How Xylocaine 5% Ointment Works

1

What is it?

Xylocaine 5% Ointment is a local anaesthetic that can be applied to your skin to help relieve pain or itching, and produces a temporary feeling of numbness.

It comes in the form of a white or greyish-white ointment that contains the active ingredient lidocaine (also known as lignocaine) in a water-soluble base of propylene glycol and macrogols.

Each gram of ointment contains 50 mg of lidocaine (lignocaine) – the most commonly used local anaesthetic in Australia.^*

Xylocaine 5% Ointment is available at your local pharmacy and you don’t need a prescription to buy or use it.

Xylocaine has a long history and has been sold and used as topical anaesthetic since 1948.

2

How does a local anaesthetic work?

Xylocaine 5% Ointment is designed to temporarily numb painful or itchy skin. It does this by blocking the signals at the nerve endings in the skin stopping the nerves passing pain messages up to the brain.

This loss of sensation or numbness is achieved by applying the ointment ‘topically’ to the painful part of your body. Being a local anaesthetic, the numbness stays ‘localised’ and does not affect the rest of your body. Its effect is only temporary and does not cause unconsciousness as general anaesthetics do.

3

What can I use Xylocaine 5% Ointment for?

Xylocaine 5% Ointment is used to help stop itching and pain from:

• Skin irritations such as minor burns, non-blistered sunburn, insect bites and sore nipples
• Haemorrhoids (piles) and anal fissures.

Works quickly to provide pain relief

Once applied to the affected area Xylocaine 5% Ointment starts to act in 3-5 minutes^* – providing effective relief from pain and itching.

^*On mucous membranes