What is lidocaine used for?

Lidocaine is a medication that numbs the area where it’s applied. It comes in several forms, such as:

• topical forms that you apply to your skin
• an injection given by a healthcare professional

A doctor, dentist, or medical professional may give you lidocaine to numb an area of your body before a procedure or for some nerve pain conditions. You can use topical forms of lidocaine at home.

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What are the topical forms of lidocaine used for?

Doctors recommend topical forms of lidocaine to help temporarily numb or relieve pain. You apply topical forms to your skin. They come in different forms, such as:

• cream
• spray
• patch
• ointment
• gel

These topical forms have specific uses. Doctors may apply lidocaine to help numb an area of your skin or body before or after various medical procedures. Some uses may include:

• using it for oral or nasal intubation
• preventing and managing pain in procedures involving the urethra
• reducing gagging during dental procedures like taking X-ray pictures and dental impressions
• numbing your skin before dermatology procedures like biopsies and laser treatments
• numbing your skin before inserting an IV, giving a shot, or drawing blood

Topical lidocaine is also used to relieve pain from minor burns, scrapes, sunburns, and insect bites.

You may use over-the-counter (OTC) forms of lidocaine at home to help with:

• back and shoulder pain
• pain in your hips, knees, elbows, and ankles
• pain in small joints

Various types of pain may occur after you have surgery or due to other causes like:

• neuropathy
• carpal tunnel
• arthritis
• sciatica
• shingles
• muscle aches
• other painful conditions

What is lidocaine injection used for?

Lidocaine injections are used to numb an area of your body before a procedure or for some nerve pain conditions. This form of lidocaine is usually only given by a healthcare professional and is not something you would use at home.

Lidocaine injections work the same way the topical forms work. All forms of lidocaine work by blocking pain signals in your nerve endings, causing certain areas of your body to feel numb.

Lidocaine injections are used for procedures such as:

• dental procedures
• childbirth
• lumbar puncture

A healthcare professional may give lidocaine through an IV to help treat cardiac arrest that’s caused by ventricular arrhythmia in people who don’t respond to defibrillation.

Does lidocaine numb nerve pain?

Lidocaine does help relieve nerve pain.

To help relieve nerve pain, lidocaine stops pain signals from your nerves from reaching your brain by blocking the channels (present in the nerves) that send these messages.

When lidocaine blocks these channels, the nerve cells can’t generate the messages that signal pain to your brain. This interruption prevents the sensation of pain from being transmitted to the brain, providing relief in the numb area.

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Summary

Healthcare professionals or dentists use lidocaine to temporarily help relieve or numb pain before, during, or after various medical, dental, and dermatological procedures. They also use it to relieve pain from minor burns, scrapes, sunburns, and insect bites. Doctors may also give lidocaine as an intravenous injection (IV) to help treat cardiac arrest.

Lidocaine comes in different forms. Healthcare professionals give some forms, while others are available OTC. People use the OTC forms of lidocaine to help relieve pain from conditions like arthritis, muscle aches, sciatica, neuropathy, shingles, and other painful conditions.