Hypnoanalgesia is the use of hypnotic suggestion to relieve pain, is widely accepted as an effective technique for the help of pain. An important application of hypnoanalgesia is in the area of chronic (long-term) pain. 

The hypnosis condition included relaxation, suggestions to reduce pain, nausea, and emotional reaction to symptoms, and phrases relating to healing, well-being, self-control, and coping capabilities. The cognitive behavioral condition included two kinds of relaxation and various cognitive coping skills (e.g. cognitive restructuring, exploring meaning of illness). The placebo condition involved normal therapist contact. The results showed that those in the hypnosis group had a significant decrease in pain from chemotherapy compared to the other two groups. In addition, the hypnosis group Hypnosis in Pain Management also tended to use less medication. Because the hypnosis group and the cognitive behavioral group both involved relaxation techniques, the effects of hypnoanalgesia do not simply result from the relaxation of mind and body. Since the hypnosis group focused more on the ability of the individuals to reduce their signs, the issue which underlies hypnotic pain reduction is one of personal control.

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Hypnotic analgesia has been used successfully in a number of interventions in many clinics, hospitals, and burn care centers, and dental offices. For acute pain, it has proven effective in interventional radiology, various surgical procedures (e.g., appendectomies, tumor excisions), the help of burns (dressing changes and the painful removal of dead or contaminated skin tissue), childbirth labor pain, bone marrow aspiration pain, and pain related to dental work, especially so with children. Chronic pain conditions for which hypnosis has been used successfully include, among others, headache, backache, fibromyalgia, carcinoma-related pain, temporomandibular disorder pain, and mixed chronic pain.

Hypnosis can alleviate the sensory and/or affective components of a pain experience, which may be all that is required for acute pain.

Chronic conditions, however, may require a comprehensive plan that targets various aspects besides the pain experience. The individual may need help increasing behaviors that foster well-being and functional activity (e.g., exercise, good diet) challenging faulty thinking patterns (e.g., "I cannot do anything about my pain"), restoring range of motion and appropriate body mechanics, and so on. Clinicians using hypno-analgesia should be up to date in other treatments for pain besides hypnosis, consult with other specialists as appropriate, and integrate different strategies to provide the most effective and enduring relief for pain.

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Our Hypnotist Charbel Ramia is specialized in Hypnosis for Pain and Chronic Pain Control and he is ready to work with your Doctor to help you.