Local or General Anesthesia for Gynecomastia Surgery? What Shapes the Choice and Recovery

He had rehearsed the question in the parking lot. Not the one about scars, or how soon he could get back to the gym, but the one that had kept him scrolling forums at midnight: would he be awake for it? The surgeon smiled, because it is the question almost every man asks in the first five minutes of a gynecomastia consultation.

It is a fair question. Gynecomastia is the medical name for enlarged breast tissue in men, and the operation to correct it sits in an unusual middle ground. Some versions take under an hour and remove a walnut-sized disc of gland through a small incision. Others involve liposuction across the whole chest and trimming loose skin. The anesthesia has to fit the operation, not the other way around.

So the honest answer to the gynecomastia surgery anesthesia question is: it depends, but on things you can actually understand. This explainer walks through what shapes the decision and what recovery tends to look like with each approach.

What actually happens during gynecomastia surgery, and where anesthesia fits

Start with the anatomy, because it explains everything else. Male breast enlargement comes from two ingredients in varying proportions: glandular tissue, which is firm and rubbery, and fatty tissue, which is soft. Mayo Clinic describes gynecomastia as a swelling of breast gland tissue driven by a shift in the balance of estrogen and testosterone, and notes that it can involve one breast or both.

Surgery targets whichever ingredient dominates. Liposuction, meaning the removal of fat through a thin tube called a cannula, handles the soft component. Excision, meaning cutting tissue out directly, handles the firm gland, usually through a short incision along the lower edge of the areola, the darker skin around the nipple. Larger cases may add skin removal and repositioning of the nipple.

Anesthesia is simply the plan for keeping you comfortable and still while that happens. There are three broad plans. Local anesthesia numbs only the chest using injected medicine that blocks nerve signals. Sedation adds medicine through a vein to make you drowsy and relaxed, sometimes so relaxed that you remember little. General anesthesia puts you into a controlled, reversible state of unconsciousness, with an anesthesiologist managing your breathing and vital signs throughout.

The surgeon’s job and the anesthesiologist’s job overlap here. A gland excision that takes forty minutes through one small incision asks very little of the anesthetic plan. Liposuction across a broad area of the chest asks more, because the cannula travels under skin that all needs to be numb, and the patient has to lie still for longer. The more the operation spreads out in time and territory, the more the balance tilts toward sedation or general anesthesia.

Nothing about this is a verdict on how brave you are. It is a matching exercise between the procedure, your body, and your preferences.

Local, sedation or general anesthesia: what each option means in plain language

The three options are often presented as a ladder, and the image is useful as long as you remember that the rungs blur into each other.

Local anesthesia alone. The surgeon injects a numbing medicine into the tissue of the chest. The NHS explains that local anesthetics work by stopping nerves in that area from sending pain signals to the brain, so you stay fully awake and aware but do not feel pain. You may feel pressure, tugging, and the vibration of the liposuction cannula. For gynecomastia, this usually involves a technique called tumescent infiltration, meaning a large volume of very dilute numbing fluid is spread through the fat, which also reduces bleeding.

Local anesthesia with sedation. The chest is numbed the same way, but an anesthesia clinician also gives medicine through an intravenous line to reduce anxiety and dull awareness. MedlinePlus describes sedation as ranging from minimal, where you are relaxed but conversational, to deep, where you drift in and out and may not remember the procedure. You breathe on your own throughout, though your oxygen levels are monitored continuously.

General anesthesia. Medicines given by vein or inhaled through a mask bring on a state of unconsciousness. The NHS notes that during general anesthesia you feel nothing and have no memory of the procedure, and that a breathing tube or airway device is commonly used because the medicines relax the muscles that keep your airway open.

Which rung you land on is not fixed in advance. Some teams plan for local with light sedation and have general anesthesia available if the patient becomes uncomfortable. Others plan general anesthesia from the outset for anything beyond a small gland excision. Ask which model your team uses; the answer tells you a great deal about how the day will feel.

Gynecomastia surgery under local anesthesia: when it is realistic

Local anesthesia works best when the operation is small, contained, and short. In practical terms, that usually means a modest amount of firm gland behind the nipple with little excess fat, and no need to remove skin. The surgeon can numb a limited area, make a short incision at the edge of the areola, remove the disc of tissue, and close, often in well under an hour.

Men who lean toward this option tend to give a few reasons. They want to avoid the grogginess and nausea that can follow general anesthesia. They may have a health condition that makes deep anesthesia less attractive. Some simply prefer to remain aware of what is happening. Those are all legitimate considerations, and a surgeon who offers local-only surgery for suitable cases is working within mainstream practice.

Limits appear quickly, though. Numbing medicine has a maximum safe amount based on body weight, which caps how large an area can be treated in one sitting. Liposuction under local alone can feel intensely uncomfortable when the cannula reaches the edges of the numbed zone or works near the ribs. Lying still on a firm table for a prolonged period is harder than it sounds when you are wide awake and anxious. Surgeons also need the patient relaxed for a good result; a man tensing his chest muscles changes the contour the surgeon is trying to sculpt.

So when a surgeon says local alone is not right for your case, it is rarely about caution for its own sake. It usually reflects the volume of tissue, the extent of liposuction, or the need to reposition skin. Sedation added to local often bridges the gap and preserves most of the benefits men are hoping for.

General anesthesia for gyno surgery: why many surgeons prefer it

Ask a group of plastic surgeons how they approach chest contouring and many will say general anesthesia is their default for anything beyond a small excision. Their reasoning comes down to control, comfort, and completeness.

Control first. Under general anesthesia the patient is motionless, breathing is managed, and the anesthesiologist can adjust depth minute by minute. Muscles relax completely, which matters when the surgeon is judging symmetry between two sides of the chest and needs the tissue to lie exactly as it will when the patient is standing later.

Comfort second. Liposuction across the chest, into the armpit fold, and down toward the upper abdomen involves repeated passes with the cannula over a wide area. Even with excellent tumescent numbing, awake patients often describe the sensation as unpleasant. General anesthesia removes that experience entirely, and it removes the memory of it.

Completeness third. When a surgeon is not racing against a patient’s tolerance, the operation can take as long as good technique requires. Combining gland excision, liposuction, and skin adjustment in one session is more straightforward.

The trade-offs are real but generally modest. The NHS lists common after-effects of general anesthesia such as nausea, a sore throat from the airway device, shivering, and feeling drowsy or confused for a while; these typically settle within hours. You will need someone to take you home and stay with you, and the NHS advises against driving or making important decisions for at least 24 hours. Serious complications are uncommon in healthy people; the NHS describes death related to general anesthesia as very rare, on the order of one in every 100,000 anesthetics.

For most men having a fuller chest contouring procedure, then, general anesthesia is a considered choice rather than an overcautious one.

Who is usually a good candidate, and who is often asked to wait

Before anyone debates local versus general, a more basic question sits upstream: is surgery the right step at all, and is now the right time?

Mayo Clinic notes that gynecomastia in adolescents usually resolves on its own, typically within six months to two years, which is why surgeons are cautious about operating on teenagers whose tissue may still change. Adult men with enlargement that has been stable for a year or more, and who are close to a weight they can maintain, tend to be the most straightforward candidates.

Cause matters too. Cleveland Clinic lists medicines, hormone imbalances, liver or kidney disease, thyroid disorders, and certain substances among the drivers of male breast enlargement. If an ongoing cause is identified, addressing it first may shrink the tissue or at least stop it from returning after surgery. This is a conversation for your physician, never something to adjust on your own.

Anesthesia choice narrows further based on general health. Men with well-controlled conditions are usually suitable for any approach. Those with significant heart or lung disease, sleep apnea, or a history of difficult airway management may be steered toward local with sedation, or may need extra evaluation before general anesthesia is offered. Conversely, someone with severe anxiety about being awake, or a very large amount of tissue to remove, is often a poor fit for local alone.

People commonly asked to wait include smokers who have not yet stopped, men whose weight is still changing substantially, anyone with an uninvestigated new lump or nipple discharge, and those in the midst of a medication change that could affect the tissue. Waiting in these situations is not a refusal; it is the team protecting the result and your safety.

What shapes the gynecomastia surgery anesthesia decision: a side-by-side view

Put the factors in one place and the pattern becomes clear. The table below summarizes what clinicians typically weigh, based on how these anesthesia types are described by the NHS and MedlinePlus. It is a guide to the conversation, not a decision tool; your team weighs these against your specific anatomy and health.

Factor	Local alone	Local with sedation	General anesthesia
Typical procedure fit	Small gland excision, little fat	Gland excision plus limited liposuction	Extensive liposuction, skin removal, combined procedures
Your awareness	Fully awake	Drowsy, often little memory	Unconscious, no memory
Sensation during surgery	Pressure and tugging, no sharp pain	Minimal, dulled	None
Breathing	Your own	Your own, monitored	Supported by airway device
Fasting beforehand	Usually not required	Required	Required
Common after-effects	Numbness wearing off	Grogginess for a few hours	Nausea, sore throat, drowsiness
Escort home	Sometimes advised	Required	Required
Length of operation it suits	Short	Short to moderate	Any length

Two observations stand out. First, the middle column does a lot of work. Sedation plus local captures much of what men want from staying awake, namely faster clearing of the head and less nausea, while removing most of the discomfort that makes local alone difficult. Second, the biggest driver is the operation itself. A man with a large fatty chest and loose skin will almost always be guided toward general anesthesia regardless of preference, because the surgery he needs is long and wide.

Where preference does carry weight is in the borderline case: moderate gland, modest fat, no skin excess. There, a thoughtful team will lay out both paths and let you help choose.

How painful is gynecomastia surgery? The realistic gynecomastia surgery pain level

During the operation itself, pain should not be part of the experience under any of the three approaches. Local anesthetic blocks the nerves; sedation dulls what is left; general anesthesia removes awareness entirely. If an awake patient feels sharp pain, the team adds more numbing or deepens sedation. That is the system working, not failing.

Afterward is a different story, and it is worth being honest about it. Most men describe the first two to three days as soreness rather than sharp pain, often compared to the deep muscle ache after an unusually hard chest workout. The tightness of the compression garment, which is a snug vest worn to reduce swelling and support the new contour, adds a squeezed sensation that some find more bothersome than the incisions.

Liposuction tends to produce a broader, bruised ache across the treated area. Gland excision produces more localized tenderness around the areola. Men who have both will feel both.

Pain control after surgery usually relies on simple over-the-counter analgesics, with a short course of something stronger only if needed. Your surgical team will tell you exactly what to take and for how long; those instructions replace anything you read here. Cold packs over the garment, gentle walking, and sleeping slightly propped up are the low-tech measures most teams recommend.

Numbness is common and can be more unsettling than pain. The nipple and surrounding skin may feel wooden or tingly for weeks because small sensory nerves are disturbed during surgery. Cleveland Clinic notes that changes in nipple sensation are a recognized effect of gynecomastia surgery; sensation usually improves over months, though a degree of permanent change is possible and should be discussed beforehand.

The anesthesia type does not change this longer-term picture much. It changes the operating room experience and the first few hours after.

How risky is gynecomastia surgery, and does the anesthesia change the risk?

Two sets of risks travel together here: those from the operation and those from the anesthesia. They deserve to be separated, because people often blur them.

Surgical risks are the ones surgeons list at every consent discussion. Cleveland Clinic describes bleeding, infection, fluid collection under the skin (called a seroma), changes in nipple sensation, visible scarring, contour irregularities, and asymmetry between the two sides. A hematoma, meaning a pocket of blood collecting under the skin, is the complication most likely to send someone back to the operating room in the first day or two, which is why teams watch closely for sudden one-sided swelling. Over-resection, where too much tissue is removed and the chest looks hollow, is a cosmetic risk that experienced surgeons specifically work to avoid.

Anesthesia risks depend on the type. Local anesthetic complications are uncommon and mostly relate to using too much, which can affect the heart and nervous system; this is why the total amount is calculated carefully against body weight. Sedation adds the possibility of breathing becoming too shallow, which is why oxygen and monitoring are mandatory. General anesthesia carries the after-effects already described plus rare but serious events such as allergic reactions and breathing complications. The NHS emphasizes that these are uncommon and that the anesthesiologist’s pre-assessment exists precisely to identify people at higher risk.

Does anesthesia type change surgical risk? Indirectly, a little. A relaxed, motionless patient allows more precise work and better bleeding control. A restless awake patient can make the surgeon rush. That is one of the quieter reasons surgeons favor sedation or general anesthesia for larger cases.

Overall, gynecomastia surgery in a healthy adult is regarded as a low-risk elective procedure. The risk profile is shaped far more by your health, your smoking status, and the extent of the operation than by the anesthetic choice itself.

Preparing for surgery: tests, fasting, medicines and what to disclose

Preparation differs more between anesthesia types than the surgery itself does, and it starts weeks out.

Pre-assessment. For sedation or general anesthesia, you will usually meet or speak with an anesthesia clinician beforehand. Johns Hopkins describes this visit as the point where your medical history, previous anesthetic experiences, allergies, and airway are reviewed. Blood tests, and sometimes an electrocardiogram (a recording of the heart’s electrical activity), are ordered based on age and health rather than routinely for everyone. Local-only procedures may need little or no testing.

Fasting. The NHS explains that an empty stomach before sedation or general anesthesia lowers the risk of stomach contents entering the lungs while protective reflexes are suppressed. You will be given exact times to stop eating and drinking; follow them precisely, because arriving with a full stomach usually means the procedure is postponed. Local anesthesia alone often has no fasting requirement.

Medicines and supplements. Tell the team everything you take, including over-the-counter pain relievers, herbal products, and anything bought for fitness or hormone purposes. Some blood thinners and certain supplements increase bleeding and may need to be paused, but only on your prescriber’s instruction; never stop a prescribed medicine on your own. Anabolic steroid use is relevant both to the cause of gynecomastia and to anesthesia planning, and disclosing it will not get you lectured; it will get you safer care.

Smoking and nicotine. The CDC notes that smoking impairs wound healing and raises the risk of surgical complications, and most surgeons ask for a nicotine-free window before and after chest surgery. Vaping counts.

Logistics. Arrange a responsible adult to take you home and stay the first night if you are having sedation or general anesthesia. Loose front-opening clothing makes dressing over a compression garment far easier.

The day of surgery and the first 24 hours with each type of anesthesia

Picture the day three ways.

Under local alone, you arrive, change, and have the chest marked while standing, since gravity shows the surgeon the true contour. The numbing injections sting for a minute or two before the area goes heavy and quiet. During the procedure you hear conversation, feel pressure, and may notice the hum of the liposuction machine. Afterward you sit up, have the garment fitted, and can usually leave within an hour or so, often able to travel home with minimal assistance. The numbness fades over several hours and soreness gradually replaces it.

Under local with sedation, an intravenous line goes in first. The sedative brings a warm, unbothered calm; many men remember the first few minutes and then very little. Recovery-room staff monitor you until you are alert and stable. Expect to feel foggy for a few hours and to need your escort’s help getting home.

Under general anesthesia, you meet the anesthesiologist, breathe oxygen through a mask, and are asleep within moments of the medicine entering the vein. You wake in a recovery area with the garment already on. A sore throat, chill, and queasiness are common on first waking; the NHS notes these usually pass within hours. Discharge the same day is typical for gynecomastia surgery once you can drink, pass urine, and walk steadily, though some teams keep patients overnight after larger procedures.

Across all three, the first night follows a shared script: rest propped on pillows, keep the garment on, take pain relief exactly as directed, and check the dressings for the kind of rapid swelling described in the red-flag section later. A small amount of pink fluid on the dressings is expected; a dressing soaked through is not.

Recovery time after gynecomastia surgery: how many days should you rest?

Here is where the anesthesia choice matters least and the surgery itself matters most. Whether you were awake or asleep, the tissue underneath has been through the same disruption, and it heals on its own schedule.

Cleveland Clinic advises that most people return to work within about a week after gynecomastia surgery, sooner for desk-based roles and later for physically demanding ones, and that strenuous activity and heavy lifting should generally be avoided for several weeks. Your surgeon’s specific timeline overrides any general figure, because it accounts for how much was removed and how your tissue looked at the end of the operation.

A typical arc looks like this. The first two to three days are for rest, short walks around the house, and managing soreness. Days four to seven bring noticeable improvement; many men resume light routines and gentle walks outside. By the second week the garment is usually still worn most of the day, but swelling has begun to settle and the chest starts to show its new shape. Chest-focused exercise, running, and contact sports wait until the team clears them, commonly somewhere in the range of four to six weeks depending on the surgeon’s protocol.

Where anesthesia type does show up is in the first 48 hours. After general anesthesia, tiredness and low appetite can linger into the second day; after local alone, men often feel surprisingly normal by the evening apart from chest soreness. The NHS advises avoiding driving, alcohol, and signing legal documents for at least 24 hours after general anesthesia or sedation.

Final results take patience. Swelling can obscure the contour for weeks, and Cleveland Clinic notes that it may take several months for the chest to settle fully. Scars mature over a year. Judging the outcome at week two is like judging a painting while the varnish is still wet.

What people often get wrong about anesthesia for gynecomastia surgery

Forums and search results are full of confident statements about anesthesia that do not survive contact with the evidence. A few worth correcting:

“Local anesthesia means the surgery is minor.” Not necessarily. The anesthesia type reflects the extent and duration of the procedure, not its importance. A small excision under local still involves incisions, tissue removal, and the same healing biology.

“General anesthesia is dangerous for a cosmetic operation.” For a healthy adult, the NHS characterizes serious complications of general anesthesia as rare and death as very rare. The pre-assessment process exists to catch the exceptions. Risk should be discussed honestly, not exaggerated in either direction.

“You will wake up mid-surgery under general.” Awareness during general anesthesia is a recognized but very uncommon event, and modern monitoring is designed to prevent it. Under sedation, some awareness is expected and normal; that is a different situation and worth knowing in advance so it does not alarm you.

“Being awake is braver and recovers faster.” Recovery of the chest itself is governed by the surgery, not the anesthesia. Being awake for a procedure you find distressing can raise blood pressure and make surgery harder. Choosing sedation is a clinical decision, not a character flaw.

“If it hurts during surgery, that is just how local works.” Local anesthesia, correctly done, blocks pain. Pressure and vibration are expected; sharp pain is a signal to speak up so the team can add numbing or sedation.

“Liposuction alone is always enough.” Mayo Clinic notes that firm glandular tissue does not respond to liposuction and must be excised. Anesthesia plans built around liposuction only may need revisiting once the surgeon assesses the gland.

“Once the anesthesia wears off, you are fully recovered.” The anesthetic clears within a day; the tissue takes weeks.

Questions to ask your care team before you decide

A good consultation should leave you able to explain your anesthesia plan to a friend in two sentences. If you cannot, ask more. These questions tend to draw out the answers that matter:

• Based on my exam, roughly how much of my enlargement is gland and how much is fat, and how does that shape your recommended anesthesia?
• Do you plan local only, local with sedation, or general anesthesia for my case, and what would make you change that plan on the day?
• If we start under local with sedation and I become uncomfortable, what happens next?
• Who will be giving my anesthesia, and will that person be present for the whole operation?
• What pre-operative tests do I need, and why?
• Which of my medicines and supplements should I keep taking, and which need review by my prescriber before surgery?
• How long do you expect the operation to take?
• Will I go home the same day, and what would keep me overnight?
• What do you consider normal swelling and bruising in the first week, and what would you want to hear about immediately?
• How long will I wear the compression garment, and when can I shower?
• When do you clear patients for desk work, driving, gym sessions, and chest-specific training?
• What is your plan if a hematoma or seroma develops?
• How do you decide how much tissue to leave so the chest does not look hollow?
• What changes in nipple sensation should I expect, and how often are they permanent in your experience?
• Who do I call after hours if something worries me?

Write the answers down. Men frequently report that the consultation felt clear at the time and blurred within a week; notes fix that. If a team seems impatient with these questions, that in itself is information.

When to call your doctor after gynecomastia surgery

Most recovery worries turn out to be ordinary: soreness, bruising that spreads and yellows, a patch of numbness, a garment that feels too tight at bedtime. A short list of signs, however, should prompt a same-day call to your surgical team, and a smaller list warrants emergency care.

Call your surgical team promptly if you notice:

• Swelling that is clearly larger on one side than the other, or a firm, tense, rapidly enlarging area, which can signal a hematoma.
• Bleeding that soaks through a dressing rather than lightly staining it.
• Increasing pain after the first few days rather than steady improvement, or pain not eased by the medicine you were given.
• Fever, spreading redness, warmth, or foul-smelling discharge around the incisions, which can indicate infection.
• Skin over the treated area that turns dusky, purple, or blackened, especially near the nipple.
• A soft, sloshing collection of fluid under the skin, which may be a seroma needing drainage.
• Persistent nausea or vomiting that prevents you from keeping fluids down after the first day.

Seek emergency care immediately for:

• Chest pain, sudden shortness of breath, or coughing up blood, which can indicate a blood clot in the lungs.
• Pain, swelling, or warmth in one calf, which can indicate a clot in the leg.
• Difficulty breathing, facial or throat swelling, or widespread hives, which can indicate a serious allergic reaction.
• Confusion, fainting, or a racing heartbeat that does not settle with rest.

The NHS also advises contacting your care team if after-effects of general anesthesia such as drowsiness, confusion, or a sore throat persist well beyond the first day or two rather than fading. When in doubt, call. Surgical teams would far rather hear about a false alarm than learn of a real problem late, and every decision about what to do next belongs with them.

Frequently asked questions

Can you be put to sleep for gyno surgery?

Yes. General anesthesia, which produces a controlled state of unconsciousness, is commonly used for gynecomastia surgery, especially when liposuction covers a wide area or skin is removed. Many men are also offered intravenous sedation with local numbing, which leaves them drowsy and largely unaware without full unconsciousness. Your anesthesiologist decides which is appropriate after reviewing your health.

Is gynecomastia surgery under local anesthesia safe?

For small, contained procedures such as removing a modest disc of gland through one incision, local anesthesia alone is a mainstream and generally safe approach. Its limits come from the amount of numbing medicine that can be used and from patient comfort during longer liposuction. Your surgeon will judge whether your case fits, and pressure and tugging are expected while sharp pain is not.

How painful is gynecomastia surgery afterward?

Most men describe soreness similar to a hard chest workout for the first two to three days, plus tightness from the compression garment. Liposuction produces a broad bruised ache; gland excision produces localized tenderness at the areola. Pain usually eases steadily over the first week. Numbness around the nipple is common and can persist for weeks or months as small nerves recover.

How risky is gynecomastia surgery overall?

In healthy adults it is considered a low-risk elective operation. Recognized surgical risks include bleeding, hematoma, seroma, infection, scarring, asymmetry, and altered nipple sensation. Anesthesia risks depend on the type used and are uncommon; the NHS describes serious complications of general anesthesia as rare. Smoking, uncontrolled medical conditions, and larger operations raise risk more than the choice of anesthetic does.

How many days should I rest after gynecomastia surgery?

Cleveland Clinic advises that most people return to work within about a week, with the first two to three days spent largely resting and walking gently. Strenuous exercise, heavy lifting, and chest training typically wait several weeks until your surgeon clears you. Your team’s specific instructions, based on how much tissue was removed, override any general figure.

What is the general anesthesia for gyno surgery like on the day?

You fast beforehand, have an intravenous line placed, breathe oxygen through a mask, and fall asleep within moments of the medicine being given. You wake in a recovery area with the compression garment already on. Nausea, a sore throat, and drowsiness are common at first and usually pass within hours. Most patients go home the same day with an adult escort.

Do I need blood tests before gynecomastia surgery?

It depends on your age, health, and the anesthesia planned. For sedation or general anesthesia, an anesthesia clinician reviews your history and may order blood tests or an electrocardiogram based on risk rather than routinely. Local-only procedures often need little or no testing. Your team will tell you exactly what is required and why.

Does the gynecomastia surgery pain level differ between local and general anesthesia?

During the operation, neither should involve pain when done correctly. In the first hours afterward, men who had local alone often feel more alert with chest soreness, while those who had general anesthesia may feel groggy or queasy. Beyond the first day, pain and healing follow the surgery itself, not the anesthetic, and are essentially the same.

Why did my surgeon say local anesthesia is not an option for me?

Usually because of the extent of the planned operation. Wide liposuction, a large amount of gland, or the need to remove skin requires more numbing than can safely be used and asks a patient to lie still for longer than most tolerate awake. Health factors and anxiety levels also influence the recommendation. Ask your surgeon to explain the specific reason in your case.

What is the typical recovery time after gynecomastia surgery before the final result shows?

Swelling settles progressively over weeks, and Cleveland Clinic notes it can take several months for the chest to reach its settled shape. Scars continue to fade and flatten for up to a year. Early impressions at one or two weeks are unreliable because swelling and bruising still mask the contour. Anesthesia type has no bearing on this longer timeline.

References

• Cleveland Clinic: Gynecomastia (Enlarged Male Breast Tissue)
• NHS: General anaesthesia
• NHS: Local anaesthesia
• MedlinePlus: Anesthesia

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.