Author: Joshua Alexander, MD
COMMON USES:
Numbs the skin to make needle sticks less painful
HOW IT'S SUPPLIED:
Cream containing 4% lidocaine (5 gram and 30 gram tubes)
HOW IT WORKS:
Absorbed into the skin and numbs the nerve endings and pain receptors there so that pain is not felt.
THINGS TO DISCUSS WITH YOUR DOCTOR:
* Unlike EMLA (see previous med of the month description) No prescription is needed.
* Takes only 15 minutes to start working (versus 2 hours for EMLA).
* Do not put on over scratched or broken skin or near eyes.
* The cream should be applied very thick (about 1\4 inch thick) to the site of the procedure.
* Do not rub the cream into the skin. Instead, cover it with saran wrap being careful not to press on the cream so it stays thick.
* Skin numbness lasts for about an hour after the medicine is removed.
* The skin under the medicine may become pale or light red in color. This goes away a few hours after the medicine is removed.
* May cause an allergic reaction.
* Using too much cream at one time may cause changes in the heartbeat.
* Do not use in people who have methemoglobinemia or liver disease.
|
