Hypnotherapy a Valuable Aide for Surgery

You see yourself standing on a beach or perhaps in the woods. Your body is becoming totally relaxed. Yet, as you're seeing things in your mind when you're actually awaiting surgery.

Marianne Marquis was on a beach, her toes in the sand and water rushing over them.

This beautiful image was occurring for Marianne while surgeons into her neck to remove a thyroid.

Donna Gould her ten year battle with breast cancer. Among the memories of this battle in a box lays a black cassette tape labeled "Donna's Hypnosis Tape". For Donna the effects of hypnosis were strong. Her tape playing on a portable cassette player she clung onto until a few moments before surgery.

For Marianne the effects were powerful. As she imagined the beach and her toes wiggling in the water the surgeon had made the incision. Marianne felt slight pressure but no pain.

In Belgium since 2003, physicians have been offering hypnosis with hundreds of patients using it. Another Belgium hospital reports since 1992 over 800 surgeries had been conducted with using hypnosis.

Hypnosis results to decrease preoperative anxiety are well documented. Now, more and more studies are now advocating the use of hypnosis to decrease pain for both before and after surgery.

The most research recent was present this June at the European Anesthesiology Congress. This research had determined patients that were hypnotized before breast cancer surgery performed under local anesthetic did better than in comparison to patients without hypnosis. Those patients who had hypnosis recovered quicker, less painkillers and shorter time in hospital.

In 2007, a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, revealed that patients who had hypnosis before breast cancer surgery had decreased use of local anesthetic along with decreased pain, nausea and fatigue.

Dr. Guy Montgomery, Director of Integrative Behavioral Medicine Program,

Associate Professor in the Department of Oncological Sciences, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, nationally recognized clinical psychologist and author of the study, stated a broad partition of patients can receive benefits from this.

Dr. Michael Schmitz, Director of Pediatric Pain Medicine at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, states hypnosis is used to aide the other parts of anesthesia not covered by local anesthetic. Anesthesia is comprised of four basic conditions; loss of memory, pain relief, sedation and relaxation. Dr. Schmitz notes that hypnosis can aide patients into entering a calm relaxed state. Discomfort is manageable and easily not remembered.

Director of Pediatric Pain Management, Dr. Elliott Krane at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Stanford, California, states that not every person can be hypnotized. Children can not be hypnotized dependably and some religious faiths forbid followers to enter into a trance like state.

One down fall to hypnosis is it does require time, patients and quiet location. As, Dr. Krane remarks these three things are not usually found most hospitals with busy operating rooms.

As for Donna and Marianne, Donna states it had gotten her through one of the worst moments in her life and Marianne recommends hypnosis to patients that wish to avoid the use of anesthesia.

Hypnotherapy covers a broad range of conditions these include; preoperative nerves, restless legs, panic attacks, smoking cessation, OCD, eczema, pre-birth relaxation and insomnia.

sources:

ABC News

Health and Time