Pain can be really debilitating but hypnotherapy can help. Pain is the message from the brain that something is wrong so it is very important that if you are in pain that you seek advice from your doctor first. Once a diagnosis has been ascertained and you are told to just get on with your pain, that is where hypnosis comes in.
When you experience pain as a result of illness, disease, or a chronic condition the anxiety and the pain itself are inseparable. Depending on your particular situation, anxiety may even be more severe than the pain. If you suffer from pain you may experience anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, extreme fatigue and insomnia. The dread of pain that continues can lead to despair and unhappiness, uncertainty and even isolation or financial problems.
Your previous experiences or associations with pain established in childhood or even ethnic traditions may react to pain in a certain way and copy this behaviour for yourself.
A study done with soldiers wounded in battle in world war II found that the men needed less medication than civilians with similar wounds. The reason being that the soldiers associated pain with returning home.
Your personal traits can contribute in determining your susceptibility to pain. If you have low motivation, a poor self-image, a lack of pride in your accomplishments and a dependency on others you may be more vulnerable to pain because vulnerable people do not exercise control in the same way. The dependency on others is an abdication of control. If you have healthy aggression towards pain and have an average or above level of motivation, take pride in your accomplishments and be fairly independent then you will be able to manage your pain better.
Pain killers are the most commonly used and prescribed drugs in our country and up to one third of our population will be in pain at any one time either due to surgery, pain due to an injury or illness or disease.
Your goal, regardless of the origin of your pain is to reduce or eliminate it. Even though the causes of pain are many and varied, the results produced by hypnosis for the treatment of pain are the same.
Hypnotherapy can play an important part before, during and after surgery or childbirth. Hypnotherapy prior to surgery can reduce anxiety and remove any negative feelings you have and if you look into the history of hypnosis you will find many stories of hypnosis being used as an alternative to anaesthesia.
I use a number of techniques from the dial technique to letting go of pain. For some it is necessary to work with the anxiety around this and establish a feeling of self-worth in the client along with control. I also record the session as an MP3 so the client can use that hypnosis when they need it.
If you would like more information please do not hesitate to contact me.