I am halfway through a 10 day lockup (currently day 6) and yesterday I bought some lidocaine hemorrhoid cream, specifically: https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-health-maximum-strength-hemorrhoidal-relief-cream-prodid-437539

I've used name brand preparation h ointment in the past with mild effects (mostly just wrinkled my head like a finger in water for extended time) but I remember reading that ointment is better than the cream, however I cannot find where I saw that, can anyone please confirm or not if that is true and why? What I'm using now does not come in an ointment variation, at least not that I could find.

I will be applying this around 2 times a day for the next 5 days, but any advice on doing so more or less often is appreciated! I also took before measurements and photos that I will be comparing against at the end.