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Counseling and Hypnotherapy
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Pain Management
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Pain management encompasses pharmacological and nonpharmacological approaches to prevent,
reduce, or stop pain sensations. This discussion will focus on nonpharmacological pain management interventions,
including relaxation training, cognitive behavioral training, distraction, and therapeutic hypnosis.
Coping With Pain There are
many ways of coping with pain, for this discussion, let us look at passive and active
coping strategies. Active coping strategies are those that involve the patient taking responsibility for
pain management, and efforts of returning to or maintain functioning in spite of the pain. Active coping can include
participating in physical therapy or other exercise plan, relaxation for reducing mental strain, and distracting
one's attention from pain. Participating in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and learning and using Self-Hypnosis are
both active strategies for managing pain. Passive Coping strategies involve giving responsibility for pain management
to an outside source or allowing other areas of life to be adversely affected by one's pain. Some examples
of this are reducing or canceling social activities, focusing on the pain and the suffering, and engaging in negative self-talk
such as "This pain is unbearable.", "I can't get comfortable", and "I wish my doctor would prescribe
better pain medication for me." Very often pain patients will use both types of strategies, depending on day-to-day
circumstances, and their over-all level of adjustment to their health challenges.
The decade of the 90's produced volumes of research on pain. Hypnosis, Biofeedback, Relaxation
and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy were studied and compared for efficacy in treating chronic back pain, arthritis pain, headache,
jaw pain, cancer pain, and pain associated with medical procedures for cancer treatment. Utilizing these techniques are active
ways of coping with pain.
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The thoughts that we think, and the emotions we feel impact our physical body just as conditions of our physical body
impact out thoughts and emotions. This seems like it should be obvious, but what is not so obvious is the chemical changes
that occur in the body that make this connection happen. Authors Herbert Benson, MD, Andrew Weil, MD and also Deepak Chopra,
MD have written volumes about the mind-body connection, integrative medicine and behavioral health. Mind-body medicine integrates
modern scientific medicine, psychology, nursing, nutrition, exercise physiology and belief to enhance the innate healing capacities
of body and mind.
Consult Your Health Care Provider
About Adding Mind-Body Therapies
To Your Treatment Plan
"Over 35 million adults use mind/body approaches for better health." -- Dr. Herbert Benson
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| Thank You, Long Island! |
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Studies have shown that between 60% and 90% of all physician visits are for stress-related complaints. Through more
than thirty years of research and clinical practice, Herbert Benson, MD and his colleagues have proven the efficacy of mind-body
medicine in the treatment of these complaints to the extent that they are caused by or made worse by stress. Mind-body medicine
strategies have helped millions of people reduce the stress that can cause or aggravate conditions. Clinical findings that
support the use of mind-body approaches include: - Chronic pain patients reduce their physician visits by 36%.
The Clinical Journal of Pain, Volume 2, pages 305-310, 1991
There is approximately a 50% reduction in visits to a HMO
after a relaxation-response based intervention that resulted in estimated significant cost savings. Behavioral Medicine,
Volume 16, pages 165-173, 1990
Open-heart surgery patients have fewer post-operative complications. Behavioral Medicine,
Volume 5, pages 111-117, 1989
One hundred percent of insomnia patients reported improved sleep and 91% either eliminated
or reduced sleeping medication use. The American Journal of Medicine, Volume 100, pages 212-216, 1996
Women with severe
PMS have a 57% reduction in physical and psychological symptoms. Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume 75, pages 649-655, April,
1990
These mind-body approaches work because they go beyond the physical to address the patterns, attitudes
and behaviors that surround health. They deal with the cycle of stress, anxiety, tension, symptoms, and disease. They teach
individuals to break recurrent harmful beliefs, develop positive attitudes, and to implement new strategies for healthy
behaviors.
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