It wasn’t a cream, it was a shot of lidocaine. Not the most pleasant thing, but an absolute walk in the park compared to the iud insertion. The implant doesn’t move at all. It can be a little weird to be able to feel it, and I have a small mark where it was inserted, but that was it. I did not have any issues with mental health like I did with the pill, and it didn’t make my skin any worse (I’ve always had stubborn acne, sadly).