Someone posted in GD about not having tattoos... Are y'all all tatted up?

[NightWatcher]

I dont have any. All I have are scars.

I've a scar on my wrist where I fell through a window when I was 12.
I've a 9 inch scar from the surgery to put my left shoulder back in place after it was dislocated during a fall while rock hopping on the 3rd day of my honeymoon.
I've a scar on my leg from the muscle biopsy in March where they diagnosed my mixed connective tissue/neuro-muscular disease.


Some say that tattoos tell a story, but I'd suggest scars tell the story better....unless I get a tat of a picture of myself falling through a window, being rolled into an operating room....

Show your scars, tats, and tell your stories here.

[Oregonian]

1. My wife has a shitload

of tattoos. But they're not single-needle crap. She spent a lot of money and time in a chair -- no neck tattoos or anything shitty, just stargazer lillies, 3D flowers and stuff, on her left shoulder, and her left flank. She has one "cheap" tattoo just below her left breast that says "no regrets." She was too drunk to remember it; she woke up one morning, read the tattoo, and said "yeah, no kidding."

I have no tattoos, and I'm with you on the scar thing. I have a horseshoe scar on my head where I had a brain-tumor removed. I have a 12-inch scar where i had open-heart surgery; twice. Those stories aren't particularly cool, just painful.

[Bertha Venation]

28. Fellow member of the Zipper Club here

[kentauros]

47. Staple club here.

ruptured appendix

[Bertha Venation]

51. OW!

Glad you're with us!

[kentauros]

52. So am I! :)

It was just after Christmas (I was also sixteen) and I was hospitalized for three weeks. That was probably due to the fact that I didn't know it had ruptured. It only felt like bad gas pains. Luckily, my body developed a sharp pain on the fourth day after the rupture such that it was evidence enough to get me into surgery.

Our family doctor commented when he poked me (and I almost jump off the exam table) that he'd never been more sure of appendicitis in his entire life!

[Oregonian]

56. Staple AND zipper!

The staples in 1997, the more streamlined scar in 2011. Though that puppy is starting to get more and more noticeable.

[kentauros]

57. Mine will only be noticeable again

when I lose some weight. I guess that's a benefit to being overweight. That nasty set of scars are hidden (one long one and two for the "drains".)

As for the zipper, well you're in good company as Young Frankenstein's monster was a "zipper neck"

[sakabatou]

2. No tattoos here

Dunno about scars.

[ohiosmith]

3. This silhouette on my right shoulder:

Mine is solid black

Right shoulder blade a tribal tiger

Left shoulder comedy and tragedy

Left bicep Teutonic arm band

Lots of scars. Most interesting are the ones on my chest where I was stabbed during a fight, and where shrapnel from a door frame hit me when a guy shot at me for dating his ex.

[Denninmi]

4. No, sorry, not into those.

[RebelOne]

5. I would not have a tattoo even on a bet.

Maybe if someone offered me a million dollars, I may consider it.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

32. for a million dollars there is not much I wouldn't do.

[Sedona]

6. Got my first celebrating my 50th birthday on Maui

with my 17 year old daughter who got a matching one.



between the shoulderblades, above the bra strap, the freckles are all mine!

[bluesbassman]

11. Nice!

[Sedona]

12. Thanks

The pic is kinda bluury, it was only a few days old at the time it was taken. It's settled in nice now. It was kind of a mid life/newly divorced sort of thing. We actually went to have my daughter done and I ended up getting one too. I'm happy with it.

[hollysmom]

7. never got a tattoo

no desire to see the tattoo all wrinkled and dragging when I get to be 80.

[hobbit709]

8. I never wanted to be that easily identifiable.

[Arkansas Granny]

9. No tattoos, but I have a few scars.

One is an appendectomy scar and the rest are just normal, childhood variety from bike riding, roller skating, etc.

[bluesbassman]

10. Eagles on both upper arms. n/t

[Wait Wut]

13. 3 scorpions on my back.

All black, tribalish, self-designed.

I'm a triple Scorpio and damned proud of it.

[RiffRandell]

14. No tats yet, plenty of scars.

When I turned 40 2 years ago I was going to get the grenade heart from American Idiot on my shoulder. Still debating.

[JCMach1]

15. Lots... my biggest is the Celtic shield on my back

[Maine-ah]

17. beautiful!

[Bertha Venation]

29. OW

[Maine-ah]

16. I have one....working on another

this is from a pin that my father got me when I was a child - he passed 17 years ago, the next on is for my Mom who passed this last May, I'll post that when it's done

[fizzgig]

45. love it

i've got a bookmark like that.

[HopeHoops]

18. Just one. My wife's personal icon and not in public view.

[HopeHoops]

19. "Just think, in 30 years the nursing homes will be full of old ladies with tattoos."

I forget which comedian said it, but there's some definite truth in there!!!

[Major Nikon]

22. I didn't know my grandfather until he was in his 70's

He had a dragon tattoo on his forearm. It definitely looked out of place. He said he got it one day and spent the next 50-60 years regretting it.

So I have no tattoos.

[HopeHoops]

23. The first ones I remember seeing were on my grandfather and uncles - got them in WW-II.

They were the kind that might have started out black, but ended up a dark blue with time.

[TwilightGardener]

20. No. Once tattoos became the domain of middle aged moms and high school

girls thinking they're being badass and counterculture, they lost whatever cool they MIGHT have had. It's a cliche to have one now.

[polly7]

21. I have three and plan on getting one more ... or maybe two. nt.

[csziggy]

40. Scars or tattoos? Inquiring minds want to know

[polly7]

64. I have a lot more than three scars and don't look forward to any more!

I've been dragged through fences, stomped on, kicked, bit and anything else that can happen when you grow up around horses and other animals. My first scar happened when I'd just learned to walk, and a giant (he seemed giant to me, anyway) rooster knocked me down and pecked a hole in my head. There were nine of us, our Doctor just knew to just ask 'which animal'? Playing hockey without a face mask got me a mean one from a stick, but it did cover up the rooster-peck scar. And many others.

[Codeine]

24. My fiance has a shedload.

I don't need any as she has enough for both of us.

[pipi_k]

25. Three...

Left shoulder/arm....rosebud

Right breast....heart

Right thigh...butterfly


Scars...nothing spectacular. One on my right eyelid from when I nearly put my eye out with a pencil 57 years ago. A few on my right hand...one from when a glass broke while my hand was inside washing it.

A couple more fingernail scars from a fistfight with one of my sisters nearly 45 years ago.

One on the side of my face from having a cyst removed c. 1964

Oh...and my vaccination scar. Baby Boomers (and older) know what I'm talking about...

[fizzgig]

26. no tats, no real scars

Last edited Sun Sep 30, 2012, 01:53 AM - Edit history (1)

i can go get one whenever i want, a tattoo artist friend of mine has been promised my first, i just want to make sure i want it first.

my husband, otoh, has more than a dozen, at least three i'm willing to be no one else on the planet has. he has a very easily identifiable body.

[Bertha Venation]

27. Only scars.

Most prominent from heart surgery and ankle surgery. Although I have a beaut on my forearm from capturing Skittles so I could get her spayed. Yes, yet again, Skittles kicked my ass.

If I ever get a tattoo, it'll be of the Angels' 70s logo.

[Doc_Technical]

30. I thought about getting a tattoo based on a comedy sketch.

Pat Paulson sitting at a tattoo parlor getting
a tat and the tattoo artist leans back and says:
"There you go buddy, all finished 'Born too Loose'"
Then Pat Paulson says:
"That was supposed to say 'Born to Lose!'"

[nolabear]

33. That made me laugh out loud!

Brilliant.

[Throd]

31. I have six. I'm gonna get one more and call it quits.

[nolabear]

34. I'd kind of like one of the dog on my book cover, but I fear it would get ooky.

I wonder if anyone has studied what parts of the body don't get all murky as they age.

[GoCubsGo]

35. Lots and lots of scars, but no tattoos.

I never understood the attraction to tattoos. I never saw one that I didn't think was ugly, and I don't understand why people want something like that permanently on their bodies. If you get sick of it, or whatever, you can't get rid of it. And, changing it, like Johnny Depp did with his "Winona-to-Wino" tattoo, is rarely that easy.

[mythology]

36. No tattoos, and nearing 20 scars

9 on my knees, 7 from surgery, one from slicing my knee cap (which really only scarred because of location), the back of my knee where a dog ripped it open. Oddly being attacked by a dog was not the worst thing that happened to me that day. My dad, being the awful parent that he was, made me bike home so the little old lady didn't get upset. After almost a mile bike ride, I got stitched up by my dad (he was a nurse) but without anything to numb the pain. The sad part is, I probably need further surgery on my knees.

Assorted scars on my fingers from working, appendectomy, hernia, ankle from ripping it open on a brick, a small dent and scar in my head from running into the underside of a staircase, a scar from shoving my bottom teeth through the skin below my bottom lip and a small one next to my right eye from the doctor trying to pull me out before I strangled myself with the umbilical cord.

And one strange scar on the back of my left shoulder that I have no idea how I got.

[kentauros]

48. The strange scar is the one you need to get checked out.

It's likely from an alien implant.

[AsahinaKimi]

37. If I ever want to visit Japan some day, than

I can never have a tattoo. You are not allowed in an Onsen (public bath) with tattoos. Management of the Onsens forbid it, because those with tattoos are usually Yakuza, (Japanese mafia) and would scare away customers, so Tattoos are not allowed in most Onsen or Roten Buro (Natural hot springs).

[Art_from_Ark]

50. Yes, tattoos are generally a no-no in Japanese hot spring spas

I have visited a few in my day and they do have signs saying that they will not allow people with tattoos to enter the spa.

[Kali]

58. heh

my sister has a few but did the bath when she was in Okinawa earlier this year. She is anglo, pretty tall, kind of dorky and blond so I think she was not suspicious.

[pink-o]

38. No Tats, no scars. Just old skin trying to resist gravity with all its might!

If I could get cheekbone shadows and camo color that makes my chin look firm, I'd do it!

[csziggy]

39. No tattoos, just lots of scars

I've never felt comfortable with the idea of body modifications for myself. If other people want to do it, that is their business, though I really don't understand it.

Scars, I've got. The most impressive are the two knee replacement scars - six inch long down the center of each knee. They are most recent so I expect them to fade. Second best is the one from when they rebuilt my left shoulder - that goes from one edge of the armpit to the other all the way around the shoulder just where the seam would be for a sleeve. That's from where my beloved colt tried to rip my arm off just by being frisky and I did not react fast enough to just let go of the rope.

The scar from the third degree burn on the entire top surface of the right foot barely shows any more (I stepped into a bed of banked coals thinking the fire had been put completely out - the coals stuck to the top of my foot). The right forefinger has two - one across the side of the finger where I sliced it instead of the mushrooms (that took six stitches to close) and one around the first joint where I slammed a stall door shut on it. That second one bothers me since apparently there are exposed nerve endings - if a metal surface contacts across it just wrong it feels like an electrical charge. At least most of the feeling eventually returned to the end of the finger.

My oldest scar is across the front of my shin where I tripped on the brand new front steps at the age of three or four. I remember being fascinated by the hard white thing at the bottom of the gash but not upset by the blood streaming from it.

Some scars are internal but still remind me of their existence. Most annoying are the lumpy ones inside the right breast from where my stallion crushed it. My right eyebrow has a notch in the one underneath where a horse smacked me in the face - at least the blindness from the bleeding in the eye socket was only temporary. There is also a notch in the bone in my right thumb where I bashed the angle iron of a stall door.

There are more scars but those are the most significant.

[Kali]

59. horsies!

yeah you know the vast majority of my scars are livestock-related

the rest are doofus-related and self-inflicted

[csziggy]

60. One of the major problem with livestock is that they

Have brains of their own. They may not think like we do but they certainly have their own motivations and wills!

After working with horses for over 43 years, my list of scars and injuries is extensive. For me, having horses is like having an abusive significant other. They keep beating me up and I keep going back for more because I love them so much.

It's a good thing my husband is a very caring, loving person because he is there to help heal up from all those injuries! Even the doofus and self-inflicted ones.

[Kali]

61. you have probably seen this (hell I probably posted it - memory is shot)

The eight stages of aging on Horseback

Stage I: Fall off pony. Bounce. Laugh. Climb back on. Repeat.

Stage 2: Fall off horse. Run after horse, cussing. Climb back on by shimmying up horse’s neck. Ride.until sundown.

Stage 3: Fall off horse. Use sleeve of shirt to stanch bleeding. Have friend help you get back on horse. Take two Advil and apply ice packs when you get home. Ride next day.

State 4: Fall off horse. Refuse advice to call ambulance; drive self to urgent care clinic. Entertain nursing staff with tales of previous daredevil stunts on horseback. Back to riding before cast comes off.

Stage 5: Fall off horse. Temporarily forget name of horse and name of husband. Flirt shamelessly with paramedics when they arrive. Spend week in hospital while titanium pins are screwed in place. Start riding again before doctor gives official okay.

Stage 6: Fall off horse. Fail to see any humor when hunky paramedic says, “You again?” Gain firsthand knowledge of advances in medical technology thanks to stint in ICU. Convince self that permanent limp isn’t that noticeable. Promise husband you’ll give up riding. One week later purchase older, slower, shorter horse.

Stage 7: Slip off horse. Relieved when artificial joints and implanted medical devices seem unaffected. Tell husband that scrapes and bruises are due to gardening accident. Pretend you don’t see husband roll his eyes and mutter as he walks away. Give apple to horse.

Stage 8: Go to see horse. Momentarily consider riding but remember arthritis won't let you lift leg high enough to reach stirrup -- even when on mounting block. Share beer with grateful horse & recall "good old days".

[csziggy]

62. I hadn't seen that before! It's great.

I can remember the days when we 'old timers' would sneer at the youngsters who bragged about never falling off. We considered that if you could count how many times you'd fallen off, you did not have enough hours in the saddle.

Today the kids don't understand when you tell them their horse needs more wet saddle pads.

[pinboy3niner]

41. Some scars, 2 military tattoos nt

[Iwillnevergiveup]

42. Zero tats

now and forever. OUCH!

[krispos42]

43. Negative.

Haven't found anything I'd want to look at until I die.

[OriginalGeek]

44. Zero tats - yet

I know the guy who will do my first though. Just need to figure out the exact design...it will be my clan badge and motto with my clan tartan worked in. I knew the guy I picked was the right guy because when I went to go talk to him (Literally picked almost out of the blue - saw a bunch of tattoo artist portfolios online and loved his work the most) and told him what I was looking for, it turned out he was from the same clan. Had a picture of him on his phone of him wearing the kilt to prove it.


I have one good scar - it used to go from my left knee up to my chest and back down my right thigh. When I was 3 years old I was riding a tricycle in the house and rode into the kitchen to get a carrot but didn't know that my mom had set up an electric skillet full of oil in preparation to fry some chicken and I drove right into the stand it was on (this was 45 years ago in a tiny bungalow with almost no counter space - the table was really just a TV tray but it's all the room she had to set up the skillet while doing other stuff on the counter).

If I hadn't been wearing a diaper it most likely would have burned off my junk. As it was, I had this burn all up and down my legs and chest but the worst of it was on my left thigh. That's the only part that even shows any more but it's pretty obvious when I'm nekkid. And yet, I love to be nekkid. It's been such a part of me for so long that I forget it;s there until somebody mentions it - of course, except for doctors, only one person has noticed it in the last 28 years....

my mom had recently gotten out of the shower and immediately wrapped me up in her damp towel and took me out to a kiddie pool while the ambulance was coming. They tell me that's what kept the it from being much, much worse.

[kentauros]

46. No, just bruised, burned and scarred.

I have a slowly healing big bruise on my right thigh at the moment due to turning around at work and running straight into a table behind me. Left a helluva welt and one of those reddish-blue bruises. All that's gone, save for the slowly healing welt. I guess the muscle tissue got rather messed up.

The best scar I have doesn't show. That is, I did an excellent job of bandaging it such that the scar is wafer thin I have a hard time finding it anymore (pushed my knuckle into a draw blade as I was sharpening it.)

[rppper]

49. 13 and counting

Here's are a few....lots of scars from surgeries and accidents too....

[easttexaslefty]

53. Many.

I have a complete back piece. Tara the goddess of compassion,
A 3/4 sleeve on my right arm. It's a day of the dead piece, a memorial to my son.
I have another sugar skull on my left bicep.
A Phoenix's on my left shin & calf.
The tops of my feet are done
A cobra that covers my front right thigh
A heart with my husbands name covering my left.
I love them all & don't regret not one. And I'm 58.

[Amaril]

54. Both

Tattoos: One -- a kokopelli on the inside of my left ankle

Scars: Several -- right knee (arthroscope & menisectomy scars from back before they did them via laser -- major wipeout while skiing when I was 18), abdomen (vertical c-section scar from my belly button to my lady bits & 3 small horizontal scars scattered around my abdomen from hysterectomy earlier this year), right hand (half-moon shaped scar on the back of my middle finger where it joins my hand from my hand going thru a window when I was a kid & a round scar just below the knuckle of my ring finger where a stick stabbed into the back of my hand when I fell while hiking), left arm near shoulder (vaccination scar -- was wrestling with my cousin & he grabbed my shoulder & ripped the scab off while it was healing so it left a quarter-sized scar).

[benld74]

55. No Tats but plenty of scars,

Right forearm - Football helmet snap gounged out chunck of flesh. Good old coach, sprayed it with green stuff, pulled the skin over, athletic taped it shut. NO STICHES.
Back of lower right calf - 8th grade pulling a wheelie going up a hill on my bike. Lost control, plowed into side of car with body metal damage. Gouged out a chunk of flesh around 3X2X2 deep. 16 stiches inside and outside.
Back of left hand, near thumb - 8 stiches. Pacing beer steins for apartment move in 1983. Fingers clased on steins, trying to get o-n-e more. IT fell. Tried to catch with hand full of steins. CRASH/SLICE/Emergency room
My favorite? Nobody can see. Low sperm count due to variocele. Operation fixed that. Inside of my navel 4 stiches. Oh yeah was successful. She is 19 this year.

[ghostsofgiants]

63. I have a few...

Right leg:



Right forearm:


Right bicep:


Left half-sleeve:





My tattoos don't really tell a story other than that I have weird taste.

[easttexaslefty]

65. Really nice work

Crisp clean lines.

[ghostsofgiants]

66. Thanks!

My artist is amazing.