Americaine Side Effects Center

What Is Americaine?

Americaine (benzocaine) Anesthetic Lubricant is a local anesthetic (numbing medication) used to reduce pain or discomfort caused by minor skin irritations, sore throat, sunburn, teething pain, vaginal or rectal irritation, ingrown toenails, hemorrhoids, and many other sources of minor pain on a surface of the body. Americaine (benzocaine) is also used to numb the skin or surfaces inside the mouth, nose, throat, vagina, or rectum to lessen the pain of inserting a medical instrument such as a tube or speculum. The brand name Americaine is discontinued in the U.S. Generic versions may be available.

What Are Side Effects of Americaine?

Common side effects of Americaine (benzocaine) include application site reactions such as:

• stinging,
• burning, or
• itching,
• skin tenderness or
• redness, or
• dry white flakes.

Stop using Americaine (benzocaine) topical and call your doctor if you have serious side effects including:

• headache,
• weakness,
• dizziness,
• breathing problems,
• fast heart rate, and
• gray or bluish colored skin (rare but serious side effects of benzocaine);
• severe burning, stinging, or sensitivity where the medicine is applied;
• swelling, warmth, or redness; or
• oozing, blistering, or any signs of infection.

Americaine may cause serious side effects including:

• headache,
• tiredness,
• confusion,
• fast heartbeats,
• lightheadedness,
• shortness of breath,
• pale, blue or gray appearance of your skin, lips or fingernails,
• hives,
• difficulty breathing,
• swelling of your face, lips, tongue or throat,
• severe burning, stinging or sensitivity where the medicine is applied,
• swelling,
• warmth,
• redness,
• oozing,
• blistering, and
• signs of infection

Get medical help right away, if you have any of the symptoms listed above.

Seek medical care or call 911 at once if you have the following serious side effects:

• Serious eye symptoms such as sudden vision loss, blurred vision, tunnel vision, eye pain or swelling, or seeing halos around lights;
• Serious heart symptoms such as fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeats; fluttering in your chest; shortness of breath; and sudden dizziness, lightheartedness, or passing out;
• Severe headache, confusion, slurred speech, arm or leg weakness, trouble walking, loss of coordination, feeling unsteady, very stiff muscles, high fever, profuse sweating, or tremors.

This document does not contain all possible side effects and others may occur. Check with your physician for additional information about side effects.

Dosage for Americaine?

Apply a dose of benzocaine evenly to exterior of tube or instrument prior to use. It is not likely that other drugs you take orally or inject will have an effect on topically applied benzocaine.

What Drugs, Substances, or Supplements Interact with Americaine?

But many drugs can interact with each other. Tell your doctor all prescription and over-the-counter medications and supplements you use.

Americaine During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

During pregnancy, benzocaine should be used only if prescribed. It is unknown if this drug passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. Consult your doctor before breastfeeding.

Additional Information

Our Americaine (benzocaine) Side Effects Drug Center provides a comprehensive view of available drug information on the potential side effects when taking this medication.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Benzocaine topical used in the mouth may cause a condition in which the oxygen in your body tissues can become dangerously low. This is a potentially fatal condition called methemoglobinemia (met-HEEM-oh glo-bin-EE-mee-a). This condition may occur after only one use of benzocaine or after several uses.

Signs and symptoms may occur within minutes or up to 2 hours after using benzocaine topical in the mouth or throat. GET EMERGENCY MEDICAL HELP IF YOU HAVE:

• a headache, tiredness, confusion;
• fast heartbeats;
• feeling light-headed or short of breath; and
• pale, blue, or gray appearance of your skin, lips, or fingernails.

Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Stop using benzocaine topical and call your doctor at once if you have:

• severe burning, stinging, or sensitivity where the medicine is applied;
• swelling, warmth, or redness; or
• oozing, blistering, or any signs of infection.

Common side effects may include:

• mild stinging, burning, or itching where the medicine is applied;
• skin tenderness or redness; or
• dry white flakes where the medicine was applied.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.