Have you tried a bit less throw? The longer the travel the more force the needles have when the hit the skin. This force can cause excess swelling and trauma. That mixed with a fast hand possibly moving the needles sideways while the needles are still in the skin can be a double dose of irritation. If you were using coils you would likely need a set up with a higher duty cycle, that way the needles spend less time down in the skin and more time up. That would fit well with your hand speed. I figure that with the longer stroke rotaries they are likely running a bit slower and especially with the whipping action of the gen8, likely spend a bit more time in the skin and that is likely what is causing your issue. So perhaps try a shorter stroke machine, and try slowing down your hand speed a bit. As far as more or less needle hang, that is up to you. I will typically have alot of needle hang when I'm moving slower and make single pass solid fill. Less hang for layers, blends and washes with a bit faster machine speed. Hope it helps.