First tattoo ever (spine + collarbone area) : looking for advices

Hey everyone,

I’m getting my first tattoo soon and could use some advice from people who’ve been there.

I’m planning to get two tattoos:

1. One along the spine

2. One below the collarbone, running from left front shoulder to right front shoulder (basically following the collarbone line)

The tattooist is quite reputable (and expensive), so I really want to do this right and not mess anything up due to bad prep or rookie mistakes. They’ll be using Second Skin for aftercare.

Main questions:

1. Any realistic advices to minimize pain during the session? (I know it’ll hurt, I’m not expecting magic.)

2. Anything specific I should do days before / the night before / the day of?

3. For spine + collarbone specifically: anything you wish you had known before getting tattooed there?

Not looking for myths or “just tough it out” advice, but more like practical, experience-based comments.

Thanks in advance (⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠｡⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♡