If you suffer from chronic pain, hypnotherapy and NLP can be a very effective treatment to help reduce symptoms to a more manageable level. Imagine that your pain level is at a ten - how would it feel if this was reduced to a four, or even a two? How would that be?

Hypnotherapy can help you achieve this.

Pain is a signal from the unconscious mind that something needs attention. That you need to stop and rest so that some healing can occur. The problem persists and worsens when we don't listen to these signals and carry on with life, perhaps getting more and more stressed and fatigued as time passes by. Of course in our society, we often can't stop and rest even when we know we need to, and eventually we will be forced to.

Chronic pain then continues as the message to stop is played continually, so our mind and body can get the rest they need in complete disregard to our lifestyle and happiness. When the mind and body finally makes us stop, this can persist for years because once the mind has found a solution that has made you rest, it will continue to play it it out of fear that you'll return to the same stressful situations and environments as before. 

Pain of course should be taken seriously and never treated as being ‘all in the mind’, it is certainly there for a reason and the approach in hypnotherapy is to suggest to the unconscious mind, the part that is controlling pain levels, to reduce the symptoms which are now perhaps unnecessary. 

Symptoms are also a result of our psychological attitudes, beliefs, expectations and general well-being which can have direct effects on how we feel pain. Our state of mind can all influence the intensity of physical pain because the mind and body influence one another, and hypnotherapy here can play an important role both for chronic and acute pain. 

It can help with:

• Pain Perception - Changing how the mind processes pain signals and therefore reducing the intensity of pain.
• Stress Reduction - Hypnotherapy can lower stress and anxiety levels which add to the intensity of pain levels by inducing a state of deep relaxation.
• Muscle Relaxation - When stressed and in pain we often hold a lot of tension in our body and muscles which is reduced when entering into a state of hypnosis.
• Reframing - If we believe and know we are in pain, and think about this on a consistent level, then these thoughts will influence what we feel in our body. We get more of what we focus on so by reframing how we think about our pain, then this will have a direct result on what we experience.
• Relaxation to stimulate healing - The process of hypnotherapy induces deep relaxation which is our bodies natural healing state. This is why deep sleep is so important but unfortunately lacking for so many people. Hypnosis can follow a process of progressive muscle relaxation that will automatically create this state and together with suggestions of healing, help to quickly reduce pain symptoms.  

It is estimated that 43% of the population experience some sort of chronic pain and 14% of UK adults live with chronic widespread pain* so if you suffer from chronic pain, you're not alone. The study by Dr Fayaz also found that 8% of UK adults experience chronic nerve (neuropathic) pain and 5.5% live with fibromyalgia – a long-term condition that causes simultaneous pain in many different parts of the body. He also added that women were more likely than men to be affected by chronic pain, irrespective of age or pain type.

It is always recommended to see a GP or medical professional for your pain diagnosis and treatment before seeking alternative therapies and to see whether hypnotherapy and NLP would be right for you, but if you'd like to discuss the benefits further and find out more about how it could help you, then please get in touch and arrange your free consultation call today.

Hypnotherapy is a painless, easy and deeply relaxing process that really can help with reducing levels and symptoms of pain so don't continue to suffer, I'd love to be able to help.

*Study by Dr Alan Fayaz.