Work Life Tips

Recovering from Injury – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

If you are recovering from an injury, for instance an ankle sprain, put yourself into a trance, and replay the accident that caused the injury in your mind. The pain will get worse at the point in the replay when you actually hurt yourself, but will quickly subside. For pain relief, do this two or three times, and the pain will be less each time. When you bring yourself out of hypnosis, you will find that the ankle hurts less than it did before. It will also heal more quickly after this mental exercise.

Pain Relief in the Brain – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

Researchers used positron emission tomography to show that there are actual brain changes when hypnosis is used for pain relief. Hypnosis reduced the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex, an area involved in pain, but not the somatosensory cortex, in which the sensations are processed. This indicates that hypnosis pain management occurs in parts of the brain other than that where the pain is registered. (Scientific American, July 2001) This doesn’t fully explain how hypnosis works in pain relief, but it indicates that it does.

Hypnosis and Pain Relief During Childbirth – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

Hypnosis helps many women during childbirth. Some clinicians believe that 10 to 20 percent of the general population can be trained to use hypnosis as their primary analgesic. However, a larger percentage of the population can use self-hypnosis to allay their fears of pain (including labor pain). This helps to keep them calm during the stages of early labor before they can be given an epidural — stages which can last quite while.

Preventing Muscle Damage – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

Here’s a pain relief technique that can keep you from making a minor injury worse: Let’s say you are out for a run. You feel a pain or cramp in your leg. Slow down gradually while you concentrate on that area in your leg and tell it to relax. (Yes, you can talk to your body.) This can relieve the tension in the muscle and keep it from tearing. Slow to a walk and see if the pain is gone. If not, you can deal with it with the appropriate first aid or ride home if necessary. If the pain is gone, you can continue on your way.

Migraine Headaches – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

For migraines, here is a good tip for headache relief. When you feel a migraine coming on, relax and visualize your hands becoming very warm. Migraines are thought to be associated with dilation of blood vessels in the brain, so warming your hands will bring more blood to the extremities and let the coronary arteries return to normal, thereby relieving the pain.

Reducing Pain – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

For pain management, imagine a thermometer on its side, something like what you see on your computer screen when a page is loading. Put a 1 at one end and a 10 at the other. Now place your pain at a spot along the scale, with 10 being the worst you can imagine and 1 being hardly any. Put yourself in a trance and relax. Visualize your pain subsiding as the thermometer marker moves slowly down the scale. You may not get to 1, but if you move your pain from 7 to 4, you will feel much better. Don’t force it beyond where it wants to stop.

Hypnosis and Placebo – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

Research has shown hypnosis to be more effective in pain relief than placebo. This shows that hypnosis is more than just having a good imagination. There are actual changes in brain function involved.

Cautions About Hypnosis – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

Pain management is one area in which there may be a danger in using hypnosis. Hypnosis can be too successful, covering the symptom of pain before the cause is found. Always see your health provider for a diagnosis of the cause of pain, and approval for treating it with hypnosis, before you try to relieve it through hypnosis.

Reducing Pain From Medical Procedures Through Hypnosis – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

According to Consumer Reports, discomfort during certain medical procedures can be reduced with the help of hypnosis. In a study in Wales, 80 cancer patients ages 6 to 16 received hypnosis from a therapist. They reported less pain and anxiety during their treatments. One of the treatments involved spinal cord punctures. The test subjects demonstrated less distress than those who received only standard care during those painful procedures.

Isn’t Pain Good? – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

Pain is necessary as a message to let you know you have an injury or physical condition that needs attention. Once you have taken the necessary steps–first aid, rest, seeing a doctor–the pain is not needed. You do not want to block all future pain. Renew pain relief as needed.