HYPNOSIS FOR PAIN MANAGEMENT: IS IMMEDIATE RELIEF POSSIBLE?
Chronic pain has been referred to as a the world’s silent epidemic. In fact, it’s so “silent,” you might be shocked to know just how prevalent it is.
How do you treat chronic pain? Well, drugs have traditionally been the most commonly prescribed treatment option. Yet, more and more people are asking:
Is there are a drug-free alternative that can provide immediate and lasting pain relief?
Well, being a bodywork practitioner for many years I treated many such people with Bowen Therapy/Osteo and Naturopathy. And when I see that pain is due to psychosomatic issues than I draw my big gun – HYPNOTHERAPY!
Hypnosis can be a wonderful pain reliever that offers immediate relief.
A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Utah looked at how hypnosis could reduce pain in the short-term. The participants in the study had come to the hospital reporting “intolerable pain” and difficulty controlling pain. The researchers then prescribed hypnosis to one group, as well as mindfulness and pain coping strategies to others.
In the hypnosis group, 29% experienced immediate pain reduction (as well as a decreased desire for opioid medication). In other words, hypnosis was as effective at reducing pain as a small dose of a narcotic painkiller.
More interestingly, that was the effect after just a single hypnosis session.
Most of us have used a hypnotic intervention for pain control. Remember when you kissed a child’s booboo and made it all better? Did the kiss really heal the wound?
So let’s talk about pain and why hypnosis can help.
In 1664 Descartes proposed that “pain is like a bell-ringing alarm system whose sole purpose is to signal injury to the body”. What does that mean? When you hurt your finger, your body sends a signal to the brain stating that something has happened which needs further attention. The pain is a signal to get you to protect that finger from further damage and to take care of it. As you see, pain is an important and necessary sensation designed to alert you to a problem in a certain area of your body. It’s neither good nor bad, it’s important. Chronic pain causes discomfort long after everything that could be done and should be done about the medical issue that caused the pain has been addressed, and it, therefore, no longer serves a purpose.
The experience of pain differs from person to person because the brain influences our experience of pain. How we interpret pain is affected by:
- age and sex;
- memories of previous pain;
- emotional and psychological states;
- expectations of and attitudes towards pain;
- beliefs, values and upbringing;
- social and cultural influences.
What is hypnosis and how do we use it to treat pain?
Hypnosis is simply a state of focused attention. That’s it in a nutshell. The therapist guides you to get relaxed, sometimes called being in a trance state, which helps you focus your attention on, in this case, the experience of pain. The focused attention will be without judgement, without caring about the context in which it is, and the relaxation will help you to be more open to suggestions given by the therapist. Being in trans is something like looking through a microscope. What you see you see with a great deal of detail but you’re less aware of and concerned about the context it’s in.
Have you ever gotten so caught up in a movie that you lost track of what was going on around you? Or have you gone to a movie with a headache and found the movie so absorbing that you forgot you had a headache? You’ve put something you would normally pay attention to the outside of your conscious awareness and you’ve lost your judgement about it. You focuse your attention solely on the movie.
Hypnosis also lends to a tendency to respond relatively automatically to suggestions or instructions. In hypnosis, people are less likely to critically judge what you’re asking them to do. That does not mean the therapist has control over the patient, not at all. One of the major misconceptions people have about hypnosis is that it’s taking control over somebody. That simply isn’t true. People always have the ability and power to accept or reject what the therapist says and, will never do anything they do not wish to do.
What I do as a Hypnotherapist is to teach my patients how to enhance control over their own bodies. It’s not about what I do to the patients, it’s about what I teach them to do for themselves. During a hypnosis session, my goal is to help people become more internally focused to the point that they don’t pay attention to anything happening outside of themselves. It’s not that they don’t hear the noise in the hallway, they just don’t pay any attention to it and don’t care about it. When focused on themselves, people can utilise skills they might not have recognised before, such as controlling their pain.
Releasing Pain with Self-Hypnosis
Alright, so now you have a general idea of how hypnosis works. But can you really alter your perception of pain, just by providing some suggestions?
The answer, for many, is yes.
Hypnosis allows us to immediately alter our mood, reduce stress and anxiety, and reduce pain intensity. We’re able to do this in a few ways. Using hypnosis for pain management, we can help the mind think differently (or not at all) about the pain we feel, and there are four general ways we can do it.
1. Distraction
Have you ever been so deep into a thought that you forget your freeway exit? Or you accidentally cut your finger while chopping onions. In the moment, we’re often so distracted with stopping the bleeding – we forget how much it hurts. The pain comes after we’ve wrapped it with a paper towel.
Using self-hypnosis, we can train the mind to distract itself from the intensity of pain. We might suggest that the subconscious thinks of a pain-free time in our lives, or thinks about another pain-free part of the body. As a result, we can’t hyper-focus on the pain and how intense it is – which is a powerful method for helping to reduce pain.
Distraction can be effective for short-term and immediate pain relief.
2. Reframing
When we use reframing, we feed the subconscious with suggestions about how to perceive pain. For example, many chronic pain sufferers describe their pain as a “burning” feeling. Using self-hypnosis, we can begin to alter this description – from burning, to a feeling of warmth, and ultimately, to a cool sensation.
Often, for labour pain, a hypnotherapist might suggest to the subconscious that the feeling isn’t pain to discomfort, or pressure. Some reframing techniques ask the mind to think differently about the pain in a more abstract way, i.e. not that it has control over our lives, but that it is something that happens in the background that we tune into, for example.
Reframing works well long-term, as it may take multiple sessions to alter how the subconscious perceives and responds to pain. But over time, it can be a very helpful tool for reducing intense pain.
3. Numbing
When we guide ourselves into a deep trance, we can begin to work with sensory information. For example, a common hypnotherapy technique might require you to imagine your hand in ice-cold water. We can take that further and further, until, in your trance state, you perceive that your hand is actually numb.
Once this happens, you might visualise that numbness moving to where you feel pain.
4. Dissociation
Finally, we have dissociation. With dissociation, we ask ourselves to separate the pain or ourselves from the body. We visualise ourselves across the room, watching ourselves. Or visualise the area of our low back that’s in pain, as floating behind ourselves.
It sounds abstract, but just try it for a moment. Imagine you’re sitting across the room, watching yourself reading this.
Did you notice a difference? Did you feel calmer, or more grounded? Where you able to break your focus from your pain?
Dissociation can be a helpful tool, but like numbing, it takes time to master.
But over time, you’ll become proficient in the technique, and you can begin to use it – not just for pain – but when you feel anxiety, stress, when you feel a lack of motivation. The technique can instantly calm the mind.
Does Self-Hypnosis Work for Pain Management?
We’ve already highlighted a few studies that suggest hypnosis can be a useful tool for managing pain – in both the short and long terms. In fact, you may experience certain immediate benefits for a single hypnosis session like:
- A sense of calm and clarity in the mind
- Feeling your mood elevated
- A reduction in pain
- Reduced anxiety and stress
Some are lucky, and these benefits stick. Others, though, require a hypno-specialist help for long-lasting benefits. But the real key of pain management success is consistency.
How can you stay consistent? Here are a few tips to keep you on track:
- Find a spot and time: Find a quiet corner of your home, with a comfortable chair. Make sure you can dim the lights. This is your hypnosis corner. Also, be sure you find a time – it doesn’t need to be precise – each day, during which you will practice self-hypnosis.
- Start Slowly: You’ll find as you progress that you enjoy staying a deep trance. But early on, try it in smaller bits. For starters, this will help you stay consistent. Plus, it can also help prevent you from getting overwhelmed.
- Use a Good Script:Self-hypnosis requires you to follow a script or pain hypnosis recording. This will show you how to relax, how to tune your breathing, and ultimately, what your suggestions will be. You can order a hypno-audio recording specifically made for you by me or any other reputable hypnotherapist.
- Record Your Progress:You might very well experience gradual changes in how you perceive pain, and how intense it is. Keep a notebook handy. Write how you feel before and after, and take down any changes you experience. This can help you stay focused and on track.
- Keep Learning:Finally, you don’t need any experience to try self-hypnosis. You can do it right now. But over time, you may want to learn more advanced techniques to continue your progress. Online courses, books, and hypnotherapy apps are wonderful tools.
