Are you interested in learning about Novocaine? We got you covered. In this article, we will discuss all the important things that you should know about the local anesthetic. Without further ado, let’s start:
What is Novocaine?
Novocaine is a local anesthetic medicine brand. As opposed to general anesthesia that causes a person to be unconscious, a local anesthetic only numb a particular area of the human body. Local anesthetic medications are used for minor operations, like removal of wisdom tooth, getting rid of a wart or mole, removal of cataracts, or biopsy. Novocaine was first developed back in 1905. Although there are newer anesthetics that are released since Novocaine’s release, it is still used on some operations.
How do Novocaine works?
Novocaine functions by obstructing the nerve fibres in the human body from transmitting pain indicators to the brain. A physician or dental professional is able to use Novocaine to numb specific areas of the body, allowing them to conduct their operations without causing pain to the patient.
Normally, Novocaine’s effects have a very short duration, with the numbing sensation just lasting 30 minutes to a full hour. Having said that, the effects of Novocaine can be felt fast. The numbing sensations begin 5 – 10 minutes after the drug was injected.
Given that Novocaine on its own provides a really short length of numbness, it is frequently utilized in combination with other drugs like epinephrine, which can extend the numbness duration. In the following section, we will discuss the factors that affect the duration of Novocaine in greater detail.
Factors that increase the duration of numbness produced by Novocaine
The precise duration of Novocaine’s effect is mainly dependent on the dosage administered to the patient. The dose varies based on many factors, such as how big is the area of the body that requires numbing, the amount of nerves needed to be obstructed, and how long should the patient be numbed down.
People with a condition known as pseudocholinesterase deficiency is more sensitive to Novocaine, which means that its effects will last longer on them. Approximately 1 in every 5,000 suffers from the said condition. Pseudeocholinesterase is the enzyme responsible for breaking down Novocaine. People with deficiency of that enzyme takes longer to break down the drug, which means that its effects will wear out much slowly.
The dangers of using Novocaine
Novocaine is generally regarded as harmless. Even though overdosing on Novocaine remains a possibility, any competent doctor or dentist can compute the proper dosage to make sure that overdosing does not occur. Combining Novocaine with epinephrine will even lower the chances of overdosing.
Novocaine is introduced to the body through an injection, which means that people not used to injections might experience pain or discomfort. A burning feeling at the area pierced by the needle is also expected. Some minor side effects of Novocaine include headaches, lightheadedness, sleepiness, twitching muscles, and slight soreness at the area injected.