does an upper back tattoo hurt worse than an upper ankle tattoo?

any tattoo that is on or close to bone like your ankle is going to hurt more…. however going from a quarter size tattoo to one the size you want to get is like comparing apples to a van….. a tattoo that large is going to take at least a couple of hours to maybe a couple sessions, which means you will have to heal for a couple of weeks before working on an area with scar tissue (this will happen from the work the previous session and then healing) so then the skin is more tough and can actually hurt more. I suggest that you talk to a qualified, licensed tattoo artist and make a plan before actually showing up for the tattoo, take your design with you and talk it over… including any concerns or questions you have Good luck and I hope you get the tattoo you are dreaming of!

I just had 3 1/2 hrs done in that very area – base of neck to just above bra strap, and in between shoulder blades. It was an add to an existing one that was in the upper center of my back.
Most of the time, I could barely feel it. There were a couple of places that were intense – base of neck area, and about 2″ below that, but otherwise, it was not a big deal, for either outline or fill in.

I’ll give you a tip though: If you don’t have someone to do your aftercare 3-5Xs a day, then buy yourself a regular size rubber spatula. Put the shower head low, so that you can keep control over the water on the tattoo. Put your antibacterial soap on the spatula to use to wash the areas that are hard to do by hand. After rinsing, and drying off the rest of your body like normal, put a big paper towel on your back and kind of bounce pat your spatula on it to pat dry your back. Then apply small amounts of ointment or lotion (ointment is fine for first 3 days), by using the spatula and watching what you do with a hand mirror. If you think that you went a bit heavy with it, then pat off with clean paper towel so that you end up with a light coat.
Then take a t-shirt that you don’t care about, and just cut out that part of the back where the tattoo is, and this way you can walk around the house with it uncovered. If you get dressed in regular clothes, tape (on shoulders) clean paper towel to hang down over tattoo in between your clothing. This protects the tattoo and the clothing.

Do excellent and current aftercare:

luck~

It will probably be less like the stinging pain, but it will last longer so yes, it will probably feel like it hurts more