Pain Control
What is pain?
Pain is a completely natural occurrence in the body that is telling us that something is wrong. It serves a very valuable process as a warning signal to enable diagnosis of a condition. It should always be treated seriously and investigated thoroughly by a qualified medical professional prior to any treatment. Sometimes pain can be as a result of a blocked emotion being held within the body, but this is considered after pathology has been thoroughly investigated and ruled out.
The importance of medical diagnosis
It is important that if you are coming for treatment for pain, that you have first received a recent medical diagnosis for that pain from your GP. Even if you have had the pain diagnosed some years ago and it has been consistent ever since, a recent confirmation from your GP is important and therefore Caroline may seek your permission to write to your doctor to confirm this, if necessary.
Perception of pain
Levels of pain are very subjective. What some people would call an ache, others would call a strong pain. Some individuals are more sensitive than others and people also respond in different ways to different types of pain. Each of us has a unique pain threshold which is influenced biologically and emotionally. In fact, someone who fears pain is likely to suffer more as a result of their anticipation and reaction to it through the tightening of muscles, whereas someone who doesn’t fear pain may not allow fear to impact on their life. There is no good and bad way, just individual experiences and different perceptions.
Pain relief using hypnotherapy
Transpersonal hypnotherapy is a highly effective therapy at providing pain relief and local anaesthesia and what is even more encouraging is that you can easily be taught how to give pain relief to yourself using self-hypnosis techniques. By harnessing the power of your own mind, you can achieve pain relief in almost any area of your body.
Pain relief can not only be used on existing conditions, but can be given as anaesthesia, for example when you go to the dentist. Imagine being able to put yourself into a state of hypnosis, induce anaesthesia from your hand to your mouth and have a trip to the dentist without the need for chemical anaesthesia and needles.
In some cases, it is not advisable for the pain to go completely but merely to lessen its effect and hold over you. The reason for this is that if you have a severe joint injury or condition, the pain is there to serve as a reminder not to overuse it and do more physical damage. Therefore, the treatment has to be specific to the individual and in many cases under medical supervision.
Do I still need to take my pain relief medication during treatment?
Absolutely! Only your GP in consultation with yourself can decide whether or not to reduce your medication. It is hoped that with regular hypnotherapy, the need for medication for pain relief would reduce or be eliminated altogether but only your GP can advise on that. In most cases it is fine to receive hypnosis whilst on pain medication, but it is important that full details of it are given to Caroline prior to treatment commencing.
Emotional pain
Pain can often be the cause of blocked emotional energy that is within us which can provide very real and very painful conditions but do not have a pathological basis under investigation. This pain can be related to stress or a stressful incident that you may not even be aware of consciously, or it may be psychosomatic. This type of pain is taken just as seriously as those with a pathological origin, and can be dealt with extremely successfully with transpersonal hypnotherapy.
Treatment and what to expect
Transpersonal hypnotherapy and using NLP techniques are both incredibly effective at controlling pain and inducing anaesthesia. It is possible to help sufferers of pain in three main ways: by teaching relaxation techniques, by teaching self-hypnosis, and by specific therapeutic sessions targeted at pain alleviation.
At the first session, Caroline will take a detailed history of your condition and seek clarification as to your medical diagnosis and when this took place. Once the go-ahead is given by the doctor, or you have been able to demonstrate a recent diagnosis, treatment can begin immediately, depending on your specific condition.
The whole process is a relaxing and pleasurable experience as you are taught not only to control and minimise (or eradicate in some circumstances) the pain, but you can enjoy the time to thoroughly unwind and let go of all the tension.
Many clients who suffer with pain also suffer from insomnia as a direct result. This can be caused by the actual pain or through the worry and anxiety associated with it. This can also be addressed during a course of hypnotherapy to ensure that your sleep quality also improves at the same time.
"The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them." - Albert Einstein
