The Five Levels of Pain ControlFive Levels of Pain Control In one form or another, hypnosis has been successfully used by "native" healers for 100’s, if not 1000’s of years. There are many well-documented cases of painless surgeries with hypnosis dating as far back as the 1840’s when a Scottish surgeon named Dr. James Esdaile practiced Mesmeric techniques in India. The first level of pain control is removing your biggest obstacle: FEAR, i.e., letting your intellect play the "what if" game. Fear inhibits two important abilities: concentration and relaxation and floods the body with stress hormones that can slow the healing process. Basically, fear = pain. For you to be successful at controlling pain, you must confront both the fear associated with the pain and the fear of using self-hypnosis. The fears usually associated with pain are: fear of making it worse, fear of having a unknown illness, fear of unending pain, and fear of death. It is important that your condition has been diagnosed by your doctor to dispel these fears and getting a second opinion is a great help. The fears usually associated with hypnosis are: fear of being misled or tricked, fear of not doing it right, fear of losing self-control, or fear of coming out of self-hypnosis too soon. The truth is: all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Your way is the right way, and self-hypnosis is a tool for gaining more self-control than you ever thought possible! But you must participate with an open mind. Once you have practiced self-hypnosis techniques several times, you will understand that the unfounded fear of coming out of hypnosis is like the fear that you might forget how to drive your car. The second level of pain control is achieved by generating trust and belief in the hypnotic process and in the virtuosity of your body. Realize that your body makes its own pain killing drugs similar to morphine called endorphins. That’s why morphine and its derivatives are so addictive, the brain has these receptor sites built in. Endorphins are administered in a site-specific way within the brain in order to preserve the other vital systems and functions of the body. This is how nature intended natural pain control. Ever notice a bruise on yourself and not remember how it happened? Once your mind has been freed of fear and ignorance, the third level of pain control is the ability to focus your intellect and concentrate on your experience of the present moment. When you concentrate on just the pain in the moment, noting its qualities, you have reduced that pain by 2/3: you have removed both the pain you remember from yesterday and the pain you anticipate for tomorrow. By closing your eyes and focusing inwardly on the pain, you have indirectly begun the hypnotic process. Distracting yourself by concentrating on something else such as your breathing can help, too. The fourth level of pain control is using the intellect to engage systematic/progressive relaxation. Relaxation is an important key to successful pain control, especially surrounding the site of chronic pain where there may be chronic muscle tension. You begin with slow rhythmic breathing centering in the abdomen, paying close attention to expelling ALL your air with each exhale. Then focus on relaxing your eyelid muscles and progress all the way down to your feet, mentally relaxing each muscle group as you go. A personalized guided relaxation CD is often helpful. Continue scanning your body for any pockets of tension, and, if necessary, consciously tense any resistant muscle group for a few seconds, then release. Use your breath as your main focal point. At this level you have reduced the pain by about 75% and with enough practice can control your nervous, circulatory, and healing systems through visualization, guided imagery, and the mind/body connection. The fifth level is complete removal of the pain through the process of dissociation. (Dissociation through self-hypnosis is a controlled process and has no relation whatsoever to any mental disorder.) The key here is to realize that you are removing yourself from the pain and not vice versa. Some people are better at dissociation, out-of-body journeys, and deep trance states than others; yet, with enough practice anyone can do it. It's somewhat like going to the movies. To enter a deep trance state you must be completely relaxed but rested enough to remain awake. With your mind’s eye, create a pain-free place in detail, using your most vivid memories of a relaxing place. Beautiful outdoor scenes work well, but any serene location will do. Using a relaxing background sound track or personalized self-hypnosis CD can prove useful to maintain focus for longer periods of time. The more absorbed you can become in your imagery, the more oblivious you will become to your symptom. With enough practice, at this level you can completely anaesthetize any part of your body and undergo surgery or, coupled with proper physical conditioning, mothers can even mentally detach from labor contractions for a drug-free, painless childbirth. Please contact me for information or to order a personalized self-hypnosis CD. Ken Steinmetz, CHT 815 Hyde St. Suite 302 San Francisco, CA 94109 415-775-7797 Back to Hypnotherapists in California More Info For Professionals
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