PAIN CONTROL |
There are several causes of pain that we usually deal with as physicians. Many of them are directly related to a physical injury, and are often referred to as related acute trauma injury. These are usually not the types of pain that require hypnosis for resolution. Usually, with normal healing time, these types of pain stop and resolve themselves. |
The pain that we normally suffer with, and find lingering long after the cause has been removed, CHRONIC PAIN, is the one that we have to deal with using clinical hypnotherapy. This is because the original cause of the pain has long since gone, but a vicious cycle of reflexive pain pathways have been set up, and often results in pain much more servere and often at body points far removed from the original source of pain (reflexive pain). |
THE IMPORTANCE OF HYPNOTHERAPY IN CHRONIC PAIN CONTROL |
PRINCIPLES OF HYPNOSIS TO TREAT PAIN: |
Since pain is a neurologic phenomenon, it becomes obvious that a psychological mechanism must be employed if we hope to block or prevent it's manifestation. This means that the pain center in the brain must have the pain switch shut off if we are to remove the pain. This pain switch is the reflex pain syndrome discussed above, and it is self-promulgating: that is, it will keep responding to pain from a now non-existant source, unless an outside influence breaks the stimulation causing it to function. Hypnosis, when used correctly by a qualified practitioner, breaks or redirects these pain-producing stimuli, effectively removing or greatly reducing pain. |
HOW HYPNOSIS TECHNIQUE WORKS TO CONTROL PAIN |
There are three distinctly different yet intertwined functions that we use in hypnosis therapy to control chronic pain: 1. Dampen the intensity and duration of the pain-reflex impulse 2. Focus the subconscious on the "health" and normal function of the area perceived to be causing pain 3. Condition the body so that it does notrecognize or accept the pain impulse as a reality, and therefore will not respond to it. The above 3 steps are designed so that they will work only for the specific condition being treated. If another condition arises that causes pain, it will not be effective. This is critical, since pain is the bodys first warning that something is wrong, and ignoring it may result in serious injury in a situation which might otherwise be easily resolved. |
In cases where pain has an actual cause, which can not be treated or cured by normal medical or pharmaceutical means (terminal cancer, degenerative systemic diseases, etc.), hypnotherapy acts as a form of anasthesia, to help block the pain receptor center in the brain so pain is reduced to a manageable or tolerable level. |
The specific neuro-psychological mechanisms involved are too complex to discuss here, but interested readers are referred to the numerous professional resources and reference books available (in bookstores, libraries, and on-line). |
I will gladly answer any questions you may have if you e-mail me using the link below. |
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Dr. Robert A. Metz, D.C. |
This page was last updated on: July 22, 1999
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