Chronic pain is finally being recognized as a disease of itsown and not merely a symptom of something else.  It affects every aspect of an individual’s life: mental,physical and emotional.  If yourwhole life is impacted by pain then the treatments must address your whole lifeas well.  Pain does not exist in avacuum.

There have been manyadvances in understanding the ways in which chronic pain is experienced. But,they have not led to more effective pharmacological treatments.  It’s hard to give someone pain reliefwithout making them sleepy.  And,turning off the sensory nerves that transmit pain increases the risk ofseizures or heart rhythm problems.

Because of the way the body is designed the pain signalseizes our attention and prioritizes it over other sensations.  When you are deprived of a full rangeof sensations life begins to lose its quality.  To restore the quality to your life the pain must be treatedfrom multiple perspectives at the same time.

Several years ago when someone experienced chronic pain itwas thought that the pain was all in their head. This belief haspersisted.  Many chronic painpatients are hesitant to seek adequate relief, fearing the physician will thinkthey have an emotional illness or are drug seeking rather than suffering from atrue physical illness.  So, theysuffer needlessly and in silence.  This is a crime against reason. 

Even though this is irrational thinking, it makes apoint.  You cannot experience painwithout a mind.  And, we know themind is not confined to the brain. Therefore, the mind/body approaches should be among the front line ofall treatment approaches for chronic pain. You must treat it where it isrecognized and interpreted—in the mind. When you change the interpretation in the mind, pain loses its abilityto create misery and suffering. Techniques such as mindfulness meditation, hypnosis and self hypnosis,acupuncture and massage therapy should be prescribed along with Lortab,Oxycodone and Cymbalta. 

Even though we do not know exactly how the mind/bodytherapies work, we have hundreds of years of experience knowing they arehelpful. We don’t know exactly how aspirin works to relieve mild pain but weknow it works and we do not hesitate to use it when it is appropriate.  We know the mind can create pain andthat it also has enormous powers to take it away. 

Hypnotherapy has been endorsed by the American MedicalAssociation since 1958 specifically for its ability to relieve mild to severepain.  And, more recently theNational Institute of Health has stated that hypnosis is evidenced based torelieve mild to severe pain.  Sincehypnosis is non-invasive it is safer than medications, herbal remedies oraccupuncture.  Another safeyfeature of hypnosis is that it will not relieve a pain that could be harmful tothe body that has not been properly diagnosed.  Therefore, it becomes diagnostic.  If the patient has not been correctly diagnosed and treated,analgesic medications can mask the pain symptoms.  Hypnosis cannot.

It takes training and practice to learn to use the mind torelieve pain.  You go to a physicaltherapist or a personal trainer to learn better ways to use your body.  You go to a hypnotherapist trained inadvanced pain control techniques to learn to use your mind to turn off the painsignal.  Most people who haveexperienced significant levels of chronic pain over a long period of time willrequire four or five sessions to achieve maximum relief.  However, most people begin getting somedegree of relief from the first session and the degree of relief builds as thesessions continue. 

If there is no hypnotherapist near you or the ones near youare not trained in advanced pain control techniques using pre-recordedself-hypnosis CD’s can be an effective option.  Look for a multi-session program from someone who useshypnosis every day.  Success withhypnosis is largely influenced by the therapists technique, you want to choosea hypnotherapist who works with pain control on at least a weekly basis ratherthan one who only sees pain patients sporadically.  If you see pain control CD’s advertised on the internetinvest in a phone call to ask some pointed questions about the therapist’s backgroundand training in advanced pain techniques and how frequently that therapistworks with pain patients in their private practice.  For more information on hypnotic pain control go to www.tranceworkers.com.  

Melissa Roth, CHt.,PhD is a nationally certifiedhypnotherapist who specializes in medical aspects of hypnotherapy. Afterhealing herself of both fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome in 1996 shefounded Alabama Hypnotherapy Center in Birminghan, Al. She has a privatepractice in Birmingham, Al., and is a critically acclaimed author and lecturerin the field of medical hypnotherapy. She lectures and teaches at professionalconferences all over the world and has written numerous textbooks on aspects ofmedical hypnotherapy that have become the definitive authority in theirfield.  You can find out more abouther at her website, www.tranceworkers.com.