Emla Cream

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I just thought I'd give a little update on the Emla shortage (for those of

you who are new, " Emla " Cream is a topical anesthetic that many of us have

been using on our children to " numb " their arms and reduce the discomfort

during blood draws). I called EVERYWHERE in my town today and the cupboards

are bare... the story I got from Wal-Mart was that the Emla company asked

for most of the product to be pulled from their shelves yesterday (they

still have a little bitty tube available that was in a sort of " kit " with

Tegaderm pads). The sales lady said she was told that the situation has

something to do with repackaging the product in childproof containers. She

said they hoped for some of the new stock by June or July.

I did, however, get a tip from the pharmacist at K-Mart. He said that they

sell something there over-the-counter called Ela-Max that is (in his words)

" the same thing " . Hmmm.

I did some searching on the internet and found yet another product called

" Topicaine " gel that is also non-prescription.

Plus... I found the little tidbit below on Medscape...

" Dr. Fogelman (New York, NY), who has previously published data on

the efficacy of topical anesthetics,[36] presented a comparative study of 3

topical anesthetic creams in reducing laser-induced pain.[37] After a

30-minute application period, Topicaine and Ela-Max 5 were superior to

vehicle control. By 15 minutes after removal, EMLA cream was also superior

to control. Thirty minutes after removal, Topicaine and EMLA exhibited the

highest level of anesthetic effect. "

I have emailed the Topicaine company to ask where we can obtain that product

and will pass along the information if and when I get some.

If anyone has any more information (or has used one of these other products

with or without success) please pitch in.

Caroline