Hypnotherapy, a Necessary Prescription for Cancer Patients

If you have been diagnosed with cancer, your specialist should recommend an adjunct therapy that helps counteract the negative side effects of cancer and its treatment. You might be surprised: it is hypnosis.

Medical and Psychological Associations Approve of Hypnotherapy

This conclusion builds upon research from reputable medical and psychological associations that are re-discovering the benefits of hypnosis. This therapeutic tool was first endorsed as early as 1892 by the British Medical Association. The increasing and welcome amount of research continues to shed a very positive light on the advantages and wide applications of hypnosis. While there is no study that confirms that hypnosis can cure cancer, many studies highlight the efficacy of hypnotherapy. It can help you lose weight, manage pain and the treatments’ side-effects as well as reduce stress. These are factors that affect the outcome in the fight against cancer. Hypnosis can also get more motivated to exercise.

In 1999, the British Medical Journal* published a Clinical Review of Hypnosis that emphasizes the efficacy of hypnosis and relaxation techniques for cancer patients:

“Relaxation and hypnosis are often used in cancer patients. There is strong evidence from randomized trials of the effectiveness of hypnosis and relaxation for cancer related anxiety, pain, nausea, and vomiting, particularly in children.”

BMJ – 1999

Hypnosis Can Help You Adopt a Healthier Life

There is an increased recognition of the importance of exercise in fighting cancer. The Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) calls for exercise “to be embedded as part of standard practice in cancer care”. COSA also says that “all people with cancer should avoid inactivity and return to normal daily activities as soon as possible following diagnosis”. It is easier said than done when one has to cope with the devastating realization of the potential dire consequences and the side-effects of the often complex and confusing treatments. The sense of helplessness or hopelessness can lead to isolation and riskier behaviors such as drinking and smoking. Hypnosis can help you adopt healthier behaviors such as exercising.

Hypnosis Can Help You Manage Stress

According to the National Cancer institute (NCI), “people who are able to use effective coping strategies to deal with stress, such as relaxation and stress management techniques, have been shown to have lower levels of depression, anxiety, and symptoms related to the cancer and its treatment.” Stress is often cited as a contributor to the spread of the disease. You might have already been experiencing stress prior to the diagnosis. The announcement and the following treatments only add to that stress, contributing to the chronic increase in stress hormones and amplifying the widespread inflammation. According to the national Cancer Institute, “evidence from experimental studies does suggest that psychological stress can affect a tumor’s ability to grow and spread.”

Hypnotherapy for stress management can help you maintain a more positive outlook, and reduce the levels of stress hormones. The more positive outlook on life helps you kick-start a virtuous cycle whereby you exercise, and improve your eating habits.

Hypnosis Can Help You Eat Better

The benefits of healthier lifestyle is undeniable. Exercise helps create an environment that fights cancer instead of nurturing it. Cancerous cells hate oxygen and love “fat cells”. With our hypnosis for slimming protocol, you can shed the superfluous weight and adopt healthier eating habits.

Chemotherapy can erode bone density. With regular activity and a balanced diet, you can gain a much needed calcium to strengthen your bones. If you still hate the leafy greens, you might want to reconsider your choice.

Hypnotherapy Can Help You Manage Pain

Hypnotherapy can also help you manage pain. Studies show a considerable decrease in chronic pain with hypnosis. The University of Utah reported that a 15-minute hypnosis session caused a reduction in pain on par with an opioid dose for one-third of hospital patients with unmanageable pain. An often overlooked factor is that hypnosis is not only non-invasive but it is also non-addictive.

Managing the pain can allow a person to start working again and making a living. Managing pain does not only yield a positive benefit to the person undergoing the treatment but also to the close circle of family and friends. Because pain can lead to fatigue and depression, you are less likely to engage and nurture a relationship with a buddy or a caregiver that can provide emotional support. Because of the emotional, physical and financial toll, it takes on the individual, pain can destroy families. We can help you deal with pain with hypnosis.

Renewed Edge, your Hypnotherapy Center in Hong Kong

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*Vickers & Zollman (1999) ‘Hypnosis and relaxation therapies’, BMJ, 319:1346-1349