Thanks to researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, you may never have to gingerly sip a hot cup of coffee again to avoid burns. Because they’ve developed a dissolvable strip that numbs the pain of a bad burn in your mouth, instead of freshening your breath.
The strip is placed directly onto the part of the mouth that’s burned — whether it’s the tongue, cheek, or roof — and as it dissolves it delivers a controlled dosage of a local anesthetic called benzocaine. The pain reliever is already used in products designed to relive discomfort from dental work and sore throats, so it already has the FDA’s blessing for use by consumers.
But since a bad burn can take a few days to heal, the strip’s creators are now working on ways to extend its effects to two or three days until the healing process is well under way. Hopefully the strips don’t numb your tastebuds too, because what’s the point of tackling a fiery hot curry if you can’t taste it? [EurekAlert via Geekosystem]