Lidol

What Lidol (Lidocaine) is used for

Lidocaine is a local anaesthetic, from the amide group. It numbs one part of the body by stopping the nerves there from sending pain signals to the brain. Its older name is lignocaine; it is the same medicine. It comes in many forms: injections given by a doctor, dentist or nurse, skin creams (sometimes mixed with another numbing medicine called prilocaine), mouth and throat gels and liquids, sprays, and skin patches. In hospital, doctors can also give it into a vein to treat some heart rhythm problems.

• Numbing an area before an operation, a procedure or dental work, by injection into or around the area or near a nerve
• Epidural and spinal anaesthesia, and numbing a whole arm or leg, given by specialists
• Numbing the skin (as a cream) before a blood test, a drip (cannula), a small operation, or a cosmetic procedure that uses a needle
• Easing pain from sores or swelling in the mouth or throat, and reducing gagging during mouth or dental x-rays (as a mouth liquid)
• Nerve pain that stays after shingles (post-herpetic neuralgia), using prescription skin patches
• Minor aches in the back, neck, shoulders, arms or legs, using patches sold without a prescription in some countries

Side effects, warnings and interactions for Lidocaine

Prepared from the sources listed by the MedInfoBase team. General information, not medical advice: it gives no doses. Your doctor or pharmacist decides the medicine and dose for you.