Pain is defined as a disagreeable sensation ranging from mild, localized discomfort to relentless suffering. This feeling contains both physiological and emotional aspects. It often causes decreased enthusiasm and excitement. Such persons feel exhausted and emotionally distressed. Frequently, people find that this sensation can create difficulties with career, home, and personal interactions.
When the body is injured, it releases hormones that advise the brain that something is wrong. The brain understands this alarm as injury, and advises the body of the injury. The individual then acts in response to the painful signal, and works to relieve it. Sometimes, however, the brain receives a painful signal when no real injury has occurred. This problem can arise when the sensation has a psychological, rather than an actual, cause.
One approach to resolving painful feelings is with medicine. Non-narcotic medications, such as Tylenol or Aspirin, block the body from discharging messages used to notify the brain of painful stimuli. Narcotic medications, in comparison, attach to neurons in the brain and advise them that the problem has already been resolved. Narcotics, such as Demerol and codeine, may often be very addictive and create dependence problems in those who use them for a long time as pain management techniques.
The body also discharges substances known as endorphins. These are Nature’s painkillers, released by the brain’s cells to fool the body into thinking that it does not ache. Runners, for instance, release endorphins after running long distances; this is the source of the “runner’s high” often discussed by those who are running enthusiasts. Individuals who enjoy taking part in other sports experience the same endorphin high. On occasion, sports professionals are able to compete despite an injury because of the existence of these endorphins in their bodies.
Another way to treat painful experiences is by using distraction, or guided imagery. Clients are helped to concentrate on an image or to imagine a secure and comfortable setting that offers relief from the hurt they are experiencing. Another distraction technique involves the use of music or other activities. These strategies can be used to help persons who have ongoing lower back pain.
Persons frequently experience a reprieve with hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic programming techniques. These natural pain relief procedures often help people to have relief from a lot of disabling conditions, such as migraines and other frequent, disabling headaches or throbbing neck pain. Many people are able to significantly limit, or completely eradicate their use of drugs as a result of these methods.
Traditional hypnosis pain reduction strategies work most helpfully for those who respond to post-hypnotic suggestions. A skilled hypnotherapist assists the individual to enter a deep state of relaxation. Then, the client is intensely aware of the strategies being made by the professional.
The hypnotherapist might ask the client to focus on other activities or tasks, and that diversion will relieve any feeling of unease. Actually, the mere use of the word discomfort during a hypnotherapy session instead of saying the word pain can radically decrease any feeling of pain. Many clients have astonishing results, and they can be taught to use self-hypnosis for pain relief to gain personal control of their situations.
More analytical clients often require either Ericksonian hypnotherapy or NLP to successfully bypass their conscious resistance to suggestion.
The hypnosis pain treatment approach can also be employed to train the brain to release endorphins that can induce light anesthesia, also known as analgesia. This state may be used to help women to have their children through natural childbirth without using medications that may hurt the baby. It also helps to offer natural arthritis pain relief in long-term sufferers.
Hypnotherapy also can be used to induce a state of complete anesthesia in some people. Medical researchers call this hypnoanesthesia. Before general anesthesia became widely available to patients, many surgeons used hypo anesthesia to perform major surgery.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) can be used to treat people who think critically and analytically. Therapists assist clients to perfect a very helpful technique used by NLP, known as the ‘Flash’. The Flash assists clients to train their unconscious minds to automatically move past a painful sensation, and to focus on thoughts that will offer peace and calm. Persons who have learned this approach find that they are no longer capable of focusing on their pain, because their minds immediately substitute it for comforting ideas.
Both Neuro-Linguistic programming and hypnosis are innovations that offer completely natural methods to relieve pain. They assist people to avoid painkillers or decrease their need for these drugs. Both clients who very suggestible and those who think analytically can be treated with these [program structures. In addition, both are very successful in helping people to get a reprieve from their pain.
Today, many approaches can be used to this manner of help. Trained Hypnotherapists typically charge between $150.00 and $200.00 for a single hour. Anyone who has tried this type of treatment this type of therapy can verify that the money required was definitely worth it. A less costly method of obtaining treatment, however may be investing in one of the highly reputable hypnosis CD courses that are available.
Summary: People experience both physiological and emotional pain. Several treatments are available; including narcotic and non-narcotic pain medications, as well as guided imagery and distraction strategies. The most consistently effective approaches to relieving painful stimuli, however, are NLP and hypnosis.
Alan B. Densky, CH has been helping people with hypnosis pain management since 1978. A well-known authority in the hypnotherapy field, he offers pain management hypnosis & NLP CDs and free self hypnosis resources on his Neuro-VISION website.
- Alan B. Densky, CH