Pain is the most frequent reason for medical consultation in the United States, but what is pain? Pain is a mental or an emotional suffering, sadness caused by some physical, emotional or mental problem.
ACUTE AND CHRONIC PAIN
Acute pain and chronic pain are not the same. Acute pain occurs suddenly with an injury or with a disease, it might last a moment or weeks, and it disappears when the underlying cause of pain has healed. Chronic pain instead, persists for months or years even, when the injury has healed. In some cases, people coexist so long with pain that pain becomes part of themselves, and they have no perception of what their life would be without pain. Anxiety and other psychologic factors may help explain why some people experience pain as more unpleasant than others do and why pain limits their activities. For example, people with chronic pain know it will recur and may become fearful and anxious as they anticipate the pain. As we reduce the emotional upset and anxiety, we typically reduce the pain.
HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIONS
Sensory experience can be modified in hypnosis; the experience of the body can be altered, and in particular, it is possible to control pain. The subject/person in hypnosis can efficiently direct his introspection in the different sectors of his body; he can enlarge or reduce the sensations that come from inside his body, and he can alter the sensible physiological parameters such as the heartbeat, the respiratory rhythm, the temperature of the skin. For example, suggestions of cold and heat may lead to vasoconstriction and vasodilation, respectively. Simple suggestions of greater or lesser frequency of the heartbeat and the breath, increase or decrease of the arterial tension or muscular fatigue and anxiety or tranquility. It is also able to adequately determine an increase or a decrease of the pulse frequency, of the breath or arterial tension. Furthermore, in the context of gastrointestinal functions, the tendency towards increased production of gastric juice and pepsin has been noted, inducing satisfaction, as well as decreased production, instead of provoking anger or fear.
Various psychologic techniques can sometimes help control pain. Distraction techniques may involve guided imagery. For example, people may be instructed to imagine a scene that is calming and comforting, such as resting on a beach or lying in a hammock.
IMPORTANT: Pain is an indication of some form of dysfunction and must be medically evaluated before I begin hypnotherapy. A referral from your medical doctor is mandatory before I started pain management.
