Hi - after going up to 18mm/30J on Yag last time on my chest, I got some lidocaine cream because the pain was super intense. First time I needed her to take a little break in between sections.
I’ve read I need to apply about an hour before my appointment and wrap it with saran wrap. My question is, do I need to leave the cream on for the treatment, wipe it off with a rag, or wash it off with soap and water before the treatment?
Thanks
In my experience, it was just wiped off with tissue and worked on immediately after. Once the treatment was finished, the area was cleaned with soapy water. However, I typically need around 2-2.5 hours for the EMLA to function. In a 1 hour period, with electrolysis, there’s either no effect whatsoever or my skin feels numb and I still feel the current nearly almost, if not exactly, as much as I would have without the EMLA.
Apply EMLA liberally to area like cake frosting, with just slight rubbing in. You should see even white cream all over the area. Then wrap your body well with saran wrap making sure there are no pockets of air trapped between skin and the wrap. Air oxidizes EMLA and makes it ineffective. Wait time for full effect should be 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. Then you wipe excess cream off with paper towels. After laser treatment they would normally use some cleaning agent to wipe everything off. Shower with lukewarm water. Stay well hydrated when applying EMLA.
With laser, EMLA/LMX creams make a difference. In some areas, you will still feel pain, but without a numbing cream, the high settings would be unbearable for a lot of people. Even if it takes a slight edge off the pain, you can last the full treatment. Maybe because electrolysis is slow, by the time a part of area is treated, the numbing agent loses its peak performance?
Awesome, thanks so much guys. Hope it takes the edge off tomorrow!
Oh, I’m only doing stomach tomorrow, but for my next full back treatment, what’s too much as far as safety goes? I just borrowed some EMLA, but next time I’m going to use LMX 5% since it’s OTC. Is a full tube of 15gm too much? I’ve heard horror stories about people dying.
What you will want to do is to take the time to block out small sections and apply the numbing cream to just the small area and cover it with plastic prior to your appointment beginning. This will allow you to be ready for work when you get there. Once you start work, you uncover the prepped area, and apply cream to the next area and cover with plastic, and let that numb up while the work is being done in the area prepped for starters.
You may want to make a grid that has blocks about the size of your hand, or half that depending on how much space your practitioner can clear in an hour.
The problem people have is putting too much over too large an area at any given time, and letting it sit for too long.
The deaths involved with using these numbing creams occurred due the persons covering half their body, and/or including mucus membrane tissue in the occlusion and letting it marinate for 2 hours or more. This can be easily avoided.
James, but if the above posters are correct, it takes 1.5 to 2 hours for it to take effect. If I apply the cream to areas right before they are to be treated, it seems that won’t be nearly enough time for the area to become numb.
James, EMLA will not work at all for me if it’s been on for less than 2 hrs. 1 hour does absolutely nothing. I think 2hrs tops for most people, but I think I had it on once for just over 2hrs (I went out with the EMLA still on…) and certainly less than 2.5, and I’m still alive.
Fenix - After 2hrs of EMLA, the area gets treated straight away.
OP - Like James says, don’t put it all over an entire body part. Man-sized hand patches should be the max area at any one time. Laser is probably swifter than electrolysis so I don’t know how big an area can be lasered within an hr, but tolerate what you can beyond the above amount of EMLA.
The OP is using laser treatment by the way.
I know I’m late but anyway…
The best person to decide who can judge how much numbing cream your body can take safely would be a physician. From what I know, the amount you can safely use varies with your weight, the area of skin on which it is to be applied and whether or not you wrap it.
I use Prilox cream: lidocaine 25 mg, prilocaine 25 mg/1 g. I use 10-15 gms per session on my neck+cheeks+chin. I do not use a wrap.It works good for me even in 45 mins but yes, it works even better if I wait for longer-90 minutes.
Yes, you need to wipe it clean before the session. You may use water. Soap would be unnecessary. The numbing effect won’t go away with washing.
I apologize, I was answering this question as if the person were having electrolysis. In that case, one would be able to uncover the spot that was covered on the way over, prep a different spot, and cover it, do the work, and be ready for the next area once the first was completed.
With Light Amplification via Stimulated Emission of Radiation, one can cover an entire body in about two hours.
This brings us to that mathematical equation on what one’s safe dose is calculated to be. Since one really won’t be doing that, and the absorption rates are different through different areas and types of skin anyway, just be sure that you don’t buy a case of the stuff and fill a rubber jogging suit with it and marinate your entire body for 3 hours in the stuff.