Can a Topical Pain Reliever Be Used for Hair Removal?

asked 1 year ago by Secrets by Jean in Bossier City, LA
Latest answer by Ronald Shelton, MD
Question viewed 224 times
Tags: lidocaine, topical

Can a topical pain reliever be such as a viscous lidocaine be applied to the skin, left on the skin for 20 minutes, and then washed off prior to the procedure?

7 answers to Can a Topical Pain Reliever Be Used for Hair Removal?

Topical anesthetic cream for laser hair removal

Advice for numbing cream must be given by a physician for you based on your treatment. There are risks with the application of numbing cream and the absorption into the blood stream if it is a wide spread area. The type of cream can make a difference. Please ask the physician who is responsible for your laser hair removal.

Ronald Shelton, MD
Manhattan Dermatologist

Topical pain reliever can be used before laser hair removal...

Topical pain relievers such as LMX can be used before having a laser hair removal treatment. It is usually placed over the area that is going to be treated and covered with plastic wrap or tegaderm for approximately one hour before treatment (twenty minutes is too short). Using these creams that numb the area can make the session more comfortable for the patient. For larger areas such as the back, legs, or bikini area it is not recommended because the... more

Andrew Miller, MD
Edison Facial Plastic Surgeon

Numbing for Laser Hair Removal

We recommend Topicaine brand 4% lidocaine gel for 30 minutes prior to the procedure. Patients are instructed to use no more than a 30 gram tube to avoid significant absorption into the blood stream. We find our patients are much more comfortable if the have numbed the area. If a large area needs to be performed, we sometimes break it into 2 procedures over 2 different days to avoid the need for too much numbing cream.

Madeline Krauss, MD
Boston Dermatologic Surgeon

Topical Anesthetic for Laser Hair Removal

With laser hair removal the degree of discomfort varies with each person, depending on their pain threshold. In our office, a topical anesthetic may be requested based on individual preferences or tolerances as well as particular anatomic sites. This should be applied 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to treatment. We use a prescription-strength three part anesthetic mixture that is specially compounded for us by the pharmacist. It is much safer when applied in our office and not available for... more

Mitchell Schwartz, MD
South Burlington Dermatologic Surgeon

dorsetstreetdermatology.com

Topical numbing creams can be used with CAUTION for laser hair removal

If large areas are treated and/or if the numbing cream is used under occlusion, like plastic wrap, enough of the lidocaine can be absorbed to cause very serious side effects. Deaths have been reported after such use of numbing creams. That is not to say we don't use numbing creams prior to laser hair removal or laser procedures in general. But numbing creams should not be used on large areas at one time and only small areas should be under occlusion.

Emily Altman, MD
Short Hills Dermatologic Surgeon

Topical anesthetic for laser

Topical anesthetics can be very helpful for lasers in general and certainly for hair removal. Several are widely available commercially (e.g. EMLA cream or LMX cream) and some practices like to compound their own. Typically these are applied roughly an hour before treatment and wiped off just for the treatment. There is a possibility of toxicity if too large an area is treated so check with your physician/ read the package insert to find out how much you can use at one time. more

Daniel Berg, MD
Seattle Dermatologic Surgeon

Topical anesthetic for laser hair removal

Its pretty much standard practice to use a topical anesthetic for laser hair removal. Most of us use some lidocaine or lidocaine derivative applied to the skin for a time depending upon anesthetic used. Need to be careful for large areas to avoid toxicity.

Jason Pozner, MD
Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon

www.spsboca.com

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