Foot Tattoo, Fun and Aftermath

Though this particular tattoo was only in planning for a couple of months, I've been wanting a second one since I got my first four years ago. I'd never thought of putting one on my foot, mostly because I'd heard how painful it would be, but as a dancer, I felt like it would be the most meaningful. After hearing from a few others who'd had tattoos done on the top of their feet, I was able to steel myself and make the decision. The design I ended up with is mostly just pretty, but to make a long story short, it's a symbol of my triumph over adversity and injury to accomplish my goals. It's a little piece of a costume design nestled into the corner between the outside edge of my foot and the base of my littlest two toes.

Back in March, I finally found the artist I wanted to do it. The artist who'd done my first tattoo was no longer at the studio where it had been done, and I didn't want to go back there to anyone else. I also wanted to make sure whichever artist I ended up with had experience with feet. On a personal recommendation, I went to talk to Casper about the positioning and to check out his work. His portfolio, really impressive overall, included a number of foot tattoos. We set the appointment for May 12, since my plan was to have it done right before a week of vacation. By April 13, vacation plans had changed, so I was hoping to move it to the end of April so it would still be before that vacation, but Casper (being the incredible artist that he is), was completely booked up until after my original appointment--except for one spot on April 19 that they were able to squeeze me into. Deciding I'd rather have it done sooner than later, since neither date would coincide with the vacation, I agreed. We were set for 5 PM but when Casper called to confirm my appointment on the day, he asked if I wanted to come earlier. I rushed home from work to change into capris and sandals so nothing would touch it and headed over to Eternal Ink.

It was an infinitely better experience than my first tattoo. Everything was incredibly clean and Casper explained everything as he did it, from opening new packages to inspecting the needle with what looked like a jeweler's magnifying glass to check for imperfections. He told us when he'd left other studios to open his own shop, he'd wanted everything to be as clean as a hospital. It was fascinating watching him put together the whole thing, step by step. I was starting to get nervous, mostly because I didn't want to twitch or jerk my foot away and ruin the design. He let me pick which shades of blue I wanted, we discussed the color placement, and we got started! The outline wasn't bad at all, more like a cat scratch than anything, so I said, "People say the outline's worse than the coloring, right?" He laughed and said, "Well, that's what they say," but either people are wrong or my foot was confused. The spots closest to the toes and closest to the edge of my foot hurt more, but were only really worth a grimace. Much to my pride, I stayed completely still during the entire thing. When he started the coloring at the outside edge of my foot, it hurt maybe two or three times worse than the outline had. I thought maybe it was because it was one of the painful spots, but no--the coloring itself hurt all around. Not bad enough to twitch (or ask for a break), but bad enough that there were times I longed to jerk my foot away from him. I managed to stay calm, talking and laughing, so it couldn't have been too bad.

When it was finished, I couldn't believe how awesome it looked. It's not a big design, but the level of detail in the coloring is just beautiful. He cleaned it up, snapped a few pictures, bandaged it and gave me the aftercare instructions (including particulars for the foot!), and I was on my way! It stung a bit under the bandage, but once I took it off two hours later and had washed it and applied ointment, it didn't hurt at all. I took that as a good sign! During the night, though, it started feeling "tight." I thought it had dried out a bit and applied a little bit of the ointment, but when I got up this morning, it had the same tight feeling and, when walking on it, felt a bit bruised. It hasn't swollen at all though, which I'm happy about! I can handle limping a little for a few days.

All in all? It was an incredible experience. Though part of me wants a matching one on the other foot in shades of purple, I'm not so eager to hold still for it again! I will never go to any artist other than Casper for any future tattoos, and I'll be recommending him to anyone I talk to! If you're in the Buffalo area, check him out at Eternal Ink. I only wish I'd gone to him for my first one.



Disclaimer: The experience above was submitted by a BME reader and has not
been edited. We can not guarantee that the experience is accurate, truthful,
or contains valid or even safe advice. We strongly urge you to use BME and
other resources to educate yourself so you can make safe informed decisions.