The Compound Behind the Initials

BLT Numbing Cream

Benzocaine 20% · Lidocaine 10% · Tetracaine 10%

BLT is not a brand. It is the initials of the three anesthetics in a compounded topical — benzocaine, lidocaine and tetracaine — and the reason clinics reach for a compound instead of a retail tube. Always Numb™ is that compound, prepared fresh per order for licensed providers.

Request Pricing Call (310) 889-0733
Three Anesthetics
503A Compounding Pharmacy
USP-795 Compliant
Compounded Per Order
For Licensed Providers
Start Here

What BLT Actually
Stands For

You will see it written BLT, “BLT 20/10/10”, or “triple anesthetic cream”. All three name the same thing: a topical compounded with benzocaine, lidocaine and tetracaine together, at concentrations no over-the-counter product is permitted to carry. Retail numbing creams are a single agent, lidocaine, at roughly 4–5%. A BLT carries around 40% total anesthetic across three.

The numbers in “20/10/10” are those three concentrations in order. When a provider asks a pharmacy for BLT, that is the shorthand they are using — which is also why the same product turns up under several different names across clinics, studios and supplier lists.

◆
Benzocaine 20%
An ester anesthetic that works quickly at the surface. It is the agent doing most of the early work while the others are still moving through the skin.
◆
Lidocaine 10%
The amide most people recognise by name. In a compound it carries the effect deeper than a surface agent reaches on its own.
◆
Tetracaine 10%
Slower to arrive and longer to leave. Tetracaine is why a compound holds through a long appointment rather than fading partway.
The Reasoning

Why Three Agents,
Not One Bigger One

Each anesthetic covers a different part of the problem — how fast it starts, how deep it reaches, how long it lasts. Raising the concentration of a single agent does not reproduce that, which is the whole argument for compounding.

Retail lidocaine
4–5%
One agent, made for surface discomfort
Compounded BLT
~40% total
Three agents · onset, depth and duration
Prepared
Per order
Compounded fresh, with a beyond-use date
In Practice

Where Providers
Reach For It

The compound does not change between procedures. What changes is the area, the wait and how carefully it has to come off before the work starts — everything below is covered in more depth on its own page.

◆
Microneedling
Removed completely before the first pass, because the procedure opens thousands of channels and nothing should be sitting on the surface.
◆
Tattoo Work
Long sessions, large areas — the case where duration matters more than how quickly the effect arrives.
◆
Lip Filler
The lidocaine inside a filler only works once the gel is placed. It does nothing for the first puncture.
◆
Laser & IPL
Off completely before the handpiece touches skin, so its cooling works as intended.
◆
PDO Threads
Entry points and the path the thread travels, numbed ahead of a procedure patients find sharp.
◆
Hair Restoration
Scalp work, applied along parted rows so the compound reaches skin rather than hair.
Same Thing, Different Labels

The Names You Will
See It Sold Under

Because BLT describes a formula rather than a trademark, the same compound appears under a spread of names. Recognising them saves a lot of confusion when comparing suppliers.

“Triple anesthetic”
3 agents
Counts the anesthetics instead of naming them
“BLT 20/10/10”
Concentrations
The three percentages, in B-L-T order
“Compounded numbing cream”
Category
Says how it was made, not what is in it
The Part That Is Not About Strength

What “Compounded”
Commits Us To

A compounded preparation is made to a formula, per order, in a licensed pharmacy — here a 503A pharmacy working under USP 795. That is why it carries a beyond-use date instead of a shelf life measured in years, and why a batch is prepared after the order rather than pulled from a pallet.

It also sets who may receive it. Provider details are confirmed before anything is compounded, and the account stays with the licensed provider rather than with an individual artist or staff member. None of this makes the product work better; it is the paperwork that lets a clinician put it inside their own protocol and know what they are holding.

What we deliberately will not publish is how you personally should use it — timings, quantities, coverage, or whether to cover the area. Those belong to the treating provider’s judgement and their own written protocol, not to a product page. What belongs here is what is in the jar, who made it, and how long it is good for.

Questions

BLT Numbing Cream FAQ

Benzocaine, lidocaine and tetracaine — the three anesthetics compounded together. “BLT 20/10/10” adds the concentrations: benzocaine 20%, lidocaine 10%, tetracaine 10%. It is a description of the formula, not a brand name, which is why several suppliers all describe their product as BLT.
It is built differently rather than simply stronger. Retail lidocaine is one agent at 4–5%; a BLT is three agents totalling around 40%, each contributing something the others do not — surface onset, depth, and duration. Comparing them as one number against another misses what the combination is for.
Not from us. Always Numb™ is compounded for licensed providers and is not sold retail. A compound at this concentration belongs in a clinical setting with a protocol behind it, and a site offering one to anyone with a card is worth treating with suspicion.
Always Numb™ is compounded as a cream or an ointment. The base changes how it behaves — a cream absorbs and spreads evenly, an ointment stays where it is placed over a longer contact time — while the three anesthetics stay the same. “Gel” in most listings is describing the base, not the strength.
It carries a beyond-use date rather than a manufactured shelf life — typically six months from the day it is compounded, set under USP 795. Order to the volume your rooms will actually work through, and store it cool and dry.
Request pricing or call (310) 889-0733. A pharmacist confirms your provider details, the batch is compounded fresh, and it ships within 2–3 business days of payment confirmation. Practices ordering on a regular schedule can move onto wholesale pricing.

Compounded Fresh,
Three Agents Deep

For licensed providers, prepared per order, shipped in 2–3 business days.

Call (310) 889-0733 Request Pricing BLT vs EMLA vs Lidocaine
Call to Order