Hypnotherapy and pain management is a very personal topic for me. In Fall of 2024 I was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). It is considered to be one of the most painful conditions known to medicine. There is no definitive “cure”, and the nickname is the “suicide disease” because of the high suicide rate related to chronic pain.
For my own personal journey, I dove deep into educating myself about everything possibly known about this condition. I scoured the forums, the research, trying every supplement, diet modification, and anything that did not cause unwanted side effects or carried significant risk of complication. Our house turned into an apothecary. I wanted to heal, and not take gabapentin for the rest of my life. I have no judgement on others if they want that – I knew it was not for me.
I am not going to list everything I tried, but more notably was ketamine therapy (one of the treatments that has proven to help many cases). This was helpful to help dissociate long enough from the pain to develop a different relationship to my pain. I did not continue as insurance did not cover all of it, it was too challenging to find transportation to treatment, and recovery from the infusions was extremely difficult. My pain continued to spread up my leg and into the other foot.
When I learned from a Physical Therapy Pain Specialist about how our brain perceives pain, and that even if there is no physical injury, there can still be pain signals being misread by our brain. I am not going to go into the full neuroscience here, but knowing that information with my diagnosis helped me to retrain my response to pain. It took several months, but I am able to walk again with minimal pain. Essentially, I used self hypnosis as my main component for healing.
With my background as an RN, I understand the physical limitations present in certain conditions, as well as the obscene amount of gaslighting the medical industry for people with any kind of pain. I encourage anyone to do what they need to do to take care of themselves. With what is known in pain neuroscience, it is time to awaken the potential of the mind-body relationship in a way that benefits us now.
Hypnotherapy helps manage pain primarily by altering how the brain perceives and processes painful sensations, rather than by eliminating the physical cause of the pain itself. It works through several interconnected mechanisms:
1. Modulating Pain Perception During hypnosis, individuals enter a state of deep relaxation and heightened focus. In this state, the brain’s processing of pain signals can be altered. Research suggests that hypnosis can reduce activity in the parts of the brain associated with the sensory-discriminative aspect of pain (where you feel the intensity and location) and the affective-motivational aspect (the emotional suffering and distress associated with pain). This means the sensation might still be there, but it feels less intense or bothersome.
2. The Gate Control Theory Hypnotherapy aligns with the “Gate Control Theory” of pain. This theory posits that non-painful input (like deep relaxation, focused imagery, or suggestion) can close the “gates” to painful input, preventing pain signals from traveling to the central nervous system. By focusing attention intensely on a relaxing image or a specific suggestion (e.g., “your hand feels numb and warm”), the brain prioritizes those signals over pain signals.
3. Cognitive Reframing and Suggestion A hypnotherapist uses specific suggestions to change the patient’s relationship with pain. Common techniques include:
- Dissociation: Encouraging the patient to imagine the pain is separate from their body, perhaps visualizing it as a color or object that can be moved or shrunk.
- Transformation: Suggesting that the sharp, burning pain transforms into a dull, manageable warmth or pressure.
- Control: Empowering the patient with the belief that they have control over their pain levels, which reduces anxiety. Since anxiety often amplifies pain perception, reducing it creates a positive feedback loop.
4. Reducing Anxiety and Stress Pain and anxiety form a vicious cycle: pain causes stress, and stress lowers the pain threshold, making pain feel worse. Hypnotherapy induces a profound state of physiological relaxation (lowering heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension), which breaks this cycle. By lowering the overall stress load, the nervous system becomes less reactive to pain stimuli.
Clinical Applications Studies have shown hypnotherapy can be effective for various conditions, including:
- Chronic pain: Such as fibromyalgia, lower back pain, and arthritis.
- Procedural pain: Used during dental procedures, biopsies, or wound care to reduce the need for anesthesia or analgesics.
- Childbirth: Often used to manage labor pain and reduce the fear of childbirth.
- Burn victims: Helping manage the intense pain during dressing changes.
It is important to note that hypnotherapy is generally considered a complementary therapy. It works best when integrated with standard medical treatments rather than replacing them. Effectiveness varies by individual, as everyone comes with their own unique life experiences and circumstances.
Neuroscience aside, there is always insight that can be gained by looking at our lives from a new perspective. When our conscious lives are consumed by pain, it may seem impossible for anything to shift in our lives until the pain subsides. Healing is multidimensional and available to us in many ways. Get to know the part of you that knows the way toward healing, in whatever way that is meant to unfold in your life.
