What is Pain Management?

I you were to spend a moment thinking about a time when you were unfortunate to have an accident i.e. a trip or fall cut yourself while chopping vegetables sprain a muscle ect, what happens? You would probably feel an immediate pain which would then be followed by the longer lasting dull ache until it goes away.

So what is pain? Usually pain is one of the most common reasons why we go for medical treatment and can be very hard to define as it is what we call a Subjective Experience and as far as I am aware there is no machine that can measure the degree of pain a person is experiencing. The Web version of the Encyclopedia Britannica defines pain as –

    "A complex experience consisting of a physiological (bodily) response to a noxious stimulus followed by an affective (emotional) response to that event. Pain is a warning mechanism that helps to protect an organism by influencing it to withdraw from harmful stimuli. It is primarily associated with injury or the threat of injury, to bodily tissues".

That's a fairly vague description. So to keep it simple pain is simply a warning signal to the brain that something is causing or may cause damage and you need to look into it. Pain perception is the way in which the painful stimulus is transmitted from the site of the stimulation (injury) to the central nervous system to the brain. This pain perception is termed nociception (from the Latin meaning "hurt").

Pain management through hypnosis

Hypnosis is not appropriate or effective for all sufferers of pain; this should be considered par-for-the-course, as no treatment, chemical, physical, or psychological, has ever been proven to be 100% effective. Whatever treatment undertaken if it can help a sizable number of people, it is then considered effective. Because hypnosis has been shown to be effective in pain management in many different studies in many different situations, it should be considered as effective as other modalities.
Clients suffering from pain can be taught self hypnosis to:

    * Relax muscles, break the tension, pain, and fear cycle.
    * Control their pain to a tolerable level
    * Become aware of secondary gains.
    * Reprogramming of negative attitudes.

Please note that before commencing any complimentary pain management it is recommended that you first discuss it with your own doctor as it is not a substitute for any medical treatment already being received.

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