I bought some of this recently.... the lidocaine amount is just shy of a Lidoderm patch. There have been commercials for this on TV too lately. Lidocaine is the only active ingredient. It does not have the other ingredients that regular Aspercreme has.

I am using it and finding a preliminary benefit to my night time pain. I have long suspected my feet hurt alot as referred pain from my knees. (since I retired and don't stand for hours on end anymore).

I apply a small glob (it is a thick lotion and in a bottle, not tube)
on each knee at bedtime. I concentrate on the sides of the knee where the nerves are. And I have seen a marked reduction in pain and burning at night. My left ankle pain is reduced about 80% so far.

So I do think might be helpful for others here. I did find less relief when applied to the tops of the feet themselves. So reaching the nerves higher up seems to work better for me. Try applying it on the lateral sides of the knee, if you have lower leg pain, or ankle pain.

This is the website;
http://www.aspercreme.com/pain-relie...lidocaine.html

The regular Aspercreme works for me a little, but if I try to use it every day it starts to sting the area I apply to.

I believe hubby picked it up for me at Target:
http://www.target.com/p/aspercreme-l...z/-/A-16836627

If you have an allergic problem with --caine anesthetics, then you should avoid this product.

Thanks for this, MrsD.

Perhaps related, I had something interesting happen last week that I was at a loss for explaining.

For about a year now, I've had "altered sensation" the two outer toes on my right foot. It just feels like my socks are bunched up in them...no pain. It's always just been those toes, not the other ones.

Last week while on a little trip, I climbed up a ski slope for no particular reason other than to get a good cardio work-out. My thrice-operated on right knee complained bitterly the next day, AND I suddenly had this altered sensation in my big toe for the first time ever. Not surprisingly I suppose, when the pain in my knee subsided after a couple of days, so did the sensation in my big toe. I'm now just back to altered sensation in those toes.

I'm going to try focusing on my knees as you suggest, and see what happens.

Yes, I know about this... When I dislocated my right knee, years ago.. What a painful thing that was. The pain from it went right to my big toe also.

The ortho I went to asked nothing about it.

So when I was thru with the ortho --had the shot in the joint after Xray and MRIs... I went to a chiropractor who reset my knee. On the entry sheet to fill out there was a diagram of the legs...and it asked for the areas of pain... so I drew it out there.

After she snapped my knee back (why couldn't the DOCTOR do this?--- he wanted to do a knee replacement is why)... the pain in my toe INSTANTLY stopped! This is why when I have to use a Lidoderm in bad pain times... I place it along the back of that knee, and it works in one day for me.

The ortho explained that as we age, our cartilage gets thinner and the knee tends to slip with the increased spaces created.
So I got a knee brace to hold my knee when walking long distances or stressing at the gym. And I started the SAMe to rebuild my cartilage. Both work well for this. 400mg of SAMe daily on an empty stomach in the morning. (Costco is affordable for this).

I too had dislocated that knee walking down a hill. We live in a hilly place and I had that happen the day after a long walk. I think it is the coming DOWN the hill that does it for me.

I thought I was randomly dislocating my knee, and after a few years, finally went back to the ortho. I described what was happening and the exact circumstances that caused it, and he said he thought what was going on is that I have a torn medial meniscus. When I sit specific ways (cross-legged on the ground or with my legs splayed out to my side), the torn piece folds and basically gets stuck. If I keep moving the leg (while in excruciating pain), it will eventually pop, and the pain goes away immediately.

As long as I avoid the offensive sitting positions, I generally don't have issues...unless I do something really aggravating like walking down a ski slope.

Well, that is very interesting.

There is also the fact that as we age the quads and the hamstrings become out of balance.

My chiro who reset my knee, suggested specific stretches, to balance the tension on the knee and keep it in place. These stretches worked for me.

Mrs D:

Do you think the new creme would work for the SFN that I feel in both palms?

Thanks!

David

Thanks so much for posting this. I will have to look into it.
I use lidocaine patches several times a week. Hit maximum out of pocket, so not much cost now, but will start up again with high cost in January.
Your research and knowledge base really makes a difference for me.

Big time. I was rationing out my patches from my tango with shingles, planning on discussing more with my primary, but if this substitutes fine, no need. It is on today's shopping list.

I despise the price tag on the patches. My co-pay is reasonable too, it just irks me that they gougefpr them the way they do.

I hope it works for you baba. I'll be chiming in later this weekend.

I would apply the lidocaine cream along your inner wrists for the palm pain. Is that the only place you have an issue?

We had a fellow here who was straining his hands doing push ups. His palmar pain went away when he stopped that activity.

Do you use the magnesium lotion? (Morton Epsom Lotion)...
This too applied to the wrists and inner arms may help.
Available at WalMart, Walgreen's and online at Amazon. Just a nickles diameter dollop on each wrist is all you need.

Both of these topicals are inexpensive and work for me to quell much of my discomfort.

I have PN in my feet and ankles as a result of stenosis at L5/S1 and it's driving me crazy. I am anxious to try this to see if there is any relief in it.

I went to see my pain management specialist a few weeks ago and almost the first words out of her mouth were, "Spinal Cord Stimulation." Not ready for more surgery at this point.