Lidoderm Pain Patch for Shingles

Last Wednesday my husband was diagnosed with shingles, a very painful condition caused by the Chicken Pox virus (herpes zoster). The virus lays dormant in your body and manifests itself with a rash and extreme nerve pain. Our doctor gave my husband a few samples of the Lidocaine patch, and another pain patch, which have worked great for relieving nerve pain. This review will focus on the Lidocaine patch.

Description

The patches come in a foiled lined paper pouch, measuring 10 cm by 14 cm. The patches look like a thin fabric because they are made of a polyester felt like material, saturated with 700 mg of Lidocaine in a aqueous base. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic that relieves nerve pain by blocking the signals at the nerve endings in the skin. The patch has a clear plastic backing that you peel off, then stick the patch to the painful area. The patches have an analgesic effect, but less than the amount necessary to produce a complete sensory block.

Directions For Use

Cut the envelope along the dotted line, pull of the release liner, and apply to the areas of skin that the pain is radiating from. You can apply up to three Lidoderm patches at the same time to cover a large area of skin, and the patches can be worn for 12 hours, then cannot be reapplied for an additional 12 hours.

If you need to, you can cut the patches into smaller sizes, but you have to cut them before the liner is removed, otherwise the scissors will stick to the adhesive backing.

Do They Work?

Absolutely they work! Shingles can be extremely painful, and our Dr. prescribed narcotic pain pills for my husband, but he couldn’t drive a vehicle safely after taking them, and they leave him feeling very tired. The patches have been the only real help for my husbands shingles pain. He had me touch certain areas on his back, where the majority of his pain has been, and when I hit the “hot spot” he would tell me. I then stuck the VERY sticky Lidoderm patch to the area, which feels extremely cold and clammy to the touch. It is a very flexible patch, and sticks amazingly well.

I applied this to my husband at 7:00 pm tonight, and I asked him to tell me when he started getting relief from the pain. He kept an eye on the clock, and said that in just 20 minutes his pain was gone! Not only does the patch work very quickly, but it gives him relief from his pain all evening long. He has to have my help in removing the patch the next morning because it is still stuck very firmly, and he can’t reach the area well by himself.

The Lidoderm patch has been a blessing for my husbands shingles pain! Our Dr. gave us 2 of these patches, and 2 of another brand, and we are now out and will be calling the Dr.’s office to get more of these from our pharmacy. They will be worth whatever we have to pay for them!

These patches cannot be placed on skin that still has the blisters, or used if you are sensitive to local anesthetics, so use these only on advice of your physician. The packet says that these still contain a fair amount of lidocaine, but the patches are not meant to be reused. Because of this, however, they should be disposed of with care by folding used patches so that the adhesive side sticks to itself, then you can safely discard them in the trash.

Inactive ingredients in the Lidoderm patch are: dihydroxyaluminum aminoacetate, disodium edetate, gelatin, glycerin, kaolin, methylparaben, polyacrylic acid, polyvinyl alcohol, propylene glycol, propylparaben, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, sodium polyacrylate, D-sorbitol, tartaric acid, and urea. Lidoderm patches are manufactured by Teikoku Seiyaku Co., Ltd. for Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.

To conclude, these patches have worked great. They are a non-pill pain reliever that doesn’t make my husband feel groggy, and the pain relief starts in 20 minutes and lasts for up to 12 hours.

Reference:

• www.lidoderm.com/about.aspx