Hypnosis May Lessen the Pain of Cancer Treatments

 Hypnosis May Lessen the Pain of Cancer Treatments

October 20th, 2010

The Beauty of Cancer Survival

You’re getting verrrrry sleeeeepy….

Did you know that 15 minutes of hypnosis is equal to 2 to 3 hours of regular sleep!

And your nausea is slowly drifting awayyyy…..

Hypnosis? Help with cancer? Some studies show it’s possible, and more are on the way.

We’re not talking about a cure, of course, but a method to help heal the side effects of treatment. Researchers in the UK, for instance, reported positive results when hypnosis was used for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, particularly on children, and suggested further research in adults.

Another study out of New York assigned over 200 patients a brief hypnosis intervention before they went through breast cancer surgery. Those who went through the hypnosis experienced less pain, nausea, and fatigue after the surgery. Hypnosis even seemed to help them feel less emotional upset. “Overall,” researchers reported, “the present data support the use of hypnosis with breast cancer surgery patients.”

More evidence: a 2001 study found that hypnotic-like methods, involving relaxation, suggestion, and distracting imagery, held the greatest promise of all behavioral interventions for pain management. And an earlier study found that patients who received hypnosis reported less pain and pain-related anxiety than did control patients.

Hypnosis has become so popular that it now goes under many different names 
such as relaxation therapy, meditation, reframing, guided imagery, 
visualization and is now gaining more and more credibility.

There are many definitions of hypnosis and hypnotherapy, each expert has his or her own theory, but in all these definitions and theories, there are common threads: -

It is an altered state of relaxation and focused concentration induced by suggestion there is conscious/unconscious functioning…your always in control! there is heightened suggestibility.

Have you ever been driving somewhere, and then you spaced out so much, when you arrived at your destination, you didn’t remember how you got there? That’s kind of like what hypnosis is. Your unconscious mind takes over, while your conscious mind skips out. Hypnosis helps access such a trance state, and then gives the unconscious mind suggestions that can help you feel better in your waking state.

If you’d like to try hypnosis as part of your cancer treatment, find someone, who you feel comfortable with who can guide you on your journey to recovery.

http://accomplishchange.ie/blog/?p=587