Hypnotic
Pain Control

Use of Hypnosis is a very effective technique to control pain and discomfort during the healing process.  If you are in pain, you cannot relax completely and allow the innate intelligence of the human body to invoke its own natural healing processes.  Usually pain will force you into a state of anxiety, stress, and "mental tightness" that is often associated with the Fight or Flight Syndrome -- your muscles are tightened because of the feelings of the pain, and this lack of relaxation counteracts not only the healing process, but also the release of pain.  It's a never-ending, vicious cycle where the pain causes contraction and tightness in the muscles, and this tightness actually increases the amount of pain you feel. 

Release of pain through hypnosis breaks this cycle, and allows you to relax your muscles.  In addition, in the hypnotized state, carefully worded suggestions by the therapist can instantly remove the sensations associated with pain and discomfort.  Hypnosis does not release or cure the pain, it merely releases the sensations that you feel as pain and discomfort.  It allows you to enter a deeply relaxed state where healing can be accelerated, once your own healing processes are allowed to function as they are intended to.

The use of hypnosis to relieve the pain and discomfort is powerfully effective, regardless of the source of pain.  The pain sensations may be caused by a traumatic injury such as a cut, bruise, pulled muscle, torn ligament, broken bone, surgical procedure; or the pain may originate as a symptom of a chronic disease or condition such as arthritis, cancer, fibromyalgia, migraine headache, and many other physical or psychosomatic conditions.  The management of pain falls generally into three primary categories: Local Analgesia/Anesthesia, Pre- & Post-Operative Support, and General Hypnotic Anesthesia.

Local Analgesia/Anesthesia.  Hypnosis is extremely effective for removing or reducing the sensation of expected pain or discomfort, such as in a visit to the dentist, or receiving a shot from your doctor, or having a wound closed with sutures, or preparing for a natural, painless childbirth.  These situations usually involve pain or extreme sensitivity in a localized area of the body for a few minutes or hours.  The client can easily be taught effective self-hypnosis techniques that will allow them to invoke local analgesia or anesthesia in a specific part of their body by themselves.  

 Pre- & Post-Operative Support.  Hypnotic relaxation techniques can also be used very effectively to prepare a patient for surgery where they will be placed under a general anesthetic.  While in a deeply relaxed state of hypnosis, suggestions can be given that allow the subject to completely relax and anticipate a successful operation with positive outcomes.  Less anesthesia is usually required, and a much quicker recovery with fewer complications is normally experienced, and with less post-operative pain medication required.

 General Hypnotic Anesthesia.  Advanced hypnosis techniques are also available that permit use as the only medical anesthetic.  These techniques induce a hypnotic state of extremely deep physical anesthesia and mental relaxation that allow reduced, but medically safe, metabolic functions such as heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature, etc.  These advanced techniques are generally reserved only for those instances where the patient cannot safely tolerate medical anesthesia.  Normally, deep hypnosis for surgery complements the use of chemical anesthesia as medically indicated.

Page Last Updated November 27, 2006