Surgery: Local, General and Hypnosis Based Pain Relief

Surgery, whether invasive or not, can be a frightening experience for anyone. With advances in alternative medicine, many surgical patients are opting to undergo surgical intervention bypassing the risk for complications which are associated with the application of local anesthesia. As a potential surgical patient, understanding the advantages and disadvantages to local anesthesia, in addition to the options for pain relief without local anesthesia application, may provide for a more successful surgical outcome.

Local anesthesia involves the use of analgesic based medications administered to a receptor site through the use of a needle and syringe. Unlike general anesthesia, in local anesthesia, the patient remains alert and awake with pain receptors temporary paralyzed within the region to be surgically repaired.

Advantages to local anesthesia lie within the ability of the anesthesia to turn off aim receptors within a particular region of the body enabling the patient to remain awake during the surgical procedure and reduce the potential for significant blood loss. In contrast to general anesthesia, most patients who use local anesthesia will not suffer from the associated nausea and vomiting side effects.

However, when using local anesthesia, there is a risk of complications. Such risks predominantly involve the damage to the surrounding nerves and tissue which may be short term or, in rare cases, long term. Such nerve damage associated with local anesthesia, results in the loss of feeling and sensation into the area affected. While this complication is rare, it does remain a risk in the use of local anesthesia. Additionally, when under a local anesthesia, because the patient remains alert, the surgeon may have greater difficulty in performing surgery successfully due to the movements of the patient.