Pain, Recovery & Surgery
Posted under: This is an area of hypnosis that I am very passionate about. Hypnosis has been used for the relief of pain for more than a century. In fact painless surgery under hypnosis has occurred since the mid 1800′s.
So why hasn’t this been introduced to hospitals a long time ago? I can only hazard a guess that people don’t really understand hypnosis … and the big pharmaceuticals would lose too much money!
Check out these videos that show how effective hypnosis can be in the relief of pain during dental surgery.
More locally, this first video reports on a man carrying out hypnotherapy on himself in Worthing hospital. When we meet I can show you how you can hypnotise yourself in the same way.
Hypnotised for surgery – YouTube.
I’ll let you into a little secret that hypnotherapists don’t want you to know, ‘Pain’ is the result of your body sending a message to your brain through your nerves. The brain then interprets this message and identifies it with ‘pain’ – that it will hurt. It’s all about interpretation. That’s why some people feel pleasure instead of pain. Hypnosis can change your pain into pleasure.
In reality, most of the nerves that transmit this signal are at a very shallow level in the body. These nerves are just below the skin. In the Hypno Surgery video below you can hear the hypnotherapist say to the client that he might feel some ‘prodding’ whilst the surgery takes place. Naturally this is to be expected. We can feel when we need to go to the toilet, or when we feel bloated, or even when someone sits on our lap or we have to carry a back pack. Doing this doesn’t actually hurt – yet we can still feel it. Why doesn’t it hurt? Because we don’t think it will hurt. Because we are told it doesn’t hurt.
You may have been told by a doctor, “We will give you an anaesthetic to stop the pain [assuming you will feel pain – when really you might not] and afterwards you will feel some discomfort and pain. So, don’t worry, we will give you some pain-killers so you wont feel this as much”. In truth, you feel the pain because you anticipate it. There are numerous medical studies that show that the anticipation of pain increases the feel and therefore you feel ‘pain’ more. In reality, its only signals to an from the brain that you interpret.
Hypnotherapy helps to re-interpret these signal for what they are: harmless sensations. Pain signals warn you brain of danger. When there is no danger, there’s no need to feel pain. A bit like someone sitting on your lap.
Think about it. You might not have ever experienced this but, have you ever cut yourself and didn’t realise until you noticed the blood? This is because the brain interpreted the signals as harmless. Surprisingly, many victims of stab wounds have stated that they didnt realise they had been stabbed as there was no pain. What they did notice was a “warm feeling”. They checked this out and only then realised they had been stabbed. Even then it took a while for their brain to think “I’ve been stabbed! This is gonna be painful”. By then its too late – you’ve been stabbed! The truth is, ‘pain’ is abstract. And its reinforced by other people.
I’m babbling! Take some time out to watch this documentary on Hypno Surgery, which explains things perfectly. If you have any thoughts or questions afterwards then please do contact me.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6246151609103284389
Hypnotherapy can be used for all kinds of pain relief from surgery to phantom limb pain to Fibromyalgia. Hypnotherapy has also been proven to help with the speed up of recovery from operations and illness as well as help reduce and remove symptoms of post viral fatigue and post viral symptoms.
Do get in contact if you feel hypnotherapy will be useful for you or if you have any further questions.