Does anesthesia affect your period?

Luckily, I’ve never had the need for anesthesia, but I do know that stress on the body (exercise, diet, surgery, etc.) can cause irregularities in your period. This is a very interesting question and I’m curious to hear what our health expert Molly has to say. I’m having my wisdom teeth out next month and the answer will be nice to have in my back pocket.

I would have to imagine that anything that affects your body so strongly can and may affect EVERY part of you – including your menstrual cycle.  I’m very interested in what Dr. Molly has to say and plan to read her answer myself. If you are planning on having surgery, this is a great question for your healthcare practitioner.

Anesthesia alone doesn’t affect your period, but the condition that required you to need anesthesia might. If you are having local anesthesia to get a cavity filled, it won’t make any difference. But if you are having general anesthesia to get your tonsils out, it might. The anesthesia isn’t the reason but the huge tonsils or stress of the surgery and the recovery could delay your period. Bottom line: huge body stress or illness may affect your period but anesthesia alone shouldn’t.