The Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products () has withdrawn from the Lemon, Proaegis and Dermasa market, which are marketed as cosmetics, but contain active ingredients with local anesthetic action that gives them the condition of medicines and can cause damage to health.
The AEMPS, dependent on, reports in a statement that, according to the analysis of its official control laboratory, these creams contain lidocaine, prilocaine and tetracaína, active ingredients with local anesthetic action. These substances can cause reactions in the application zone such as erythema, edema or pruritus, and when they reach sufficiently high concentrations they can cause methemoglobin, a hemoglobin disorder that accumulates in the blood and cannot transport oxygen to the tissues.
The risk of these creams depends on the exposure time and the status of the skin. Absorption and problems can be more significant when used on mucous membranes or damaged skin, as occurs during tattoo or permanent makeup procedures (lip micropigmentation or hair -to -hair design hair, among others).
AEMPS has detected an increase in the promotion of illegal anesthetic creams aimed at use in aesthetic procedures, such as microblading (a semi -permanent makeup technique) or photodepilation, as well as in the preparation of the skin before performing tattoos. These products are also promoted on fraudulent websites and social networks, which aggravates the risk for consumers.
Given this situation, the state agency recommends not using these creams due to the possibility of serious adverse effects and remembers that these substances do not appear in their labeled, “hiding the consumer from their true composition and, therefore, increasing the risk of causing serious health damage.”
