Method of anesthesia

A method of producing local anesthesia in an eye of a mammal, comprising

• topically administering to the corneal surface of the eye of said mammal, in an ophthalmically suitable vehicle, an anesthetically effective dose of a pharmaceutical composition consisting essentially of a long-acting sodium channel blocking compound, said corneal surface having an epithelial layer that is partially or completely de-epithelialized.

A method of reducing pain in a mammal following corneal refractive surgery, comprising,

• topically administering to a partially or completely de-epithelialized corneal surface of an eye of said mammal, in an ophthalmically suitable vehicle, a pain reducing effective dose of a pharmaceutical composition consisting essentially of a long-acting sodium channel blocking compound.

A method of reducing pain in a mammal following corneal refractive surgery, comprising

• topically administering to a corneal surface of an eye of said mammal, in an ophthalmically suitable vehicle, a pain reducing effective dose of a pharmaceutical composition consisting essentially of a long-acting sodium channel blocking compound, wherein said administering is by applying to the eye of said mammal a bandage contact lens, wherein said lens is capable of delivering said long-acting sodium channel blocking compound to said corneal surface.

As an article of manufacture, an ophthalmically acceptable dosage container comprising:

• (a) a pharmaceutical composition consisting essentially of from about 0.003 .mu.g to 160 .mu.g of tetrodotoxin in an ophthalmically acceptable vehicle at pH of between about 4-8.

A local anesthetic composition which consists essentially of an anesthetically effective amount of tetrodotoxin, in a concentration of 0.01 mM to 1 mM, in an ophthalmically acceptable vehicle at pH 4-6.

A local anesthetic composition which consists essentially of an anesthetically effective amount of saxitoxin, in a concentration of 0.1 mM to 10 mM, in an ophthalmically acceptable vehicle at pH 4-8.

A local anesthetic composition which consists essentially of an anesthetically effective amount of tetrodotoxin, in a concentration of 0.1 mM to 10 mM, in an ophthalmically acceptable vehicle at pH 4-6.

A method of producing a non-toxic local anesthesia in an epithelial tissue region of a mammal, comprising

• topically administering an anesthetically effective dose of a pharmaceutical composition consisting essentially of a long-acting sodium channel blocking compound, in a pharmaceutically suitable vehicle comprising a citrate buffer at pH 4-8, to said epithelial tissue region of said mammal.

A non-toxic local anesthetic composition which consists essentially of an anesthetically effective amount of tetrodotoxin, in a concentration of 0.01 mM to 10 mM, in an ophtalmically acceptable vehicle comprising citrate buffer at pH 4-8.

A non-toxic local anesthetic composition which consists essentially of an anesthetically effective amount of saxitoxin, in a concentration of 0.01 mM to 10 mM, in an ophtalmically acceptable vehicle comprising citrate buffer at pH 4-8.