What is a numbing cream?
With the proliferation of laser hair removal treatments and tattoos, in recent years the use of anesthetic cream to relieve the aches and pains of these types of skin procedures has become very fashionable. However, it is a sensitive subject that generates controversy, since they are not innocuous, and can have side effects.
Surely if in your environment you have people who have undergone some laser hair removal or photo epilation treatment, or simply carry the odd tattoo, they will have told you about a "miraculous" cream that makes these types of procedures that are usually something painful, do not harm you.
Use of numbing cream
However, not all that glitters is gold and, although it is true that they reduce pain and have that anesthetic effect, they should always be applied under medical supervision and strictly following the recommendations regarding amounts indicated in the package insert.
Best Numbing Cream
The best-known anesthetic creams in our country are called tktx numbing cream. It is sold online and in pharmacies and is dispensed with a prescription, “Tktx”. Like almost any anesthetic cream, is formulated based on two substances: lidocaine and prilocaine, which serve to relieve pain and are applied directly to the skin before a minor intervention (in the case of a hospital for example), from dermatological laser treatment or even before getting a tattoo.
How is Tktx applied?
The normal thing is to use Tktx numbing cream an hour before the treatment or tattoo, applying a layer on the area and covering it with plastic, increase the absorption of the product through the skin. If this procedure is performed or prescribed by a doctor there is no problem, but if it is the patient himself who does it, using a container that he already has at home or that someone has left him, or the tattoo artist himself (which we remember is not a doctor or healthcare professional), can cause side effects of varying severity.
For this reason, it is vitally important that when using Tktx, the amounts described in the package insert are strictly respected. The usual dose is 1.5 to 2 grams of product for every 10 cm² area of skin. You also have to be careful in areas with wounds, since a greater amount of product would be absorbed.
This creates much more trouble since anyone can get hold of it and use it at will without a prescription or a doctor's recommendation.
Versions of Tktx
Also, tktx is marketed in several different versions (classified by color) and which differ in the percentage of lidocaine, prilocaine, and adrenaline they contain.
Is it safe to use anesthetic creams?
If prescribed by a doctor and used in a small area, nothing would happen. The cream is not applied by the doctor, it is applied by the patient, but a doctor has to prescribe it and explain how and when to use it. Therefore, it is safe to use an anesthetic cream like tktx numbing cream, as long as it is prescribed by a doctor and following the instructions on the packaging itself.
