Can a Topical Pain Reliever Be Used for 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.

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 use of a large amount of lidocaine cream can cause significant side effects. The good news is that laser hair removal is a tolerable procedure, and most people do not need the numbing creams compared to other procedures that require the use of these creams.

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.