The simple truth is that both hand and foot tattoos are rarely requested and even more rarely done. Part of the reason for their rarity is that new tattoos need to be kept clean, dry, and free of irritation while they heal completely, which can take from two to three weeks.

That lets hands out; but foot tattoos are still in the running. That is, if you can figure out a way to avoid irritating them with shoes and socks while they are healing, and simultaneously keep them clean.

Okay, you might have a hard time getting and caring for a foot tattoo. But why do so many tattoo artists have such a hard time agreeing to do them?

First, foot tattoos don't like to stay where they are put, and their inks tend to ?migrate?, meaning that your sharply defined new tattoo may eventually become blurred and faded.

Tattoo artists are almost always willing to do free touchups for tattoos on any other part of the body, but the likelihood of foot tattoos needing touchups is so high that the artists will either not do the foot tattoos, will not offer to do touchups at all, or will charge for the touchups.

Tattoo artists, at least the good ones, are true artists, and they don't like to take on work which won't let them do their best. One of the things you may not know about your feet is that they have reflex points, just like the one in your knee which the doctor hits with the little hammer to see if your nerves are still talking to your brain.

In spite of your best efforts to keep still while getting a foot tattoo, your foot may engage in some twitching and jerking, and the tattoo artist may have difficulty controlling the needle when it does. If the tattoo artist is good enough, he or she may be able to cover up any resulting squiggles, but that's a chance you'll have to take.

Another thing: You have a lot of nerve endings and capillaries in you feet, and not much cushioning between the skin and bones. Most people who have had both foot and body tattoos done report that the foot tattoos are far and away the more painful; and those nerve endings can also make some people very ticklish.

If your feet are ticklish, pass on trying to have a foot tattoo done; and all those capillaries are so close to the skin's surface that foot tattoos tend to bleed more profusely than body tattoos.

But if you can find a willing artist, and after assessing all the potential negatives decide go ahead and get a foot tattoo, using a pre-inking anesthetic ointment to numb your foot is a good idea.

You can still expect to have swelling and soreness for a few days afterwards. If your work requires you to be on your feet for any length of time, consider holding off on the tattoo until your vacation.

The Beautiful: Because there just aren't a lot of souls brave enough to face having their feet tattooed, your tattoo is sure to get extra attention. And you'll have some stunningly beautiful foot tattoo designs, both simple and highly stylized, to choose from.

The foot provides a small but nearly flat canvas on which the artist can work and the results, like garlands of flowers or stars, or tarantulas or frogs poised to leap, can be amazingly three dimensional.