Dialysis lidocaine cream
There is no getting around one fact regarding dialysis needles: they are large and therefore they hurt! The prospect of getting these large needles inserted into a body part can be intimidating and raise anxiety. There is often a good deal of pain associated with dialysis needle insertions. Reducing that pain may bring some meaningful degree of comfort to the patient. Using a topical dialysis lidocaine cream is becoming a common solution.
Dialysis lidocaine cream works by blocking nerve impulses of pain transmitted to the brain. Once a good quality dialysis lidocaine cream is applied to the skin, it absorbs into the skin where it exerts its numbing (pain blocking) effect. A good quality dialysis lidocaine cream should include some kind of mechanism to improve skin permeation, thereby speeding the onset time and effect. There are many dialysis numbing creams on the market. EMLA cream is one of the currently commonly used topical dialysis lidocaine creams. EMLA exerts its effect in about an hour. Many patients and their clinicians do not want to wait for this extended onset period and want something that will work faster.
A dialysis numbing cream that has skin permeating enhancers (a.k.a drivers) has the potential of a much faster onset if formulated appropriately for that effect. The faster the dialysis lidocaine cream works the quicker the procedure can begin and complete, with the primary benefit of being pain free.
Another good attribute of a dialysis lidocaine cream is its form of packaging. Some creams come in multi-use jars and tubes. A problem with this form of packaging is a possible risk of cross-contamination as well as guess work in standardized dosing. When a dialysis lidocaine cream is supplied in single-use, sanitary, metered dosed packets, these two issues are removed.
NeuroMed 7 lidocaine cream packets include a propriety formulation designed to improve penetration and lidocaine delivery into the skin.