Comparison of pain reduction between lidocaine-prilocaine cream and diclofenac gel in patients treated with the alexandrite laser

Abstract

Laser– assisted permanent hair removal iscommonly performed for the treatment of unwantedhair. This procedure is usually associated withpain and pain reduction has an important role inthe success of this treatment. A common methodof reducing pain is to use topical analgesics . Amixture of lidocaine and prilocaine (EMLA) is acommonly used and very effective topical anesthetic.Another agent is diclofenac gel. Diclofenac is anon-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) andis a potent inhibitor of inducible cyclo-oxygenase(COX-2) . Oral administration of this medicationcan result in adverse effects. There are no studieson its efficacy as a topical anesthetic in laser hairremoval.