WHAT IS PAIN?

Through the ages people have had different opinions about where pain originated. In ancient Egypt people thought that spirits and gods caused pain. In the Middle Ages people thought that pain was God’s penance for their sins. Descartes came closest in 1644 when he said that pain acted on nerve threads, alerting the brain to pain.

Your body contains specialized nerve cells, called sensory nerves, which respond to conditions in the outside world. Some parts of our bodies have more of these nerves than other parts. Each nerve pathway is a long series of neurons. Neurons do not actually touch each other but send messages by "firing" a chemical charge across the gap between nearby nerves. This "firing" continues across chains of nerves until it reaches the brain where it is recognized as pain.

KINDS OF PAIN
  • Epicritic is fast, when we do something like stubbing our toe or burning our skin.
  • Protopathic is much slower, more like dull aches and soreness. Generally associated with chronic pain.
  • Psychogenic pain is similar to chronic pain. Generally associated with depression and emotional or mental disorders. Usually not alleviated by drugs or surgery.
CONTROLLING PAIN

There are a variety of methods to control pain:

  • Heat, cold and ultrasound
  • Massage
  • Acupuncture
  • Biofeedback
  • Surgery
  • Anesthetics
  • Stress reduction
  • Hypnosis
HOW HYPNOSIS HELPS
  • Overcoming nausea, a common side effect of illness and some treatments
  • Raising pain threshold
  • Often allows less pain medication or increased duration of masks
  • Relaxation. Bringing down muscle tension. The pain threshold is automatically raised when you are well relaxed. You may still feel pain but to a lesser degree.
  • Dealing with self–image issues from chronic illness and/or chronic pain

Since emotions can intensify the experience of pain a person can apply emotional release if necessary and, by eliminating subconscious beliefs about their pain, change their experience of the physical sensation for the better. Some of us have been taught that to suffer teaches us, that suffering is a way to do penance. If there are such psychological issues behind the scenes a simple suggestion to release pain may not be heeded. Suggestions of self–forgiveness and permission to release discomfort would assist in the pain relief techniques. There is a simple technique called the "ideo–motor finger response" to ascertain if there are deeper causal issues about pain. It is important to permit time for the patient to recognize that pain is really not emotionally essential for constructive living and that pain can eventually be reduced or eliminated if it can be manipulated.

HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIBILITY

One of the most amazing aspects of hypnosis is the ability our minds have to affect the physical body. The subconscious seems to be our direct connection to influencing both voluntary and involuntary muscle responses. We also suspect that we may be influencing the electrical and chemical systems of the body (autonomic nervous system). Some of the changes that we’re capable of affecting through imagery and suggestion are:

  • Speeding up or slowing down of the heartbeat
  • Control of blood circulation, as in bleeding
  • The raising or lowering of skin temperature and body temperature
  • Speeding up healing of wounds and injuries
  • Lowering of blood pressure
  • I have even seen people influence their T–Cell count.

Since each body responds in it’s own unique timing it is hard to scientifically prove that these people are having any better results than others. I can only say that in their subjective experiences they feel they’ve made a difference. Medically we dissect the mind & body and talk about them as if they were separate things but, you show me a mind without a body, or a body without a mind, and I’ll show you someone who is already on the other side.

Hypnosis’ ability to make changes in if and how we experience pain is a fact. One thing in our favor is that, while in pain or before a possible painful situation there is great desire for the hypnotic techniques to work. There is a strong motivation built into a pain situation that will more automatically facilitate success in the hypnotic process.

PAIN MANAGEMENT

Since pain serves as a protective mechanism and as a warning purpose for the body we should be careful about simply obliterating all pain in all cases. But when hypnosis is applied with reason it can be a powerful tool. It works for alleviating chronic pain, including the pain of cancer. One of my students was suffering with lung cancer. He not only was suffering extreme pain but also was unable to sleep since he found it impossible to sleep lying down. His breathing would become blocked in a reclining position. He was also undergoing chemotherapy, which was affecting his appetite. I taught him how to do his self–hypnosis and within two weeks he was able to cut in half the amount of pain medication he had been taking. He was now able to sleep two to three hours at a time while sitting up (before he had only managed 20 minutes at a time). His self–suggestions helped settle down his nausea caused by his chemotherapy. He said he actually had an appetite. This allowed him to improve his nutrition and give him added strength.

Hypnosis can also assist with acute pain such as surgery and dental applications. Thousands of women have used hypnosis in successful drug–free childbirth. Many people have used it to have their dental work performed without discomfort.

SELF–HYPNOSIS FOR PAIN CONTROL

Our program emphasizes the use of self–hypnosis techniques. Pain often seems to rob a person of a sense of self–control. The self–hypnosis process allows the person to take back a sense of self control and take charge, to make a difference again in their own lives. Each person deserves the right to claim dignity and independence. SELF–HYPNOSIS can assist in such a goal.

Pain control is one of the more fascinating areas of self–hypnosis. One of the examples of utilizing hypnosis for pain control would be my own son. At the age of 11 he was rock climbing with a friend of the family. I got one of those phone calls a mother never wants to get. It was from the hospital emergency ward. All they told me was my son had been in a serious accident and I should come down. I called a friend who drove me to the hospital. While I was waiting I relaxed myself as best I could, giving myself some suggestions that I would stay clear–thinking and positive when I arrived. I asked to speak to the doctor who told me my son had fallen off a 40 foot cliff and had serious injuries. I asked if I might assist in the emergency room as I was a clinical hypnotist and had taught my son hypnosis by the time he was 6. When it was clear who I was he recognized me and told me he had been trying to get an appointment with me for the last few weeks! Evidently I had worked with one of his colleagues, who was also an emergency room doctor, for stress reduction. He gave me permission and I assisted with hypnosis for the surgery on my son. He had broken bones and a severe head injury; so severe he was not allowed any anesthesia during the procedures except the hypnosis. Well, things went well and the doctor was very pleased and surprised!

I worked with a gentleman you may know of by the name of Andy Kaufman– the comedian. I was called in to his case when he discovered he had cancer and was beginning to go through chemotherapy. Andy did not beat his cancer but the hypnosis allowed him to be more comfortable and to sleep better.

Hypnosis is a great help for many circumstances dealing with pain. How about the common tension headache? With hypnosis you can take a few minutes, quiet your mind and begin relaxing deeply the body muscles– especially those of the neck, throat and jaw. We seem to clench the jaw when we’re holding back anger and frustration. I feel the real key is to notice if you are starting to get tense. Relax right then so you don’t get the headache in the 1st place. Many people who suffer with certain types of migraine seem to get improvement as well.

One of the most amazing aspects of hypnosis is the ability our minds have to affect the physical body. Our program emphasizes the use of self–hypnosis, which allows the person to take back a sense of self–control.

Often inner beliefs may be supporting the need for pain. An often overlooked area is emotional and limiting beliefs that may contribute to the pain experiences and include suggestions to release them. We also incorporate Body/Mind/Spirit work, based on Hawaiian Huna concepts, which allows us to take a fresh look at pain release.

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