Is It Ok to Place Saran Wrap on Top of Topical Anesthetic Pre-Fraxel Re:store?

Do not let anyone wrap your face or body with saran wrap over a topical lidocaine or prilocaine anesthetic.  This "occludes" the area which means it concentrates the anesthetic more and increases its penetration into the skin.  There have been reported cases of deaths due to this however because sometimes the concentration of lidocaine gets so high it affects your heart and/or nervous system.  Small areas are probably safe but an entire face or part of your body (when used for laser hair removal for example) can be dangerous.

If your doctor decides to occlude the anesthetic cream with saran wrap to help make it more effective, there can be greater risks for side effects including serious complications. Usually, if the doctor says you can use it, it is on a small surface area and the skin does not show signs of a broken epidermal barrier (no evidence of eczema or other similar conditions).

Hi,

The answer is definitely no!  The recent anesthetics that we use have high concentrations of lidocaine.  When you cover it with saran wrap you enhance the absorption of the lidocaine and increase your body's approach to systemic toxicity levels.  Several years ago, there were two girls who died on the East Coast who were given topical lidocaine to apply to areas with saran wrap before they went to an office for laser hair removal and died because of the absorption of lidocaine unsupervised.  In our office, all topical anesthetic is applied and monitored in office and never applied with saran wrap since the worry of toxicity is not worth it.

 

Best,

Dr. Liu

 

I would not recommend placing saran wrap over an anesthetic cream.  There is a potential for greater unwanted side effects due to increased absorption.