When most people think of hypnotherapy they usually see it as a way of treating conditions such as stress and stress related problems like as anxiety, panic attacks, high blood pressure and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) etc. Hypnotherapy is also an effective treatment in psychological problems like low self esteem, body image issues such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and anorexia as and in the treatment of depression and phobias as well as addictions such as smoking and alcoholism.
However, hypnosis doesn’t just help relieve stress and make us feel better about ourselves. Hypnosis has been used as a complementary therapy and as an alternative treatment for the relief of chronic and acute pain for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Recently we have been able to see, very graphically, the power of hypnosis in the control of pain, with TV programmes such as Channel 4′s ground breaking documentary Hypnosurgery Live and through ever more frequent media reports of surgical techniques such as knee surgery and dentistry performed solely with the use of hypnosis. This has finally given hypnosis the credibility needed for it to begin to be taken seriously by the medical community, meaning that today hypnotherapy is much more widely accepted and available as a genuine alternative and / or complementary method of pain relief – although the use of hypnosis alone for pain control during surgery is still pretty rare.
We all know how uncomfortable and often distressing and debilitating pain can be but pain is a vital part of our inbuilt survival mechanism; letting us know when something is wrong, broken or in danger of being damaged. Pain happens when nerve receptors in an affected area send signals to the brain via our nervous system. These signals are then interpreted by the brain as pain, letting us know that there’s a problem.
As everyone’s nervous system is totally unique and as no one else can feel our pain, pain is completely subjective and everyone’s experience of it is different. Yet no matter where we feel a pain, what causes the pain or the type of pain we feel, all pain is produced in the brain. Although we may feel pain at the site of say, a cancer tumour or a break in a bone or a cut to the skin; that is simply the brain’s way of telling us where the problem is but the sensation of pain is actually produced in the brain. Through the use of modern techniques such as brain imaging and studies into epigenetics, cutting edge science is now beginning to explain what complementary therapists have long believed; that there is a definite mind-body connection; one cannot be affected without affecting the other. This is fundamental in understanding how hypnosis works to control pain.
Hypnotherapists use hypnosis to help patients change the way the brain interprets these signals, allowing the patient to take control of the pain instead of being controlled by the pain. It must always be remembered though that pain is a sign that something is wrong and as such hypnosis should never be used to stop or reduce pain before the cause of the pain has been established and a diagnosis given by a qualified medical practitioner. Removing or masking pain before a medical diagnosis can be given could mean that a potentially dangerous condition needing immediate medical attention may be missed. Therefore, as a hypnotherapist my first question to any patient seeking pain relief through hypnosis is always “have you been to see a doctor”? If the answer is “no” then I’ll let them know I’ll be happy to work with them as soon as they have a medical diagnosis and the doctor has told them that it’s safe to use hypnosis.
Hypnotherapy is now becoming mainstream as part of the palliative care in the treatment of terminally ill patients as an effective holistic therapy, not only for helping to relieve pain but also in reducing anxiety, depression and in helping patients “coming to terms” with a terminal condition and issues of self worth and loss of identity. Hypnosis is also used to reduce the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy such as nausea and vomiting. As a holistic approach, family and friends can also be offered complementary therapy including hypnotherapy, again addressing issues such as anxiety and depression, anger and guilt.
Although as we’ve heard, the use of hypnosis for pain relief is extremely affective on its own, it can also be used in conjunction with chemical pain relief thereby reducing the amount of drugs needed and as a result, the side effects they cause. Hypnotherapy is also effective in helping patients who have phobias relating to needles and the swallowing of tablets and in reducing pre-op anxiety and stress. It has also been shown that patients who undergo surgery using hypnosis either on its own or with conventional drugs tend to have shorter recovery times, less blood loss and faster healing. It’s also a well established fact that hypnotherapy is an extremely powerful tool in the reduction of post-operative pain and in the reduction of suffering caused by pain and anxiety during palliative care.
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