Using hypnotherapy for controlling pain is one of the more dramatic uses of hypnosis. Success can be immediate and tangible. Due to the potential immediacy, people are less likely to go into denial about whether the hypnosis worked, and in to that popular conundrum… am I ‘really’ in hypnosis or not?
Pain is intrusive, and debilitating… so hard to bear, that pain relief can be unmistakable and very welcome.
Pain relief is an area that keeps on popping up in the media as the uncontentious face of hypnotherapy. There is nothing ‘New Age’ or ‘woo-woo’ about toning down or taking away someone’s pain. When journalist and BBC Radio producer Jessica McCallin was approaching the end of her pregnancy, she research the different methods that are available for relieving the pain of labour. She recently wrote about it in the Guardian[1], where she wrote, “Relaxation really is the key to managing birth pain, as a frightened mind and tense body will not easily open up to release the baby. With this in mind, some women use aromatherapy, massage, hypnotherapy and meditation, often in conjunction with more formal pain relief, to help keep them in the right frame of mind and aid the process.”
At a recent conferece of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anesthetists (ANZCA) in Perth, Australia, the concept of hypnotherapeutic pain relief received further support. New Zealand psychiatrist and pain medicine specialist Dr Robert Large reported “Some people are capable of very, very impressive anaesthesia and analgesia with hypnosis. There are case reports of people having major surgery under hypnosis going way back. It helps them feel less apprehensive about the process. And within the procedure itself it doesn’t negate the possibility of using chemical anaesthesia, but it reduces the dosages that are required and that’s pretty useful as well.” [2] Echoing Jessica McCallin’s personal findings, he said, “Women who use hypnosis for childbirth are able to be much more comfortable through the whole process, they have a good time, the baby comes out less sedated because you’ve not used as much morphine or other analgesia along the way.” Bob Large estimated that about 15% of people are highly susceptible to hypnosis and could have minor surgery without chemical anaesthetics, just using hypnosis. He said that children aged 8 to 12 had the best responses. [3] The control of acute pain is general limited to hospital settings, but hypnosis for controlling chronic pain is something that can be considered in non-medical, everyday life.
[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/30/six-ways-to-manage-pain-in-labour
[2] http://www.examiner.com/article/hypnosis-instead-of-anesthesia-for-major-surgery (archive.org link)
[3] http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10805656
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