WHY HYPNOSIS FOR PAIN MANAGEMENT?
Hypnosis: a safe and approved method backed by Research
Hypnosis has proved to reduce pain and therefore increase the quality of your life. It helps your brain produce one of most powerful and natural pain killers, endorphins. Relaxation and hypnotic techniques can help your brain release a greater amount of endorphins, and reduce pain considerably.
You have already experienced hypnosis in your life many times and you enter that state on a regular basis.
Research shows the efficacy of hypnosis for pain management. Hypnosis helps relieve pain noticeably. The following institutions list hypnosis as a procedure used to cure ailments including pain.
Guided imagery and hypnosis for pain management have been shown to provide relief in clinical research, lowering the need for medication. Using hypnosis as an adjunct to medicine to relieve pain is important for the following reasons:
- Experience greater self-control and personal responsibility for their own level of well-being.
- Release of the feeling of helplessness
- Reduce the degree of suffering
- Get back to work and decrease financial burden
- Maintain the family harmony
- Decrease the number of pain related suicides
Pain and chronic pain
The pain creation mechanism is well understood by neuroscientists and medical practitioners. There is no pain receptor in the body. Pain is a signal created by the brain. It is an electric impulse that is born in the brain. Let’s take an example: you have just cut yourself. Receptors in the skins are sending a message to the brain through the spinal cord. The electric impulses reaches the brain and is transformed into a neurotransmitter. The clear understanding of the pain genesis has led to an increased use of hypnoanesthesia by anesthesiologists in the operating theater. Some anesthesiologists will prevent the signal from reaching the brain through a spinal block for instance. Hypnoanesthesia involves the use of hypnotic techniques to interrupt this signal without any injection or cut.
Chronic pain is pain that has lasted for at least six months and it has no purpose. The people who suffer from chronic pain may enter into a dangerous spiral where more medication is needed. That viscious cycle had led to a severe opioid crisis in developed countries. Hypnosis can helped interrupt this negative loop and help you regain control over your perceptions.
The different facets of pain
Physical pain has psychological and sociological consequences. Unrelieved pain develops the same physiology as stress. The signs include irritability, high blood pressure, increased pulse rate, and many other body changing problems.
- Pain is physical because it hurts and it changes the body’s physiology.
- Pain is psychological because it can prevent people from engaging in activities they enjoy (a stroll in the park, a hike, a game with children, a hike, going to a conference…). They may become irritable and find little pleasure in life,
- Pain is sociological because a person suffering from chronic pain may not feel like socializing. In many cases, they may cease to work, which impacts the financial wellbeing of their family and also their self-esteem.
Pain robs individuals of a great quality of life. It deprives families of happiness and wellbeing. It also costs society because of the lost productivity and the increased health bills on the health coverage systems in the world.
The pain is in your brain
The brain processes sensations and whenever damage is being done to the body, the brain creates pain. Pain is experienced by humans and animals in response to excessive pressure, heat, or chemicals. Although pain is viewed as undesirable, pain helps protect us from injury by alerting us to its presence. Many studies show the efficacy of hypnosis for pain relief.
Acute and Chronic Pain
Acute or new pain serves an important and useful function. They signal that damage is being done to your body. Long after the physical problem has been medically treated, pain may become chronic when it is no longer needed as a warning. It becomes then a burden. Hypnosis for pain management can alleviate chronic pain naturally and safely.
Cost of Pain
Pain costs society billions of dollars every year in terms of lost wages, reduced productivity, absenteeism, and higher medical bills. Pain leads to a series of ailments resulting from lack of sleep, exercise, and opioids’ side effects. Not only does it impact people’s wallets, but it takes an emotional toll on relationships and families. The use of hypnosis for pain relief has proven to be long-lasting.
THE BENEFITS OF HYPNOSIS FOR PAIN RELIEF
Research on hypnosis for pain management
The medical community has shown an increasing interest in hypnosis over the last few years. That much expected interest led to a series of studies that proves the efficacy of hypnosis for pain relief. Here are a few statistics:
75% of people with arthritis or related disease experience significant pain relief using hypnosis. (Arthritis Foundation)
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York analyzed 18 studies. Their conclusion supported the use of hypnosis for pain management. (WebMD)
Other studies show a sizable reduction in pain for a wide variety of chronic conditions (NCBI: The National Center for Biotechnology Information):
- low-back pain
- temporomandibular pain
- cancer pain
- sickle-cell disease
- fibromyalgia
- disability-related pain
MEDICAL HYPNOSIS
Over the last two decades, research shed light on interesting applications for hypnotherapy for physical health. One of the most notable is hypnotherapy for pain management as surgeons in operating theatres have started using hypnosis techniques to reduce pain symptoms.
Chronic pain patients now have more options for greater relief from chronic pain symptoms and experts are advocating the use of behavioural therapies like hypnosis in the management of pain.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTROLLING PAIN
Chronic pain can destroy lives and families. Individuals suffering from chronic pain may feel helpless as medication in normal dosage fails to provide comfort.
The primary purpose of controlling pain is to increase wellbeing, minimise discomfort and bring back hope. This starts with paying attention to one’s self-talk, framing the right thoughts, and increasing emotional regulation. Because thoughts create physiological responses, it is paramount to let go of negative events and words. Once pain is reduced or eliminated all together, one can enjoy the benefits of exercise which brings oxygen to the cells, aids the heart and brings ventilation to the lungs, entering hence a virtuous circle. We can help change your thinking about you and the discomfort.
Hypnosis for pain relief is a legitimate tool in the health care field and an avenue for therapy for a variety of challenges. The concentrated focus achieved in hypnosis enhances the ability of the subconscious mind to accept and to positively respond to suggestions.
OUR SPECIALISED PROGRAM OF HYPNOSIS FOR PAIN RELIEF
We use a variety of self-hypnosis techniques including progressive muscle relaxation, imagery, visualization, NLP integrated in a bespoke program to help you get back the quality of life you deserve.
Your hypnotherapist is a certified in hypnotherapy for pain management. Contact us today and find out how we can help you!