Anesthesia
Say: ah-nus-thee-zhuh
Anesthesia is medicine that doctors and nurses give to make people feel comfortable
when they're having surgery,
stitches, or other things
that might be painful. There are different types of anesthesia: general and local.
General anesthesia is cool because it helps you fall asleep for a little bit so you
don't feel any pain while the doctors are fixing something. A doctor can give you
general anesthesia with a shot or by letting you breathe a special kind of air. The
medicine wears off and you wake up a while later. Local anesthesia doesn't make you
fall asleep, but it numbs the area so you won't feel pain while you get stitches or
minor surgery to remove something like a wart.