It is a little known fact that hypnosis is very effective in relieving and controlling pain. In fact, it is so effective that the use of hypnosis to manage pain must be approached with extreme caution.

It is usually unadvisable to treat pain unless the cause of that pain is already known and has been diagnosed by a medical practitioner. Pain is sometimes a symptom of a more serious underlying condition, for example, a persistent headache could be a symptom of a brain tumour. If the hypnotherapist were to treat the headache in this example, before the root cause of the pain was known, then this could well lead to the brain tumour not being diagnosed for longer. However, if the patient had already been to their doctor and more serious causes of the headaches had been eliminated, then it would be fine for the hypnotherapist to proceed.

Pain should never be treated for its own sake, but if the underlying cause is known and your doctor gives permission, hypnosis can be very effective in relieving pain.

In fact, according to the Guardian Newspaper, Doctors are being encouraged to use hypnosis alongside, or even instead of, general anaesthetics during some operations.

Professor David Spiegel, of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University in the US, has called upon the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to add hypnotherapy to its list of approved therapeutic techniques for the treatment of conditions ranging from allergies and high blood pressure to the pain associated with bone marrow transplantation, cancer treatment and anaesthesia for liver biopsy. (The NICE has already approved the technique for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.)

“It is time for hypnosis to work its way into the mainstream of British medicine… There is solid science behind what sounds like mysticism and we need to get that message across to the bodies that influence this area. Hypnosis has no negative side-effects. It makes operations quicker, as the patient is able to talk to the surgeon as the operation proceeds, and it is cheaper than conventional pain relief. Since it does not interfere with the workings of the body, the patient recovers faster, too.

“It is also extremely powerful as a means of pain relief.”

The following account of someone who had some bone in the base of the thumb removed and some joints fused together, without any anaesthetic, should silence even the most sceptical readers:

A hypnotherapist had an 83-minute operation on his arm with no anaesthetic.

At one point, Alex Lenkei even heard the surgeon say: “Can I have the saw, please?”

Because he had put himself into a hypnotic trance, however, he said he felt no pain as the doctors chiselled out a walnut-sized chunk of bone from his wrist.

Mr Lenkei, 61, had the operation to treat his painful osteoarthritis. He said: “The results have been amazing. I feel ace.”

…The hypnotherapist amazed doctors by asking how things were going halfway through the surgery, at Worthing Hospital in West Sussex on Wednesday.

…Surgeon David Llewellyn-Clark said the operation went well and Mr Lenkei showed no reaction during the surgery. He added: “If he had been grinning and bearing it we would have known – but his heart rate and breathing remained constant throughout.

…Mr Lenkei, who is a registered hypnotherapist, has been practising the technique since he was 16. In 1996 he was hypnotised by a colleague before a 30-minute hernia operation.

Anaesthetist Richard Venn said the surgery would usually be carried out under general anaesthetic.

Dr Leon Gevertz, of the British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis, said that heart operations had been carried out under hypnosis.

Studies found that the practice relaxes the patient and can alter the perception of pain or increase the pain threshold.

We all know that life is full of situations that can cause stress. But did you know that 75% to 90% of all doctor’s office visits are for illnesses related to stress?

Stress has been linked to most health problems, including heart attacks and strokes. Being over-stressed can also lead to low work performance, sleep issues, absent-mindedness, decreased interest in life, addictions, and many other undesirable results.

Yet, it’s also known people who respond well to stress and know how to prevent unnecessary anxiety are typically “peak performers.”

Through the use of hypnotherapy, you will be enabled to manage stress and anxiety effectively. Benefits will include:

* Increased energy and focus
* Allowing you to deal effectively with authority, roles and limits
* Increase your tolerance to frustration during difficult circumstances
* Let you adapt to change and prosper from it
* Help you to develop a sense of belonging
* Let you show friendliness, care, and love
* Allow you to enjoy recreation
* Permit you to relax and sleep better
* Free your sense of humor and ability to laugh at yourself
* Let you demonstrate a reasonable sense of independence and self-reliance

Hypnosis for Stress teaches you how to relax and stay calm even under the most stressful conditions. You will learn to recognize the things that trigger your stress and this is powerful in helping you to manage the level of stress you feel may be necessary.

Through hypnosis, you will be guided through exercises that help you learn how to adapt to stressful situations, resolve existing anxieties, and create new ways of looking at the world. You are able to re-access positive states from times when you have felt calm, relaxed, confident and in control. These positive states can then be associated with the stressful event, which allows you to react more positively to it in future.

When necessary, Hypnosis and Coaching can also be used to help you to effectively explore the reasons behind why you react in certain ways in certain situations. Once you know how the stress is caused we can develop ways to change your reactions to it, help you build coping strategies and ways of either controlling, minimising or even avoiding your stressors.

You will find that hypnosis can trigger your natural relaxation response, causing wonderful waves of good hormones and feelings of tranquility to wash through your mind and body.

Imagine having relief on tap – something you could experience whenever you need it that would remove all the stress from your body and return the sparkle your mind!

You will find that the simple act of learning how to relax, through tool such as breathing techniques, positive thinking and assertiveness, can have a life-changing impact on you and your relationships.

You can read more about the benefits of using Hypnosis for Relaxation in this article from the Independent Newspaper: Relax your way to perfect health.

Are you in a long-term relationship that could use a lift? Whether it’s parent-child tension, marriage difficulties of work-place conflict, hypnotherapy can help you improve your relationships. It can even help you find success in new relationships!

Occasionally in our lives we can find that our relationships don’t always run true to course. There are many ways in which relationship problems can arise, some examples are;

* relationship issues within marriage
* overcoming problems in a long distance relationship
* friends or colleagues who have had a difference of opinion find they are unable to approach one another to make amends
* disharmony can arise in families with teenagers putting a strain on families
* people may have difficulty in forming new relationships, particularly when they are finding it hard to ‘move on’ from a previous break up
* Fears and problems associated with dating

Often it can be difficult to ask for relationship advice. Whether you are looking to deal with relationship problems or are interested in building successful new relationships, hypnotherapy can help in many ways.

Hypnosis can also help couples facing sexual difficulties. Studies in the late 1990s showed a 75% to 80% improvement rate using hypnosis as a treatment for erectile dsyfunction patients whose impotence was not linked to physical causes.If you or a loved one suffer from premature ejaculation, hypnosis, relaxation and counselling can help.

Through the use of hypnosis, perceptions can be reframed to enable healing of damaged relationships or stabilisation of basically positive and healthy relationships. Hypnosis can allow you to re-appraise key events, to look at situations from a completely different perspective and to gain an appreciation for another’s position. You can recapture lost feelings of love, friendship, romance and commitment, allowing healing to occur in the here and now.

Most importantly of all, hypnosis can help you relate to yourself in healthier and more fulfilling ways. And as you know, how you relate to yourself is the key to how successfully you relate to others.

Nail biting is a surprisingly common habit. For some people, it starts in early childhood and continues right through to adulthood, when it can be an irritating and humiliating nuisance.

Some people have struggled with this habit for so long, that they cannot imagine ever being free. They may have struggled for years, biting their nails to such an extent that they bleed and become a painful embarrassment.

This can then become a vicious cycle as, for many adults, the habit persists and is made worse by stress or anxiety.

Almost without exception, nail-biting is an unconscious habit.  Nail biters do not usually realise that they are doing it, often biting their nails in completely inappropriate situations! The good news is that it is unconscious actions and beliefs that hypnosis is particularly useful at addressing.

Hypnotherapy can help you to form positive new alternatives to nail biting, to help you cope with anxious situations and stress triggers in a constructive way. A hypnotherapist can also work with your unconscious mind to stop this unconscious habit.

The reason why most people bite their nails, whether in times of stress, or simply through habit, is essentially the same mechanism as used by overeaters and smokers – it’s called ‘oral satisfaction’.

Put simply, ‘oral satisfaction’ involves putting something in your mouth, be it a nail, a cigarette, cream cake, etc, and this will often be done in times of stress. Of course, where nail biting is concerned, it can be both unhygienic and unsightly.

Hypnotherapy and hypnosis can be an effective treatment in helping people to overcome their tendency of biting their nails.

Treatment using hypnotherapy for nail biting, can give very rewarding and satisfying results.

If you are looking for help to stop biting your nails, and especially if it’s causing problems in your life, then don’t suffer in silence. You CAN Stop Biting Your Nails!