Yes, redheads do require more anesthesia
Anesthesia is a tricky thing. And now that we have the internet you can literally scare yourself to death reading horror stories online about anesthesia mishaps, people who woke up during surgery or patients who had the wrong body part removed. And now there’s something new to be concerned with. Are you a redhead? Are you about to have general anesthesia? You may have heard that redheads require more anesthesia and after just a little bit of researching, you’ll find that it’s true! Why? Here’s what one researcher has to say:
Dr. Daniel I. Sessler, an anesthesiologist and chairman of the department of outcomes research at the Cleveland Clinic, said he began studying hair color after hearing so many colleagues speculate about redheads requiring more anesthesia.
“The reason we studied redheads in the beginning, it was essentially an urban legend in the anesthesia community saying redheads were difficult to anesthetize,” Dr. Sessler said. “This was so intriguing we went ahead and studied it. Redheads really do require more anesthesia, and by a clinically important amount.”
After publishing research on the topic, Dr. Sessler began hearing from redheads who complained about problems with dental pain and fear about going to the dentist. He said that when someone with red hair is considering a dental or other procedure requiring an anesthetic, they should talk to their doctor about the high probability that they are resistant to anesthetics.
“Because they’re resistant, many redheads have had bad experiences,” Dr. Sessler said. “If they go to the dentist or have a cut sutured, they’ll need more local anesthetic than other people.”
One of my redheaded friends was so relieved to hear this because she says now she won’t feel so bad when she tells the dentist that she can still feel what he is doing to her and yes, that she still does need more novocaine! Hopefully, this will help many redheads to understand why they need more pain relief.
Which brings me to my next point. If you are a redhead and need to have surgery ,are you concerned that you will require more anesthesia? Fears about anesthesia include, being given too much anesthesia and not waking up afterwards; being given too little anesthesia and waking up before surgery is finished; being resistant to anesthesia and waking up enough to feel and hear what is happening but not being able to say anything. Although all of these scenarios are extremely unlikely, they do happen and merit some careful thought about how to proceed. Be sure to talk with your physician about your options.
After more research, I understand that it’s not that redheads are more resistant to anesthesia, but that they metabolize it faster and therefore need more anesthesia, analgesics, novocaine, or whatever it might be. To order these headphones for YOUR hospitals, go to https://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/12-pre-loaded-headphones-for-hospitals/
Patient calms down before surgical procedure with music rather than benzodiazepines
Make sure that the patients at YOUR hospital have the very best and latest equipment to get them through their surgery or procedure with as little pain and discomfort as possible. You can also let your patients know about our mobile app, which has 5 different, hour-long playlists, in 5 different genres, to get them through their procedures! Just go to www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com/calm.
Oh great, …. so what about redheads that are hypermobile too, as hypermobile people have trouble with anesthesia and pain relief
Hi Carm, I think that most anesthesiologists these days know that redheads need more anesthesia and do so. They also are able to monitor your level of anesthesia in any number of way. 🙂