A trance a day keeps the doctor away?

Can a trance a day help keep the doctor away?

Hypnosis, often associated with bearded dudes named Zolton the Great, has been gaining adherents in the health care sector as a way to help control asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure. It's also been used to help mitigate the pain of chemotherapy, arthritis and even childbirth. "Hypnobirthing," in which mothers cultivate a state of calm prior to delivery, has been embraced by Hollywood celebrities such as Jessica Alba.

Patients who learn self-hypnosis can gain a sense of control over their pain, researchers say.

"Pain is multilayered," says Dr. Deborah Grice Conway, a psychotherapist at the Center for Integrative Medicine at UPMC Shadyside. "There's a physical reason for pain. There's also a psychological overlay. People's interpretation of pain often makes it worse for them."

When we daydream or become engrossed in a movie, our brains can cycle from their beta, or waking state, to an alpha state. Hypnosis can induce a similar effect. By making our brains more open to suggestion, it can help us re-calibrate our mind-body connection. Patients under hypnosis often are asked to imagine a pleasant scene such as a beach or a forest.

Conway has used hypnotherapy to help treat patients with migraines, anxiety disorders and chronic pain.

"We do a lot of work with metaphors," Conway says. "For example, you might use a metaphor suggesting that the patient imagine the pain as the red light on the body and gradually change the color to a cooling, soothing blue."

Like most states, Pennsylvania does not license or register hypnotherapists. Just about anyone can claim to be a "certified hypnotherapist" by training with various organizations, schools or instructors around the country.

Conway suggests those considering hypnosis consult a licensed medical or mental health professional.

"We really like to distinguish between people who are hypnotists and people who are health care professionals who use hypnosis as well as other tools," Conway says. "You should not treat anything with hypnosis that you would not be qualified to treat otherwise."

Conway is a member of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis in Illinois. Its membership is composed mainly of psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, medical doctors, masters-level nurses, dentists and chiropractors.

The American Psychiatric Association defines hypnosis as "a state of aroused, attentive, focal concentration with a relative reduction in peripheral awareness that can be utilized to facilitate a variety of psycho therapeutic interventions."

Experts are quick to point out that nobody can be hypnotized against their will. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis, they say.

"Medical hypnosis does not reduce control," says Paul Friday, chief of clinical psychology at UPMC Shadyside. "It increases a patient's control."

Friday, a psychotherapist, has used hypnosis for 35 years to help patients manage pain from chemotherapy, fibromyalgia and other chronic conditions.

"What the human brain can do is limitless," he says. "Is it going to stop cancer? No. Is it going to make you live forever? No. It can make the ‘now' a lot easier."

Catherine Rosensteel of Hempfield used medical hypnosis to help lower her blood pressure prior to hip replacement surgery 11 years ago. She learned it from her optometrist, who used hypnosis to help clients to adjust to their new contact lenses. She still uses it for her arthritis pain.

"If I could not do self-hypnosis, I don't know if I could leave my house," says Rosensteel, an artist who teaches pastels, oils and drawing at the Greensburg Art Center. "The (arthritis) pain is so extreme under the circumstances."

Earlier this year, two studies conducted in Sweden at the University of Gothenburg showed that hypnosis soothed the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome in 40 percent of 346 patients. The benefits were long-term.

Hypnosis also has been shown to reduce hot flashes in post menopausal women, says Deb Barton, associate professor, oncology and nurse administrator, division of nursing research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

"Basically, there have been very well-controlled studies to look at the placebo effect," she says. "Those studies have borne out the fact that there is something real about hypnosis.

"This is not anything like entertainment hypnosis," Barton says. "You don't get into this state where you're doing things that you wouldn't normally do. That's hocus-pocus. Medical hypnosis is a way to become so relaxed and so open that suggestions can be given to your subconscious."

Brain scans have shown that the brain undergoes changes during hypnosis, Barton says.

"The brain is the central headquarters for a lot of the chemicals that really govern the physiological processes in our bodies," she says. "There have been several studies that show that, through providing various messages to the mind, the chemicals change."

Greensburg native John Weir, a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists and the Hypnotism Society of Pennsylvania, says he hypnotized himself to undergo a root canal without anesthetic.

"I would ... bring forth numbness in my hand," he says. "Once I was able to do that, we were transferring it into my jaw and my mouth. Even though I was aware of what the dentists were doing, it was no problem whatsoever."

Meditation is self Hypnosis and if we all could allow ten minutes twice a day to relax and unwind we would all be in better shape emotionally and physically

Meditation allows the body mind and spirit to align and re connect after the days work.

check out my website for more information. www.hypnoteyes.me