What Does Tattoo Numbing Cream Do?

What ingredients are in a premium numbing cream. Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Nerve Deadeners Stop the Initial Pain

These creams stop nerves from registering that first shock of pain when the tattoo needles hit the skin. However, nerve deadeners don’t go very deep in the skin, so the nerves beneath that first layer will still feel the needle.

Active Ingredient: Lidocaine.

2. Nerve Blockers Make the Pain Bearable

Nerve blockers still let the nerves register pain, but they dull the intensity of the pain signals that are sent to the brain. Instead of screaming “OUCH!” someone with a nerve blocker might simply say, “That hurts.”

Active Ingredient: Tetracaine or benzocaine.

3.Vasoconstrictors Help Numbing Creams Last Longer

These work by constricting blood vessels (to reduce bleeding and swelling) and slow down the absorption of other anesthetics, which means a nerve blocker or deadener will last longer. Without a vasoconstrictor, the other creams will probably wear off about halfway through.

Active Ingredient: Epinephrine.

Because each of these ingredients works differently, you’ll get the most numbing effects from using products such as Effn cream that have each of the active ingredients.