Recently facial fillers have become the next most popular cosmetic treatment after Botox. Fillers are injected to increase volume in the cheeks, nasolabial folds, lips, and other areas.

While many cosmetic patients are now having facial fillers along with their Botox, having multiple injections may cause some discomfort. The fear of pain from an injection may even stop some individuals from using fillers, even though they want the results.

Using a topical numbing cream prior to injection can make a treatment easier for both the patient and the doctor. Being able to advertise the painlessness of a procedure can be a great selling point for injectors. But what is the best numbing cream for fillers? And how can you get it? First let’s talk about fillers and why they are used.

How are Fillers Used?

As collagen breaks down with age, the skin loses its elasticity and volume. This can accentuate the nasolabial folds, cause cheeks to appear hollow, and make lips thinner. When a plastic surgeon performs a face lift, they are tightening up the wrinkles that are a result of volume loss in the face. Facial fillers are a non-surgical way to get a younger appearance by filling in the areas where volume has been lost. By raising the surface of the skin the appearance of wrinkles is reduced

Combining Botox and Fillers

Botox and facial fillers are often combined to effectively treat the different types of wrinkles on the face. The wrinkles between the eyebrows (glabellar lines) and crow’s feet that are treated with Botox are not treated effectively with fillers. Wrinkles between the eyebrows and on the forehead are caused more by repeated facial movements over the years and not so much volume loss.

Plumping Up the Lips

Besides reducing signs of aging, fillers are also used to provide fuller lips. Lip fillers are one of the more common treatments for women who may not yet be experiencing any signs of aging. A topical numbing cream can be used to make lip filler injections more comfortable.

Can a Topical Numbing Cream Really Help?

As anyone who has used them before will tell you – yes, absolutely. A topical numbing cream like BLT cream can make injectable cosmetic treatments more comfortable for patients and easier for doctors. While some types of fillers include lidocaine already, not all of them do – and cosmetic injectors we have worked with find that a topical numbing cream is more effective.

Increasing Repeat Visits for Cosmetic Treatments

Most doctors want to make their patients’ experience as comfortable as possible and want to use the best numbing cream for fillers, not an over-the-counter product. Patients who have a painless and comfortable experience are more likely to come back for maintenance treatments and also tell their friends. Since Botox and fillers need to be re-administered to maintain results, the first visit can be especially important in ensuring a patient will follow-up with more treatments.

Better Cosmetic Results with Numbing Cream

Besides easing discomfort, a numbing cream can make the injection easier for the aesthetic professional. The results will be better if a patient is calm and does not move during an injection. Injecting fillers and Botox is a kind of art. There can be great differences in results from a subtle change how a treatment is administered. A patient who is numbed prior to injection will be more comfortable and less likely to move and affect the results.

Over-the-Counter Numbing Creams

Over-the-counter numbing gels have much lower concentrations of anesthetic than those that are available with a prescription. The lower strengths may not provide much relief from the pain of getting an injection. The higher strengths are prescription-only because they can cause problems if they are used improperly. The most common adverse effects reported with topical anesthetics are from patients trying to apply them at home. BLT Cream should only be administered by an experienced professional in their office before a procedure.

The Best Numbing Cream for Fillers

Now that you understand the various aspects of numbing before an injection, let’s talk about the best numbing cream for fillers. A powerful triple anesthetic with benzocaine, lidocaine, and tetracaine (BLT) is the most effective way to reduce pain from injections in the skin.

A common formulation that we compound for dermatologists is benzocaine 20%, lidocaine 6%, and tetracaine 4%. Numbing can be felt as early as 15 minutes after this cream is applied with maximum effects at 30 minutes. When used correctly and not in excessive amounts, BLT Cream does not have adverse effects and will not have systemic toxicity.

BLT Cream Outperforms Other Topical Anesthetics

In one study that was conducted comparing the pain reduction from different topical anesthetics, BLT cream outperformed every other formulation. With a reported pain scale of 0-10, patients in the BLT group reported a level of 0-2 at 30 minutes while the other four anesthetics were at 4-6. While the other anesthetics provided greater pain relief after they were left on for one hour, BLT cream provided the fastest and most effective pain relief.

For doctors, time spent in the examination room is an important consideration. Patients want to be able to get on with their day as soon as possible. Using a high-strength numbing cream when injecting fillers can lead to less time patients have to spend in the examination room.

Besides fillers, BLT Cream is the best numbing cream for laser treatments, microneedling, and skin procedures like biopsies and mole removal. A topical anesthetic can make most procedures involving the skin more comfortable for patients.

BLT Cream from Park Compounding Pharmacy

The best numbing cream for fillers requires a prescription and can only be obtained from a compounding pharmacy. The triple anesthetic benzocaine, lidocaine, tetracaine is available in multiple formulations with different strengths of ingredients. Aesthetic professionals across the country rely on our compounded topical anesthetics to give their patients the most pain-free experience in their office.