For some, hypnosis eases pain, recovery of surgery
MARIA CHENG
The Associated Press
LONDON - As the surgeons cut into her neck, Marianne Marquis was thinking of the beach.
As she heard the doctors' voices, she was imagining her toes in the sand, the water lapping.
Marquis had been hypnotized before surgery to have her thyroid removed. She's among a growing number of surgical patients at the Belgian hospital, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc in Brussels, who choose hypnosis and a local anesthetic to avoid the groggy knockout effect of general anesthesia.
These patients are sedated but aware, and doctors say their recovery time is faster and their need for painkillers reduced. This method is feasible for only certain types of operations.
In her case, Marquis, 53, imagined herself in a field near a beach , which her anesthetist began describing by whispering into her ear about 10 minutes before surgery. She remembers hearing the doctors talk to her, but said it was as if they were far away.
"I was imagining squishing my toes in the sand and feeling water come up over them," Marquis said. She felt a little pressure on her neck with the first incision but said it wasn't painful.
Since doctors began offering hypnosis at the hospital in 2003, hundreds of patients have chosen it. At another Belgian hospital, more than 8,000 surgeries have been done this way since 1992.
Doctors say nearly any surgery usually done with a local anesthetic could work with hypnosis and less pain medicine. Proponents say hypnosis can dull patients' sense of pain and that it also cuts down on the need for anesthetic.
That means patients recover faster and hospitals save money, according to some studies. But it may require doctors to spend more time with patients beforehand to do the hypnosis and they may need more careful monitoring during surgery.
The technique has become increasingly popular in France and Belgium in recent years. Some plastic and facial surgeons in Germany also use hypnosis, as well as some British dental surgeons.
The French Society of Anesthesiologists describes hypnosis as a valid way to supplement anesthesia to reduce stress, anxiety and pain but neither the Belgian nor British anesthesiology groups offer specific hypnosis advice. Because of demand, the French Society of Anesthesiologists created a special hypnosis branch in their organization last year.
There are no figures on how widely hypnosis is used across Europe. In several of the nearly dozen French hospitals in Rennes, a northwest city of about 200,000 people, it's used in about half of all operations, says Claude Virot, a psychiatrist and director of the Institute of Research and Training in Therapeutic Communication there. Virot helps organize hypnosis training and said about 500 health professionals get it every year in France.
Dr. Fabienne Roelants, Marquis' anesthetist, described hypnosis as a modified state of consciousness. "The patient's mind goes to a pleasant place, but the body stays in the operating room." At Roelants' hospital, one-third of all surgeries to remove thyroids and one-quarter of all breast cancer surgeries, including biopsies and mastectomies, use hypnosis and local anesthetic. She and colleagues hope to expand the technique to procedures like hernias, knee arthroscopies and plastic surgeries.
Roelants said if patients feel any pain during the procedure, anesthetists immediately give them a painkiller shot.
During a recent procedure in Brussels where Christel Place, 43, had her thyroid removed, she furrowed her brow a couple of times to signal to Roelants she needed more drugs. In a green-lit room that helps relax the patients, Place pictured herself hiking in the French Alps while surgeons sliced her neck open.
The thyroid is a small gland at the bottom of the neck and makes hormones to control the body's metabolism. It is sometimes removed when it becomes enlarged, overactive or cancerous. The surgery can be done either with local or general anesthesia and is considered low-risk.
Place said waking up from the surgery was more abrupt than she'd expected. "It was like I was really in the mountains and then 'poof,' it was over," Place said, laughing.
Other experts caution that hypnosis would be impossible in major operations involving the heart or other internal organs because the pain would be unbearable.
"If hypnosis doesn't work and you've got somebody's abdomen or chest open, then you're in big trouble," said George Lewith, a professor of health research at Southampton University. "You need to be able to switch to another option immediately," he said.
Consistency is also an issue. "It's not used routinely because it's not effective in everyone and it takes a while," said Dr. Mark Warner, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. He said doctors would need extra time to conduct hypnosis and would need to work more closely with surgeons.
Warner said there are no guidelines on its surgical use in the U.S. He often uses music therapy or asks patients to picture a soothing scene to distract them from any discomfort. "If we could get more research on the right patient groups that would benefit from (hypnosis), that would be wonderful," he said.
Some experts said hypnosis is a hard sell because no one really profits from it.
"The problem is the money doesn't really go into anyone's hands, and the only person who really benefits from it is the patient," said Guy Montgomery, an associate professor at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, who led a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2007.
In that research, Montgomery and colleagues randomly assigned 200 patients in the U.S. having a breast biopsy or lumpectomy to either get hypnosis or a brief session with a psychologist beforehand. They found hypnotized patients needed fewer painkillers and sedatives and required less time in surgery. On average, each hypnotized patient cost the hospital about $770 less than those who weren't hypnotized.
Marquis recommends hypnosis to patients who want to avoid anesthesia, but warned it isn't for everyone.
"You have to be in the right mental frame of mind for this, be properly prepared and trust the medical staff to take care of you," she said. "If you're very skeptical of hypnosis and freaked out about whether it's going to work, it probably won't."
All About Chester County Hypnosis
At Chester County Hypnosis we help people everyday to easily make the difficult life changes they really want and need, but just can't seem to get accomplished. With our sessions and programs to Quit Smoking, Lose Weight, Improve Your Sports Performance and Reduce Stress, our clients can achieve the personal goals they had tried to reach unsuccessfuly for years. They find they are happier, healthier and enjoy their lives so much more.
With Hypnotherapy, we provide all of our clients with the safest and most effective way to quickly, easily and permanently achieve their personal goals. Our clients are usually surprised at how easily they can free themselves of the bad habits, unwanted behaviors or persistent fears that they have unsuccessfully struggled for many years to change. We take great pride in the excellent results our clients are able to attain from our services.
Now, you may notice I don't have clients doing videos and endorsements. That is a reflection of who I am and I always protect my clients' confidentiality. I just don't feel right asking and I won't ask you. My business is about 75% referrals, due to the fact that I do good work and help clients to get the results they want, day in and day out. When they see fit to recommend my work to others, I feel I am doing the right thing. The only time I put client comments or experiences on my web site is because my clients have asked me to because they feel that others should kow that they can be helped too.
So, when you come to see me, I feel it's between us and if you want to share your experiences with others, that's up to you. I love the recommendations and referrals I get and it makes me feel I'm doing the right things, but you will never be asked by me for them. That is just the way I am.
Experience What Our Clients are Saying About How Hypnotherapy Has Helped Them
Take just a moment to read through one of our actual client letters:
About a month ago I took part in a hypnotherapy session to try to cure my stuttering. The session lasted only a couple hours but it would have lasting effects on my life. Ever since that session I've been using the methods you've shown me, and while I still have a bit of work to do, I've actually managed to communicate with people around me effectively on a regular basis. Hypnotherapy has helped start a major shift in my life, by allowing me to talk with people around me. For this I want to sincerely thank you Mr. Nunan!
As you can see, hypnosis is all about quickly making positive changes in the quality of our lives just by using the natural mental abilities that we never knew we had. It's not anything magical or mysterious, it's about effectively getting the message of what we want across to our subconscious, so it can work for us on that automatic level.
Read through this other actual client letter:
"Most of our clients are referrals, that means we must be doing something right"
Joseph Nunan CH,CI of Chester County Hypnosis
"I cannot thank you enough for helping me through a very difficult process of public speaking. Last night I delivered a list of announcements and a terrific introduction to a large diverse group of individuals.
As a result of your help, I was able to recapture the confidence I once had prior to that awful experience we worked through. As I stood with confidence and poise, I felt free and focused. Even before the meeting, I feel a sense of clarity and purpose when speaking one on one or with small groups of people. My only regret is that I had not worked with you sooner – better late than never though.
I feel I am now able to start another chapter in the continuance of my personal and professional growth.
Thank you so much again - I am forever grateful to you !"
And these results are not unusual, these are the types of letters and emails we get all of the time.
(** I only provide these letters as encouragement from our clients to other prospective clients about the success that they have had with hypnosis. I am free to use their names, but do not and only wish to illustrate that you, like them, can overcome the obstacles in your life.)
Hypnosis Helps You To Make Positive Changes in your Life
We always tell our clients that "you can make the changes" and that is what hypnosis is really all about, you finally being successful, you finally doing exactly what you want and you finally taking control of your life. And just imagine how good you will feel when you finally accomplish your goals and succeed where you just couldn't before ! Isn't it about time that you really start feeling good about yourself ? Absolutely it is and we can help.
If you are determined to make changes in your life and are not getting the results that you want, we can help to make sure that you are successful right away and stay successful every day.
Call us at 610-296-4929 for any information or to check on available appointment times. We are always glad to answer any questions you might have regarding hypnosis and how it can help you to achieve your goals. We can provide you with all the information you need in making an informed decision about how hypnosis can begin helping you, just as it has helped many others.
Email us or call 610-296-4929 for more information. Don't delay, change today!
Professionally Certified Hypnotherapist and Hypnosis Teacher
Joseph Nunan CH,CI is an internationally known, fully Certified Hypnotherapist, Certified Hypnosis Instructor and member of the Teaching Faculty of The National Guild of Hypnotists, the oldest, largest and most respected hypnotism accrediting organization in the world. He hosts the radio show Master of Your Fate, Captain of Your Soul weekly and has helped thousands to make positive changes in their lives.
Chester County Hypnosis operates according to the National Guild of Hypnotists' Code of Ethics and Professionalism, and we consistently provide our clients the very best services, to help them easily accomplish and even surpass all of their desired goals. Our primary purpose is to enable our clients to quickly and easily achieve positive personal change and to take control of their lives.
Whether it's Hypnosis for Weight Loss, Hypnosis for Stop Smoking or Hypnotism for Eliminating Bad Habits, we can help you improve your life quickly and effortlessly. Some of the other issues we also help clients address are: Overcoming Your Fear of Flying, Overcoming Your Fear of Public Speaking, Stop Biting Your Nails, Improving Your Performance in Individual or Team Sports, Making More Sales and Improving Your Career, Controling Your Chronic Pain or Learning Self Hypnosis.
Conveniently Located in the Philadelphia Suburbs in West chester, PA
Chester County Hypnosis is located off Rte 3 in West Chester and is easy to get to from anywhere in the Philadelphia area, including Exton, King of Prussia, Valley Forge, Malvern, Paoli, Main Line, Downingtown, Phoenixville, Great Valley, Unionville, Kennett Square, Coatesville, Glen Mills and Philadelphia. With close access to Routes I-76, I-476, 202, 30, 252 and PA Turnpike, our clients find that we are a short drive from anywhere in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Northern Delaware and Southern New Jersey.
See our Directions page for complete directions for your appointment.
