Has anyone heard of a 'numb cream' for children?

[RacingSnake]

Hi. Last time I was at the dentists, she rubbed 'numb cream' into my gum before the injection, which helped quite a lot. I said that something like that would be great for small children who have fallen into stinging nettles or somesuch, and she told me that it does exist and you can buy it at the chemists. However, when I asked at Boots, the assistant had no idea what I was talking about. Has anyone any ideas on the subject?

i bought some "magic cream" from the chemist when my son was having a blood test, think it cost about £6, takes a while to work though, so the sting may have worn of by the time the cream starts to work..

emla cream it was called i think

Emla cream

Thank you for the link; reading the details, it looks a bit too much for mere nettle stings, etc! It does say 'under medical supervision'.

a dock leaf would help for nettles

Emla. We used to use this in A&E prior to blood taking. It takes at least 30 -60 mins to numb the area though it does last a while, not really recommended for stinging nettles tho - much better and faster things available from chemist. What the dentist uses is a local anaesthetic gel (not emla, which is a cream)

Will look up local anaesthetic gel. Afraid dock leaf doesn't quite do it for the number, size and evilness of the nettles on our neglected polytunnels and the daftness sense of adventure of a small girl.

didn't realise you could buy emla over the counter! you don't need to buy it for a blood draw though - they will give them it anyway

for nettle stings, lavender oil is really good. have used it on myself so can vouch that it works.

Try a cold pack first and then aloe vera gel. keep it in fridge so nice and cool

Bonjela works well on nettle stings, but aloe vera is great too. A nice renewable method, as the plants grow with great enthusiasm, so you can just snap a leaf off as you need it

Emla is great but definately overkill for nettle stings - I don't think it's particularly great for the skin if you used a lot.

There is another one, a gel, bugger, i forgot the name of it oh its AMITOP GEL

OnEdge
Amitop (also used in kids A&E)! Works quicker to numb skin, but from what I remember also has a dilating effect on blood vessels (easier to get needles in ). Seems the wrong thing to do on a nettle sting - to encourage blood to the surface of the skin? The numbing effect isn't instant either. I have never seen it used for this reason and would def. consult pharmacist before using it in an unconventional way.

And heres a tip - make sure your child doesnt lick the area of skin with the cream on. Poor DS..

Some insect bite creams have a local anaesthetic in them,which is handy for nettles and bites.

Lots of good ideas! I know that lavender oil is very good on burns; hadn't thought of stings. Bongela ... think we might even have something left over from teething ... will look at insect bite creams.