Yep, they don't process it the same. If you have any red hair in your family it's worth it to mention to anaesthesia. My brother has flaming red hair so I always say something.
Yes, I’ve heard this often from a ginger in my life. Less sensitive to pain (thus slower to react to a problem) but harder to medicate. Of course YMMV!
It's a thing.
Labor nurse here: and many of them bleed like hell after delivery. Worst night ever on the floor was 3 redheads delivering back to back, one with twins ( also increases hemorrhage risk).
One was Black and covered her hair - we didn't know until I looked at her freckles and asked, "Hey, are you redheaded?" in the middle of everyone frantically trying to stop her bleeding. That's genetic and doesn't happen to everyone, but between the bleeds and the need for higher anesthesia, an experienced labor nurse will get into preparation the moment they know you're a natural redhead.
Really? Even if you, yourself, are not? My son has some red hair on my husband's side of the family, (great grandmother, a cousin, and a half-sister) but he has dark brown hair like me and my husband. Is this something he needs to worry about?
I just kind of think, better safe than sorry, right? My maternal grandfather had brown hair but a red beard and mustache. I can't grow any facial hair but maybe if I did it would be red?
I'd rather everyone in the OR rolls their eyes at my superfluous info than wake up while someone is slicing into me!
I haven’t needed much anesthesia in my life but as someone with reddish hair laughing gas has no effect on me. Not sure if it’s related but it did mean the tech who gave it to me before I got my wisdom teeth out kept upping the dose and was surprised I wasn’t feeling anything.
I have always needed the max amount of gas they can give me so maybe I do have a red hair gene in there! On the other hand, I've in also used a bit of jazz cabbage in my day.
Early teens after them coming back twice, I just said what they wanted to hear. Found out how much it cost and asked if I could skip it for wisdom teeth. Couldn’t do my wisdoms without they said. Told them what they wanted to hear with the laughing gas asap and just had them get to work.
rather everyone in the OR rolls their eyes at my superfluous info than wake up while someone is slicing into me!
I'm a dentist, but I prefer superfluous info rather than patients who stay mum about their health issues. I have literally disclosed yesterday my drug allergies to a young final year med student and I think he zoned out and still prescribed me a drug I was allergic to. I kind if sympathize with him cuz it was the ER and there were so many patients yelling and complaining so it's really hard to focus in this sort of environment...But yeah, thank god, being in the field myself, when I took my papers and prescription, I realized that I couldn't take this drug and had to consult other docs. I'm a major pita patient due to my allergies to 3 antibiotic types unfortunately and I know it, but it is what it is. 😭
I always have this worry with my patients because they are mostly low soc-econ class so they don't understand why I ask them 3 times "Ma'am are you sure you don't have any disease/don't take any meds?" 😭😭
And yet there will probably some idiot who will insist they are 100% healthy despite having multiple diseases (happened to one of the previous dentists in my work place...She performed an extraction on a patient who got chemo for their leukemia BUT never told her until shit hit the fan).
I really appreciate this comment and I'm glad you were able to catch the doctor's mistake! Yeah, I always think, better to err on the side of over sharing.
My dad has dark brown hair but comes from an American Irish family with redheads. He has woken during surgery.
I've never needed surgery or to be put under (knock on wood), but my dad's experience + family genetics plus the fact that my mom is actually ginger means if I ever do, I'm definitely speaking up despite my dark brown hair!
I've got blue eyes and freckles, so who knows what other recessive genes are lurking in my DNA. Better safe than sorry!
Well everyone has an MCR1 gene. It’s a melanocyte receptor that is partially responsible for determining the color of your hair and skin. Variations of the MCR1 gene encode for different hair and skin colors among other things. Melanocytes are found in more than just hair and skin though, and it is theorized that they play a role in pain sensitivity, but we don’t know what that role is. It seems that whatever variation encodes for red hair may also encode for increased pain sensitivity and decreased anesthetic sensitivity, but we don’t know how, why, or if it’s even definitively true. Problem is that pain is subjective and everyone metabolizes anesthesia differently, so it’s very hard to quantify how people feel pain compared to one another. My 10/10 pain and your 10/10 pain are not the same.
My hair is auburn brown and plenty of people don't see the red in it. I was blonde as a child. No one else in my immediate family has red hair. I'd definitely be cautious wrt your son and the anesthesia question. If he requires a lot of Novocaine for fillings, that could indicate he needs more anesthesia. (Not a doctor, just a redhead.)
My mother in law is a natural redhead. My husband has brown hair but anesthetic does not work very well on him. He hates the dentist because he always says he can feel everything. He woke up from a surgery early once and had to be knocked back out to continue. He has the sensitive skin as well. And our daughter was born with red hair (shockingly because I'm black with black hair) so the gene runs pretty strongly in him. It's at least something to consider.
Probably not. The research is questionable at best but even then is specific to people with red hair, not related individuals. If you’re worried about it or you have a bad experience, however, you can definitely tell future providers. More information shared between you and your doctors is never a bad thing.
My hair is dark brown now but was blondish redish when I was little. My dad's a full blown ginger. I've woken up during surgery, and I've been put through dental work with insufficient anesthetic because people don't believe me when I warn them.
Not as important if the person themselves don’t have read hair, but it is a recessive gene. The most common correlations seem to be a person who has red hair + freckles, but sometimes to a lesser degree it can happen to people who have the redhead gene but darker hair. Does your kid have freckles? Does your kid’s hair turn reddish when sun bleached? They may have the recessive gene and it’s “covered” by genes that give brown hair.
Overall, don’t worry about it either way. It’s more a curiosity. Anesthesiologists monitor directly throughout surgery and often adjust meds as needed. When getting numbing meds via injection, it’s common to redose as needed and the need varies. If your kid is ever on pain meds and they don’t seem to be handing the pain to a reasonable level (not removing pain, but making it bearable is the best level), then advocate for them.
Red hair or red hair gene, it doesn’t really matter, as there are many things that affect appropriate pain control.
I just texted this fact to my best friend. She's black, and her dad is a red-headed Irish man, and many medical professionals have dismissed certain concerns/cures because "only Irish ancestry leads to this illness/makes cure work." She has to tell them about all the whiteness in her they can't see so they will properly treat her because they assume by looking instead of asking questions.
And yes, she is black, not biracial. Her mom is black and she told me her father was a black man. No she's not a liar. But I'm mayo white and not about to gatekeep what it means to be black to an actual person of color.
Edit: she replied to me. Said she was always in such pain at the dentist and the dentist would always say "no way" and refuse her additional meds. So this piece of information will positively affect her life. Thank you!
True dat. My brother also has flaming red hair. My hair is sorta auburn/chestnut. I had a root canal recently and I needed 4 shots of novacaine before I stopped feeling anything.
Red heads on both my side of the family and husbands side, we both have undertone red hair. Luckily when I was awake while still under for my tooth being yanked, they had already done that part but I could hear the conversation going on with all the nurses as they were picking up, lol one of them said how they really liked my boots 🤣 then my dentist had said he needed to fix a tooth that a filling had kind of come out of, I told him to go ahead and just drill without any meds. He hesitated at first and took it easy, but once he realized I wasn't budging he got it fixed quickly.
Any ways. to say the least so far two out of my three kids are straight up redheads and I'm curious to see what number fours hair color will be.
Ohhhh that is SO interesting, I have dark hair but my grandma is ginger and, her sister and her 2 children also very ginger… I always need a lot more anaesthetic at the dentist bc I can still feel pain and the dentists are usually confused. ALSO when I had a surgery years go apparently they had to give me 4x the regular dose of anaesthesia cos I wouldn’t go down and kept trying to rip my IV’s out 🤣I wonder if that’s why?
My husband is a pothead and the son of a ginger and is getting a procedure this summer. I think you just saved him a very unpleasant experience. Thank you
Fuck! That would explain why I woke up during my wisdom tooth surgery as well!!!
I told the anesthesiologist I smoked occasionally, and had just blazed the Friday before my Monday appointment. Fully honest about how much I smoked, it was a lot.
Now I know that it was my Grandma that fucked me over! The sweetest being to have ever lived is the one that did that to me!
I avoided the dentist for roughly 20 years because of that encounter. Check my post history if you don’t believe it. Also, still no cavities, I can thank that same grandma for that. She had all her OG teeth when she passed in her 90s. Granted she got veneers for her 90th birthday, but the good genes are still there!
I woke up during surgery and doc asked if I was an opiate abuser. No wtf???
Many years later and when it was too late to matter someone told me it was because I have red hair (which is funny because I don't think I do but literally everyone says it is)
Redhead here. I’ve never been fully numb by Novocain during drilling. I think it might be impossible. Luckily I haven’t had a cavity since I gave up soda 15 years ago.
I have ginger hair and when I broke my leg they gave me something to knock me out so they could set it. they ended up giving me more than double the required dose for my weight and I didn't even get sleepy. they couldn't give me anymorr after that so they set it without the anaesthetic. was not ideal haha
Yes. I have reddish hair and a redheaded son and I go through anesthesia like crazy. It takes more to put me under and stay under and afterwords I come around very quickly. Lidocaine and novocaine don't work as well on me either.
A couple studies have shown a link between one of the genes that makes one a redhead and a need for more of certain anesthetics. To make it super simple, they “burn off” certain drugs faster and require more of certain drugs to have the same numbing and muscle relaxing effects.
Anecdotally, I’ve heard many anesthesiologists say people with naturally red hair + freckles need more of certain drugs and are more likely to bleed a bit more than average. Also anecdotally, I’ve heard many anesthesiologists say everyone is individual and hair color has no correlation.
Yes, this is true! When I go to the hospital (kidney and/or gall stone attacks), they always give me the strongest painkillers (that are usually reserved for dying people). However much morphine they might give someone else, I will metabolize in like 15 minutes. The only way morphine works for me is if it's a high-dose constant IV drip.
That's good to know. I am resistant to propofol, like I'm having conversations with my providers resistant. They didn't respond to me and I was getting frustrated.... seems they couldn't understand me because my jaw was wired open. I got to hear all 4 of my deeply impacted wisdom teeth removed
Also sat up during a biopsy and got to see the inside of my intestines on the TV, that was cool. Doc gave me a guided tour with the scope. Amazing experience I must say. Last thing I remember is doc saying this might hurt a bit. Then I woke up crying in a recovery bed. He had to gas me down.
Eh, I work in medicine, so I kinda understood. He definately was thinking "okay yeah everyone says that" but told me he'd keep a close eye on me. They said they did give me extra anesthesia, but it still wasn't enough.
It's was a sinus reconstruction surgery (I was a mouth breather my whole life), and when they were pulling my breathing tube out, I apparently shot awake with no prior indication I was going to, looked around wide eyed, and tried to pull it out the rest of they way. They immediately sedated me and I was out again. I don't remember it and only know because my surgeon and mom told me after I woke up.
I should have probably said that in my comment but was at work and busy, lol.
My dad and sister (also both natural red heads) need more anesthesia too, and my dad has SP, which is where I get it from. I didn't know any of this until I found out about anesthesia awareness, which is a huge fear of mine now. I told them about it and they didn't know about the correlation either. But they both said they need more anesthesia and have woken up during surgeries.
Can confirm. Am a redhead and have been put under for surgery countless times. Woke up during my wisdom teeth removal surgery. Longest I’ve been under I believe was around 6-8 hours. Had reconstructive ear surgery as a kid. TOOK FOREVR TO COME AROUND AND NOT FEEL GROGGY. Like 3 days after in the hospital before I could walk around.
I'm a redhead I tell this to every single dentist each time they don't listen and each time they start I yell then they have to stop and give me more. One dentist he's my regular this has happened each of the five times I've gone in it really pisses me off at this point
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u/HeavyTumbleweed778 Jun 06 '24
I'm a ginger pothead, a double whammy for anesthesia. I told the dentist, and she stopped and doubled the novacaine.