Be cautious with over-the-counter skin medications

It is now quite common for people to have outpatient medical procedures. These procedures are often conducted to enhance the body in some way.

They may include a large number of cosmetic procedures such as microdermabrasion or other procedures to rejuvenate the skin, thus resulting in a younger appearance. Laser Hair removal is another cosmetic procedure that is quite common. The great popularity of tattooing and body piercing are quite common.

All these procedures have in common the fact that pain is involved. Many people who are having discomfort after receiving a tattoo often seek pain relief while the healing process takes place.

Over-the-counter preparations are the most common ones used for pain control in these procedures. Some of these preparations will include topical ointments that are meant to take away the pain. For example, Lidocaine is a familiar pain medication from the dental world. It is also used in some over-the-counter topical preparations.

The FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) has approved lidocaine ointments that contain up to four percent lidocaine. Recently, the FDA warned that there are currently six over-the-counter preparations that contain over the allowed four percent maximum of lidocaine.

This can be an extremely dangerous medical problem because when these products that are intended for use before, or during cosmetic procedures for pain relief are applied in certain manners, increased absorption of the medication through the skin may occur.

The increased absorption of lidocaine through the skin may lead to serious injury. This could include interference with the heart resulting in irregular heartbeats. There have been difficulties with breathing and even seizures have been seen. There have been problems with a person’s regular medication that can elevate the blood pressure for an extended period and there are dietary supplements that may be affected by the increased concentration of lidocaine in topical over-the-counter medications.

The FDA believes these higher concentrations of lidocaine are dangerous and has thus issued warnings to consumers. They are also committed to getting these products off the market.

The FDA recommends that consumers not use pain relief products on their skin with more than four percent lidocaine. They also recommend not applying these over-the-counter products heavily over large areas of skin or to irritated or broken skin. The FDA also recommends not to wrap skin treated with these over-the-counter pain relief products with plastic wrap or other dressings. This is because wrapping or covering treated skin with any type of material can increase the absorption of these products and thus increase the chances of serious side effects.

Take heed and be incredibly careful with over-the-counter skin preparations.

Dr. Veita Bland is a board-certified Greensboro physician and hypertension specialist. Dr. Bland’s radio show, “It’s a Matter of Your Health,” can be heard live on Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m. on N.C. A&T State University’s WNAA, 90.1 FM. Listeners may call in and ask questions. The show is replayed on Sirius 142 at 5 p.m. on Wed. Email Dr. Bland at ideas@blandclinicpa.com.