Tattoo Numbing Cream

Tattoo Blog - written by a real human, a tattoo artist even! (>.<) 

What are tattoo numbing creams and why would or wouldn’t you want to use them for your tattoo session? 

Tattoo numbing creams are topical creams that have (in Canada) 5% Lidocaine as a numbing agent. The numbing affect lasts anywhere from 10 minutes to 1.5 hours according to my client feedback. Some of my clients will never get tattooed without using a tattoo numbing cream again as it allows them to sit comfortably through their sessions and other clients say it actually makes it feel MORE PAINFUL, because when it wears off, their bodies haven’t had a natural adjustment to the sensation of pain.  

The numbing cream will be wiped off before the tattoo stencil is applied which means that the numbing effects will start to wear off right away. 

There is also Bactine. This is a numbing spray that was designed for sun burns and bug bites. This is something that I will use throughout the tattoo session if the client desires. Bactine is only effective when applied to broken skin, so the farther into the session (when you’re more likely to desire it) is when it is the most effective. 

There are tattoo artists that won’t allow their clients to use numbing cream at all.  At my Maple Ridge tattoo studio, I personally don’t mind if my clients use numbing cream, just as long as they use the brands that I specify ( Dr. Numb or Zensa) and they follow the package application directions, do a test patch before hand, and it can’t be used on areas larger than 4”x 4” (10cm x 10cm) 

Outside of these brands I have had clients come to the studio layered with creams they’ve found online. These creams, usually with “tattoo” in their titles, no safety 

information or ingredient lists….do very strange things to the skin - turning the skin into a weird gummy texture, making the skin ice cold and what seemed to be holding the blood in the dermis layer making the tattoo look more traumatized than normal. Below is a link to an FDA article on some of these banned tattoo numbing creams and the hazards of using them. YIKES! 

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-warns-consumers avoid-certain-topical-pain-relief-products-due-potential-dangerous-health 

It’s my job, as your artist, to be able to “read” your skin while I work, and if a tattoo numbing cream interferes with that then I will need to cancel the session and re book for a time with either no cream or one of the ones listed above.

Before using numbing cream during your tattoo session, it is important to due a test patch as listed on the package instructions to make sure you don’t have any negative reactions to the cream, including allergies or methemoglobinemia (a blood disorder that causes iron to oxidize preventing oxygen from moving through the blood and causing tissues to die). Numbness, dizziness, seizures, irregular heartbeat, and shifts in mood and awareness are all additional negative side effects.  

Application suggestion for tattoos 4”x4” or smaller (it is not advised to use numbing cream on large areas of skin as this increases the risk of negative side effects listed above). 

1. Start this process approximately 1 hour before your session is to start.

2. Have a nice hot shower and shave, clean and exfoliate the area to be tattooed.

3. Apply numbing cream to area to be tattooed (see photo) 

4. Do NOT wrap it in plastic wrap or any bandage  

So, should you or shouldn’t you use tattoo numbing cream? That’s up to both you and your tattoo artist. 

<3 Leah