My tattooer is a good friend of mine and we have talked alot about stuff like this. What he told me is exactly what you have just heard, that it wears off too quickly to make it worth the effort. He also told me that it does tend to cause healing problems. I would say that with the piece you have going, by the way its fantastic, I would not risk anything. I would shorten up the session and come back before I would do anything that would affect the quality of the piece.

 Thanks, hahaha.

Yup. I don't think i'm gna apply anything and just deal with th pain.
By the way i heard of another brand of numbing cream which is suppose to last longer and be more effective, DrNumb.
But it's quite expensive

 im not sure how it work exactly, as i have thought about usin some for piercing my nipples. but wouldnt the cream only numb the flesh? whereas tattoing the sternum is more of a bone pain?

my next tattoo piece is also gonna be on my sternum, but i dont plan on using any type of anesthetic

I used Emla when I had lazer hair removal on my bikini line. For me, it was very effective at numbing the area and lasted quite awhile, however you *do* have to wrap the oitment in Saran wrap for it to work very well 1 hour prior to the procedure. I am heavily considering this, as I have a back piece that needs much work and will be extending the tattoo further down my back. For me, the 3.5 hours that the original tattoo took got to be very difficult near the end, and towards the bottom of the design, which is where I wans to add to it. I also just got a new tattoo last night and have recently had issues with my entire body shaking when it is stressed, which I did start doing towards the end of the hour. (Thankfully, my newly inked ankle held still for me!)

 I am planning to talk to several artists about how I would like the design to be completed and tell them about how I would like to use the product, if possible, in an attempt to hold me still, if nothing else. ::shrug:: I also had a very diffucult time not flinching when the gun hit my back, which I'm sure didn't help the tattoo quality one bit.

We'll see what the artist I choose says about it. I can't think of any reason that it would effect healing, since it's intended for medical use with thing of similar nature to tattooing. I think I've even heard of it's use in cosmetic tattooing?

It helps that I already have half a tube of Emla, too... I figure if it starts hurting an hour into getting the tattoo, then there's another hour or two I'd be able to handle it better once it wears off, anyway.

MichaelWong:

 im not sure how it work exactly, as i have thought about usin some for piercing my nipples. but wouldnt the cream only numb the flesh? whereas tattoing the sternum is more of a bone pain?

my next tattoo piece is also gonna be on my sternum, but i dont plan on using any type of anesthetic

 I haven't used the stuff in a very long time, but I do remember thinking that you could lop my leg off at the time and I wouldn't have noticed. ;)

I've never used any numbing cream for any of my tattoos but to say they don't hurt and are bearable is just stupid.  Pain is dependent on the person.  I've seen people pass out from 20g needles in lobe and fall asleep while getting a tattoo.  One of my artists does have some stuff he uses for rib/chest work but the skin has to be broken first.  He used it on a friend and he said it did help get through the last 30min. 

Again, WAY dead thread.  Be mindful of post dates...