Many people are unaware that Clinical Hypnotherapy for Pain Management is a “thing!” And not only a thing. It’s a powerful tool that can help ease the pain when many other methods have failed.
A few cases of hypnotherapy for pain relief
Over the past few years, I’ve worked with several pain clients with incredible results.
Trigeminal neuralgia
Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic pain disorder affecting the trigeminal nerve in the face. Symptoms include mild to severe facial pain, and treatment includes medication, injections and surgery. However, many of these treatments do little to calm the pain.
In 2020, I saw a man in his fifties with trigeminal neuralgia, and he had seen many specialists before ending up in my chair. He said that most of them offered minor, temporary relief but he needed something stronger. He was a positive man and said he wouldn’t give up looking for the right solution because the pain was, at times, unbearable. At the beginning of this session, he rated his pain levels at an 8 out of 10.
Once we put the headphones on and I gently guided him into a very relaxed space, I could tell that he had relaxed quite deeply as his body looked heavy and his breathing soothed.
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When he was in trance, we worked through some tools for pain management that he could use and I offered some suggestions for the subconscious to play with.
Once he came out of trance, I asked him how he felt. He said his pain level was down to a two on the pain scale. He knew the source of the pain was there, but he could control it now.
Chronic Migraines
I saw a 71-year-old man a few years ago for Chronic migraines. He had a few other issues, including depression, and he admitted that he drank a little too much. However, his most pressing issue was the pain, and he was seeking hypnotherapy to see if that could help him as medications were no longer working as effectively as they used to.
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It took this man a while to relax, but once he finally did, he was able eventually to go beyond the pain and experience a peaceful state of mind. I only did a couple of sessions with this man, and I gave him the tools to find that quiet place in his mind beyond the pain which he could access whenever the pain was out of control.
What to expect in a hypnosis for pain relief session.
The above cases are just a couple of examples of how hypnosis can work for pain. There are a variety of different techniques that we can use in a hypnotherapy session to get the pain under control. This includes looking at and reframing things such as beliefs, past trauma, and secondary gain.
Most sessions run from 60-90 minutes and you should feel relaxed, calm and with a reduced level of pain. The reduction in pain levels varies from person to person.
You can find out more about what to expect and some of the facts here.
If hypnosis for pain management is so good, why aren’t more people trying it?
Two reasons.
1/ They don’t know that clinical hypnotherapy for pain is a thing!
2/ Belief! Belief is everything when it comes to healing. If you believe that you can get better, you will more than likely find a way to heal. However if you don’t think you can heal, nothing will work, so you won’t bother trying.
When you are open-minded but optimistic that there is a solution, hypnotherapy will be a promising therapy for you!!
Do I need a GP referral for hypnotherapy?
Generally speaking, No. But for pain management, Yes. You need a referral in case your pain is a sign of something more important which needs to be checked thoroughly by a doctor.
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