I had electrolysis done briefly before the electrolysist retired a few years back. I used a numbing cream with 5% lidocaine, and it was a little hard enduring the electrolysis on my chin. Around the lips would probably be harder to endure.
Emla, I read, has 2.5% lidocaine and 2.5% prilocaine. I take Buproprion which I read is a drug with negative interactions with Prilocaine. I don't know how serious that is.
It's very confusing for me because most text that I read about any cream treats it as if it is the only option for a topical anesthetic, so I don't know why someone would use one over another.
Something says prilocaine and lidocaine together melts more quickly, which maybe means you can get more of it into your system. I don't know. I also see it compared to 4% lidocaine (over the counter lidocaine), which maybe means it would be less numbing than what I tried before and much less numbing than 10% lidocaine.
BLT cream, where I read about it, says benzocaine is effective for 20 minutes, but it becomes active more quickly than lidocaine. So, maybe the purpose of BLT vs. Lidocaine by itself is that it the benzocaine would be numbing until the lidocaine becomes active.
I've seen LT cream listed as having 23% lidocaine, so that might mean it is more numbing than the others.
Someone suggested that I see if a dentist will agree to give me novocaine injections before each session, if it is my face that is being treated. That seems like it would be ideal, if I can find a dentist to do that.