Is It Safe to Get a Tattoo Under Anesthesia?

• More people are getting tattoos under anesthesia, paying a premium to make the experience less painful
• But as Dr. Ariel Jurmann, director of ambulatory anesthesia at North Shore University Hospital, tells PEOPLE, there are risks involved the procedure
• He advises seriously vetting the anesthesiologist beforehand

In January, Brazilian car influencer Ricardo Godoi died at age 45 while getting a back tattoo. He went into cardiac arrest while under general anesthesia.

While his death was an anomaly, it’s no surprise that he wanted to try and make the experience as painless as possible. Having your skin punctured by a needle over and over hurts — and larger body art can require several sittings.

That’s why some tattoo shops have started offering clients anesthesia — sedation that’s previously been reserved for surgery. While the trend might seem like a sensible way to get inked without the pain, there are risks involved, Dr. Ariel Jurmann, director of ambulatory anesthesia at North Shore University Hospital, tells PEOPLE.

“One has to go into it with the understanding that no matter how healthy you are, no matter where you have it done, no matter how good your anesthesiologist is, the risk of anesthesia is never zero,” he says.

There are two types offered: a general anesthetic and a sedation type. For a general anesthetic, someone “would have to be intubated and placed on a ventilator,” Dr. Jurmann says, where the greatest risk comes from “the proper placement of that breathing tube, that endotracheal tube.”

While sedation or lesser types of anesthesia don’t require intubation or a ventilator, these can lead to breathing complications, such as “if breathing becomes obstructed by collapse of the soft tissues inside their upper airway and throat,” he explains. That would need to be addressed urgently with rescue equipment because it could “lead to anything from a heart attack to stroke to death.”

While “the practice of anesthesia outside of the hospital setting has grown,” Dr. Jurmann points out “it really should be done in a facility that is accredited,” rather than at a tattoo parlor.

If you decide to get a tattoo under anesthesia, Dr. Jurmann advises vetting the provider first. “The first question would be, ‘Who’s providing the anesthesia? What type of practitioner is it? Is it a physician, anesthesiologist? Are they a board-certified anesthesiologist?’ “

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Make sure they are “board certified, licensed, obviously, and carrying malpractice insurance,” he says. “Will that practitioner have all the necessary emergency medications in case of an airway problem, or allergy medications, or the skills and experience to solve any problem that could arise under anesthesia?’ ” 

In any case, you’ll pay for the painlessness: A back tattoo can cost up to $35,000 with anesthesia, according to one report from USA Today, while another company reportedly offers it for chest tattoos for $50,000.

But it might lose you some cred. As one moderator on the subreddit r/tattoo pointed out, “It’s not normal. People with disgusting amounts of money will pay for that.”

Another user said, “It’s a cop out as far as I’m concerned. A big part of the experience in my opinion is the artist interaction [and] slogging through the pain.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.