How has your week been? I hope I don’t make you too jealous but I’ve escaped Melbourne for a week and have migrated North to the Gold Coast. Well, just south of the Gold Coast to be precise. Harry and I are having a lovely time relaxing and soaking up some sun with my sister and brother-in-law. My sister lives in chilly Ballarat so they’re extra grateful to be in a warmer climate for the week.
As you probably know, I always have something to say about health and wellbeing, even when I’m on holidays so I’m writing this looking out over the swimming pool and the spa. It lovely to have some downtime because I must say we’ve had an amazing response to last weeks offer of a Free Health Assessment and I’ll be very busy when I get back. You can still book in HERE but you may have to wait 2 or 3 weeks for an appointment.
Now today I want to talk to you about pain management. A couple of things have inspired me to write about this topic. Last week I ran a Workshop for Midwives at Mitcham Private Hospital about using Hypnosis for Childbirth. This is an amazing way to help mums manage the pain of childbirth. It was very well received and hopefully we can work more closely together with the hospital in the future. My daughter, grandchildren and I are actually in the local paper this week with an article on HypnoBirthing. Yey! You can read it here
Following this, I read an online article about Hypnosis being used in Switzerland in a large burns unit at the Lausanne hospital. Apparently they have two nurses in their intensive care unit who do only hypnosis and the results have been extraordinary. The patients were actually taught self-hypnosis. and like our HypnoBirthing mums they learn how to use hypnosis to reduce their own pain levels. This is a wonderful skill for life. I’ve actually creates a Hypnosis MP3 called Pain Management and Healing that you can buy online HERE
The study in Lausanne found that Hypnosis lowered anxiety, reduced the need for medication and anaesthetics and meant that patients could leave the ICU 5 days earlier. Recovering faster is, of course, a huge advantage to patients but it also saved the hospital $26,000 per patient! Hypnosis does similar things in childbirth; reducing anxiety and the need for medication, intervention and surgery. The research is really very impressive.
Ever since I studied Hypnosis 20 years ago I’ve seriously wondered why it isn’t standard practice in all hospitals to use it prior to surgery, after surgery, in burns, surgical and trauma units and of course midwifery.
Did you know that before anaesthetics were available Hypnosis was commonly used for surgery, amputations and dental procedures? Since the advent of anaesthetics it seems to have become a lost art within the medical profession.
Having said that I did see a Catalyst episode a while ago that showed a woman having deep abdominal surgery with no anaesthetic, just hypnosis. I think she was allergic to anaesthetic so it was the only option. She was in a deep trance and she felt NO PAIN! This woman was actually talking with the Hypnotherapist during the surgery about being at a family picnic and smelling the grass. Afterwards she was asked how the surgery felt and she said the incision felt like the doctor was drawing a line with a pencil across her body. I find that pretty awesome. It’s a very clear demonstration of the mind’s ability to alter the perception of sensations.
It’s such a shame that there are still so many out-dated fears and so many myths about Hypnosis because it has the potential to alleviate so much suffering and save our health care system millions of dollars every year.
So if you have chronic pain here are my 3 top techniques for managing it:
1. Hypnosis – How does it help?
- Selective Focus: The mind can only focus on one thing at a time. In Hypnosis we can be directed to focus very clearly on a pleasant experience or sensation and other sensations fade away. We can actually create selective numbness of a specific part of the body.
- Natural Pain Killers: The body actually makes its own natural pain killers called endorphins. These hormones are up to 200 times more powerful than morphine but have no risks or side effects. Hypnosis can increase the production of endorphins which block the pain receptors.
- Brain Changes: Functional MRI shows that Hypnosis effects the connection between the emotional centre and the sensory areas of the brain. This means we may feel something but not be bothered by it.
2. Alkalising: The other powerful pain management technique I want to talk to you about is alkalising. Pian will be worse if the fluid between your cells is slightly acidic. Inflammation increases acidity and will increase pain. A study was done with patients suffering chronic lower back pain requiring regular pain medication. These patients were given a month’s trail of the specific blend of alkalising minerals we use for our Alkalising Program. The pain these patients experienced was reduced by 50% after just 4 weeks. Their disability and physical impairment was reduced, there were no negative side effects and they could reduce their medication. That’s pretty impressive. (If you have chronic pain perhaps our 4 Week Alkalising Program should be your first step)
3. Energy Healing: “Hands On” healing like Reiki and BioEnergetics, Emotional Freedom Technique and Sound Healing are all powerfully effective ways to settle your nervous system, relax you and allow the Chi Energy to flow freely through your body. Although research into these modalities for pain relief is limited it’s well accepted that reducing stress and anxiety will reduce pain and speed up healing. The deep relaxation that these techniques can create can boost your immune system and help your body heal itself.
If you know anyone who is experiencing pain please forward this email to them or share on Facebook. We really appreciate you sharing the love. 🙂
So that’s it for today. I’m off to sit in the sun.
Have a great (pain free) week,
Warm Regards,
Alison Burton
Health and Happiness Guru
Simply Natural Therapies
41 Tunstall Square
East Doncaster
VIC 3109
03 9842 7033
info@simplynaturaltherapies.com.au
www.simplynaturaltherapies.com.au