Understanding Benzocaine

Medication Interactions

Patients need to inform their physician of all of their current medications, supplements, and vitamins. This ensures that their doctor helps them avoid medication interactions, including those with benzocaine! Thankfully, as benzocaine is a topical medication, it has few interactions. However, severe medication interactions exist with it and prilocaine and sodium nitrite.

Prilocaine and benzocaine are in the same class of medications. Using them together increases a patient's risk of a condition that causes fatal oxygen deprivation! Young individuals and those with preexisting conditions are more at risk of this interaction. Sodium nitrite used with benzocaine also increases the risk of this condition. Patients must be especially careful here. After all, this substance is a type of salt! It is used as a food preservative and antioxidant.