“When can I apply the anesthetic cream, and when’s it better not?” It is a question that is being asked really often. Therefore, we will try to answer your question throughout this blog post.

anesthetic cream- all you need to know

A normal numbing cream that you can get on the internet or without prescription has some things that you should keep in mind:

What is a numbing cream?

Let’s start with a little background information about numbing creams in general. A numbing cream is a cream that, thanks to its component named Lidocaine (which is not the only one but the most common one), is meant to numb a certain area, resulting in painless treatments.

Numbing creams in general are usually meant to prevent pain, not to heal it. Obviously doctors or Hospitals have other types of anesthetic creams, however they should be treated differently and are only available through prescription in a lot of countries.

“Can I apply the cream on a freshly tattooed area?”

Open wounds, abrasions or skin rashes should generally not be treated with anesthetic creams at all. As previously mentioned, numbing creams are usually meant to prevent pain, not to heal it. The lidocaine could make the rash worse or even slow down the healing process if applied on wounded skin.

If your tattoo starts giving you major pain don’t let your first thought be using a numbing cream, but rather go to a doctor, he will then prescribe you something against the pain.

Also, people with cardiac arrhythmia and nursing/pregnant women, should consult a doctor before using a numbing cream. Lidocaine is not a damaging or highly dangerous agent, still it enters the body trough the skin and has some effect on the muscles, this is usually not a big deal for moat people, but it could affect negatively cardiac arrhythmia patients and nursing mothers.

Please, If you have any of the problems listed, make sure to check to your doctor before use.

If you have more than one tattoo session and want to use numbing creams, here is what you could do:

Ask your tattoo artist if they can section the tattoo so that you only apply the cream on unwounded skin. In addition to the point mentioned before, take your next tattoo session some days after the first one to make the skin that surrounds the wound, can calm down even more (still only apply on non tattooed areas).

If it’s not possible, talk to your tattoo artist and to your doctors about their experiences and what they would advise you.

If you buy our cream and get second thoughts and are not sure if it’s the right product for you, please make sure to read the leaflet and/or consult a doctor, and then you are good to go.

When can I apply the anesthetic cream again?

This is a more complicated question than you think, since there is no perfect formula that is meant for everyone. There are many factors that play a role. To sum everything up, you should make sure that your skin is fully healed again if wounded. Why it is so difficult to tell is because it depends on the area, the complexity, the size of the tattoo and most importantly on your skin. If you have really sensible skin, usually wound take longer to heal and get easy irritated, when you have “thick/rough skin” it probably heals way quicker.

Usually:

A tattoo takes 3 to 6 weeks to truly heal

(with good and constant aftercare)

The skin under it, however, could also take 6 months to fully heal if not treated well.

Check our blog post about perfect aftercare here.

How do I apply the Cream?

For this question, make sure to check our other blog post about how to apply the cream here.

We hope to have answered many or even all of your questions regarding when you can and when it’ better not to use a tattoo numbing cream. All in all, we recommend you to contact your doctor if you are not sure and have second thoughts. Also read the leaflet if you get our product. But if you have healed good to mid-skin with no irritation or wounds you are good to go, have fun with NoPain!

More interesting facts can be found on our other Blogposts: