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 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.