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.