electrolysis-pain.md

managing electrolysis pain

topical lidocaine

• get the presctiption stuff -> 2.5% lidocaine + 2.5% prilocaine
• apply 3 hours ahead of procedure on the area to be treated
  • (i wear gloves to not numb my hands)
• cover in "press-n-seal" wrap, stick it to the skin around the edges
• wear compression shorts / clothing on the area where it's applied
• as soon as it is exposed to oxygen the pain relieving effect starts to wear off so ask electrologist to only peel it back as you go, and not peel it off all at once
• pros:
  • strong numbing when applied effectively
• cons:
  • wears off quickly when exposed to air (on the order of 15-30 minutes)
  • doesn't work great around upper lip / lower lip area (since i need to breathe)

novocaine injections

• went to my dentist for novocaine injections.
  • they did nine (units?) of novocaine and/or septocaine, through the mouth only. (she said based on my weight she could probably go up to 12, but i'm kinda glad we didn't.)
  • i was super jittery afterwards. i looked it up and might be bc septocaine has epinephrine.
  • they decided not to do "a block." (idk what that means, or whether it would have worked better)
• these parts of my face were 100% numb:
  • front of my chin (from lower lip to a bit below the chin leading down the neck) and
  • lower part of my upper lip
  • middle part of my upper lip
• these parts of my face were perhaps partly numb compared to normal, but i could still feel sensations when touching it (and hurt more when doing electrolysis there)
  • cheeks
  • neck
  • upper lip very close to outer edges of nostrils
• pros:
  • total numbness of some areas. partial numbness of some other areas
  • i felt like i could have almost fallen asleep on the electrolysis bed, that's how painless it was for most of it
• cons:
  • drooling on the MUNI (i had a half hour trip between dentist and electrologist)
  • couldn't really talk
  • i was nervous to bite my lip because i would not have even felt it
  • face got super swollen to the point that i jumpscared the receptionist when i was leaving the dentist. (mask helped)
  • jittery from epinephrine
  • numbness did not extend to the cheeks or neck
  • hard to find - i called like 10 different dentists and plastic surgeons to ask for this and they mostly were like ???