This one is small, and, since it's on my ankle, I can cover it.
For right now, though, I will be showing it off because I really like it.