Benzocaine is a local
anesthetic which works by blocking nerve signals in your body.
Benzocaine is a local anesthetic which works by blocking
nerve signals in your body. Benzocaine topical is used to reduce pain or
discomfort caused by minor skin irritations, sore throat, sunburn, teething
pain, vaginal or rectal irritation, ingrown toenails, hemorrhoids, and many
other sources of minor pain on a surface of the body. Benzocaine is also used
to numb the skin or surfaces inside the mouth, nose, throat, vagina, or rectum
to lessen the pain of inserting a medical instrument such as a tube or speculum.
Pharmacological
class: Local Anesthetic
Benzocaine
shows its effects by binding to the sodium channel. It reversibly stabilizes
the neuronal membrane which decreases its permeability to sodium ions.
Depolarization of the neuronal membrane is inhibited, thereby blocking the
initiation and conduction of nerve impulses.
Benzocaine is poorly absorbed through intact skin and get readily
absorbed from mucous membranes. The peak plasma time is 1 minutes. It gets
metabolized by plasma cholinesterases and to a lesser extent by hepatic
cholinesterases. The metabolites are usually excreted in urine.
Common (affecting between 1
in 10 to 1 in 100):
Uncommon (affecting 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000):
Very rare (affecting less than 1 in 10,000):
Thirty patients with
spontaneous pain of moderate or severe intensity from a single tooth due to
caries, a lost restoration, or a fracture entered this randomized, parallel
group, double-blind study. Before self-applying 20% benzocaine gel or placebo,
patients read a label containing new dosing directions, including a picture of
how much product to apply to their tooth and the surrounding gingival tissues.
It was found that 86.7% of the subjects (26/30) applied < or = 375 mg of
product (mean +/- SD = 327.7 +/- 276.8 mg). The benzocaine group had a
significantly higher (p = 0.022) responder rate (86.7%) than the placebo group
(46.7%). Significant differences in favor of the benzocaine group were also
recorded for PRID at 10, 15, and 30 minutes (p < 0.05) and SPRID-30 (p =
0.037). Median onset and duration times were 8.3 minutes and > 115 minutes
for the benzocaine group, >120 minutes and 5 minutes for the placebo group.
There were no adverse events recorded in the study.1
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