Overview: Lidocaine for mucous membranes (such as the mouth and throat) is commonly used to prevent and relieve pain or to numb part of your body before a procedure. The most common side effects. Lidocaine is used to relieve nerve pain after shingles (infection with the herpes zoster virus). Learn about side effects, drug interactions, dosages, warnings, and more. Lidocaine, usually in the form of its hydrochloride salt, is available in various forms including many topical formulations and solutions for injection or infusion. [68] It is a local anesthetic and cardiac depressant used as an antiarrhythmia agent. Its actions are more intense and its effects more prolonged than those of procaine but its duration of action is shorter than that of bupivacaine or prilocaine. Lidocaine Hydrochloride is used to numb an area of your body to help reduce pain or discomfort caused by invasive medical procedures such as surgery, needle punctures, or insertion of a catheter or breathing tube. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic (numbing medication) that is used to numb an area of your body to help reduce pain or discomfort caused by invasive medical procedures such as surgery, needle punctures, or insertion of a catheter or breathing tube. Lidocaine skin patch is used to relieve nerve pain caused by herpes zoster or shingles (postherpetic neuralgia). Lidocaine belongs to the family of medicines called local anesthetics.