PAIN RELIEF WITH HYPNOSIS

                                                        Patricia DeSandro, C.Ht.

James winced and grabbed his leg, trying not to move during his dressing change.

“Are you in a lot of pain, James?” She asked.

“Yes!!” he answered through clenched teeth. “At least an 8( on a pain scale of 1-10), maybe more!”

“I believe I can help you with the discomfort you are feeling. Would you allow me to try something I think will work for you?”

“Yes! Go ahead! Anything!”

“Alright, James, we’ll stop the dressing change for a moment so you can relax. Now take a deep breath, that’s it, now when you exhale, blow out the pain you are feeling. Good! Now, James, keep breathing and blowing out the discomfort and you will notice that each time you do that, your discomfort becomes less and less. While you concentrate on your breathing, listen to my voice. You love to fish don’t you? Remember the last time you went fishing with your buddies…”

            James had shattered his leg in a freak industrial accident just four days before. With large open wounds and external fixators holding all the pieces of bone in place, James was full of fear, anxiety and a lot of pain. He felt he had lost control of his life.

            She is a certified hypnotherapist with special certification in hypnoanesthesia and pain management. By using several techniques in a specifically designed plan for James, including teaching him self-hypnosis, they were able to get his pain level down from an 8+ to a 2± for his dressing changes. She worked with James right in his home and in the doctor’s office. Not only were they successful in controlling his pain, but also his fear, so he was more able to hear, understand and cooperate with the doctor’s instructions. He was able to cut way back on narcotic pain medication, too, reducing additional risks.

            Throughout his recovery period, they have modified his hypnotherapy as his needs change. For instance, while waiting in Pre-op, he works on relaxation, breathing and guided imagery to reduce anxiety and prepare for surgery.  He has also learned to trigger a numbing sensation anywhere in his body, feeling similar to a shot of local anesthetic, for injections, blood draws, and medical procedures. James now feels more in control of his life and healing process. He has gained confidence and is more in-tune with his body. He works with his doctor as a partner in his own recovery and has overcome despair with motivation.

            The techniques she used with James, work with any kind of pain, in any kind of situation, and at any age. Hypnoanesthesia and pain management through hypnosis works very well with children and seniors alike and are especially useful for mothers during labor and childbirth. The patient can learn to communicate with his/her body on a very deep level, actually influencing body functions, such as digestion, blood pressure, muscle activity, healing processes and more.

            How does hypnosis work? It is actually simple. With hypnosis, the hypnotherapist can communicate directly with the subconscious mind while the patient remains awake, but feeling relaxed and safe. Beliefs and perceptions are stored in the subconscious and the conscious mind then accepts these beliefs as real and true. Once patients feel completely safe and relaxed, their conscious mind allows new information to go directly into the subconscious mind, where perceptions can be changed and new ideas accepted; such as their perception of pain. The conscious mind then accepts this new information, and that becomes the patient’s new reality, thus giving them the ability to control their own pain levels. Once patients have been taught these techniques and have some experience using them, they can use self-hypnosis any time it is needed, thereby gaining confidence and control over fear and anxiety in other areas in their lives.

            Chronic pain can be controlled with hypnosis, also. Patients can learn techniques specifically tailored to their needs and perceptions to decrease their level of pain. One technique that is very effective helps the patient to visualize the location of their pain on a TV screen in full detail. The patient can then ascribe a shape and color to the painful area. Then, by using the TV control knobs, the color and shape can be altered to a normal state, thereby reducing or eliminating the pain in that area. The patient could also assign a sound to the pain and control it with the volume knob.

            Changing the way patients with chronic pain label what they are experiencing uses waking hypnosis and post hypnotic suggestion. Just by replacing the word ”pain” with the word “discomfort” can reduce the intensity of what the patient is feeling. Further labeling the pain as “sensations of healing process” is very helpful for post-surgical patients, because they can now attach a positive perception to their discomfort and use it as a motivating force instead of an obstacle. They can use it as a way to measure their progress, for as the discomfort lessens, they know and expect that healing is taking place.

            For someone anticipating surgery in the near future, scheduling one or more sessions with a qualified hypnotherapist prior to surgery can be very beneficial. With the hypnotherapist’s help, the patient can prepare the body and mind to cooperate with the surgical procedures and/or medication to get back into a healthy balance. A relaxed and confident patient heals more quickly and with less chance of complications because the patient is not fighting the process with fear and anxiety. It also reduces the amount of narcotic pain medications used that could bring additional risk to the patient. Some hypnotherapists provide their patients with a reinforcement tape or CD that they can use at home or in the hospital before and after the surgery. Using these tapes or CD’s reduces the need for frequent reinforcement sessions with the hypnotherapist and helps the patient take more responsibility for their own healing process.

            Doctors, nurses and medical technicians will find that patients who have been working with a qualified hypnotherapist are calmer, more cooperative, and suffer less pain than those who haven’t. This eases the workload of the medical team. The patients are more likely to cooperate as part of the team when they feel like they have some control over their discomfort and healing.

Hypnosis, hypnoanesthesia, and pain management through hypnosis, should not be considered a replacement for professional medical care. It is, however, a very useful adjunct to medical treatment options for patients, doctors and their medical teams.