DIY Topical Lidocaine Cream

Updated July 17, 2023

The lidocaine that you can get from the doctors sucks. For those of us on the more sensitive side of the spectrum, this can make electrolysis an absolute nightmare. So until the trans healthcare industry gets its shit together and starts offering lidocaine injections during electrolysis sessions then it seem like DIY is a perfectly natural solution.

This is not medical advice. Lidocaine IS dangerous. We are not responsible for how you choose to apply this information. Please be safe!

Alternatives to DIY

Instead of making your own cream you can do a couple things.

1. Rough it
2. Purchase BLT cream online. It’s rather expensive but it’s reported to be highly effective at numbing skin prior to electrolysis.
3. Petition your doctor to write you a prescription to have a higher concentration of lidocaine custom compounded for you.

Dangers of lidocaine

Do NOT make lidocaine at concentrations higher than 30%. There is a governing body that sets that as the MAX LIMIT of all -caine numbing agents in combination. In all reality you probably don’t even need the 23% that’s listed in this recipe. You can start smaller and always add more later.

Lidocaine OD is real and is possible. When you start making higher concentrations it becomes even more likely. Please, please do your own research on this subject. Learn the dangers and the signs of having too much lidocaine in your system. You will likely need to go to the emergency room.

To combat this, know the exact patch of skin you are having electrolysis done on and only apply it to that one spot. Do NOT cover your whole face or genitals in this shit.

The recipe

The recipe itself comes from the loved/hated Dr Will Powers, it’s documented here.

Powers says:

The small amount of tetracane[sp] is just so that if somebody forgets to put it on multiple times before the procedure, it kicks in quickly with something

For this reason we believe it’s okay to leave out the tetracaine and to just stick with high percentage lidocaine and DMSO. The DMSO is a penetration enhancer and should be kept.

For the base we use VersaPro Cream base. This is a reputable carrier for topicals, and it is available online over-the-counter from 3rd party resellers. We have not had the opportunity to do a deep dive into what the ideal carrier for lidocaine is, so it should be remarked upon that there is quite possibly a better option here.

How to mix it

Take your active ingredients, so the lidocaine, tetracaine, and DMSO and mix them with the smallest amount of base possible. It’s common for people into DIY topicals to use an electric coffee/milk frother to thoroughly mix it.

Then once the tiny amount of base is mixed with the actives, start slowly mixing more and more base in. This ensures that the actives are fully distributed throughout the carrier, leaving no potential for pockets that have no actives in it.

Application

Powers says:

Apply a thin layer topically to treatment area 90 minutes, 45 minutes, and 15 minutes before procedure. Cover with clear plastic-wrap for increased efficacy. Do not cover more than 200sq centimeters at once.

If you follow these instructions you should be able to leave out the tetracaine, which will make the acquisition of the materials needed to make this that much easier. If you think you will mess up and not be able to follow the schedule laid out above, then you may want to try to acquire the tetracaine.

Where to get raw materials

Lidocaine is available on dragonordnance.com.

We’re not sure where to get tetracaine since we didn’t order it. We’d look on made-in-china.com searching by the CAS number if we wanted to but it.

The other ingredients are easy to find and you can google for them.