# Numbing cream?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbing-cream/209346>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 24, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbing-cream/209346 "2003-10-24T16:39:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sqube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Sqube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sqube)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbing-cream/209346/1 "2003-10-24T16:39:56Z")

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I’m looking for the most powerful numbing cream I can find for a friend of mine. He suggested Benzocaine, but if anyone knows of any other numbing creams (and where they can be purchased online, if possible) I would greatly appreciate it.

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbing-cream/209346/2 "2003-10-24T16:45:59Z")

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AFAIK, 20% benzocaine is the strongest topical anesthetic you can buy OTC. I’ve never encountered any product with a higher concentration.

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**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbing-cream/209346/3 "2003-10-24T18:57:45Z")

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EMLA (Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics) is lidocaine 2.5% and prilocaine 2.5%. This is probably what you are looking for but it requires a presription in the U.S.