Dealing with Anesthetics

Anesthetics are the drugs that help you to reduce or take away the body sensations. Anesthesia helps to make a person unconscious and prevents sending any pain signals to the brain by blocking all the possible pathways. They work temporarily and are usually used during surgeries. An anesthetic specialist is used to give anesthesia to a patient and is referred as anesthetist. An anesthetist is a specialist, who knows the amount and requirement of anesthesia during different surgeries.

There are mainly two types of anesthesia. They are as follows:

• General Anesthesia: The general anesthesia makes the patient unconscious. This anesthesia is generally used while performing surgeries.

• Local Anesthesia: The local anesthesia is used to numb a part of the body. It is generally used while injecting to avoid pain.

Side Effects of Anesthesia:

The side effects of anesthesia usually occur for two to three hours or a couple of days. They often depend on the type of anesthesia given. The side effects also depend upon the age of the person and his medical history.

Following are some of the short-term side effects of anesthesia:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Blurred Vision
• Sore Throat
• Dizziness
• Mood Swings
• Unusual dreams

Following are some of the long-term side effects of anesthesia:

• Headache
• Stomach pain
• Black stool
• Vomiting
• Change in the urine output
• Yellowing of eyes and the skin
• Weakness

The long term side effects of anesthesia are rarely detected and are usually seen in aged patients.

Spinal Anesthesia:

Spinal anesthesia is a regional anesthesia and is used to inject into the spinal cord. It is often used during childbirth to numb the pelvic area. The main reason of using spinal anesthesia is to avoid complications and ensure maximum comfort level. However, there are small risks of complications like potential paralysis.

An honest talk with the anesthetist and the entire medical history of the patient helps to give accurate anesthesia or recommend some other alternative.