Hi dave.I have a question for you.Can we control pain,useing hypnosis?.I can control any part of my body,but I cant stop pain.have you heard of anyone getting rid of pain through hypnosis? George.

Hi George-
Yes, pain relief through hypnosis is both possible and in many cases, quite practical. Although I personall;y would never dare to try it, people have undergone addominal and cardiac surgery using hypnosis alone.

The easy part of pain control is to alter the secondary interpretations by which we represent pain to ourse;ves. Then we also can transfer it to a place in which it is easier to tolerate the pain, a simple trick. It is possible to anesthetize a limb, and a number of medical hypnotherapists delight in giving demos of this, where they shove a needle through a hand etc. The effects are rather like those seen in religious devotees who get worked up into a trance and stick sharp things through their bodies without either bleeding or any indication of discomfort. Since hypnosis and hysteerical trance have a great deal in common (Freud's most significant observation in this regard) anything that freaked out religious zealots do is also available through hypnotic means.

dave

Hmmm.  I controlled labor pains with self-hypnosis, but that may be a different deal because they're relatively temporary.  I'll have to try it the next time I get kicked or something...generally when I've got pain it's a symptom of an injury, so I try not to mask it to avoid further injury (I shoe horses, so it's always a possibility).  I'll pick one that won't get me in trouble if I don't baby it and see if I can do it with that sort of pain too.

Fantastic, Cricket!
Labor pains are some of the most severe pains that a body experiences.
d

George, I just read in Monroe's book Far Journeys that hemi sync can be used for pain control. you should read this.

Cricket, woman to woman screaming during labor was helping me a great deal to control the pain, but since I had a man doctor he said if I didn't shut up he would cut my abdomen open instead of a natural birth. I shut up! ;)  men obsteticians is like a plumber up under the hood of my porche..forget it. :(

I didn't do any screaming (night shift nurses who came in part way through didn't believe there was anyone in the delivery room), but I did inform the doctor that if he gave me any grief I'd kick his jaw in.  We had a short power struggle over who was running that delivery, but I won.  Since the nurses weren't real fond of the guy (nice enough guy, good doctor, but something of a control freak) I got a few high fives afterward...

My kid has occasionally explained that when she was driving me buggy it was my karma from that.   :)

I want to try hypnosis for my next delivery.  

When I had my son in August my epidural only worked on one side.  NICE.   Next time I'd like to skip the epidural all together and try something else.