In the old days, and we're talking more than 100 years ago, hypnosis was often the only anesthesia people could get for surgery. Fortunately, those times are gone again, but does this mean hypnosis no longer plays a role at all for anesthesiologists?
No, not that again.
In fact, research on hypnosis for surgery has been conducted for more than 20 years now and it shows that it can definitely work as an anesthetic. Although we understand wanting to be able to count on more than just the hypnotic state you can induce in people before they go under the knife.
Hypnosis can even affect how the heart responds to stress, an important factor during medical procedures.
In addition, there is also much evidence that applying hypnosis around the time of surgery helps patients stay calm before surgery, require less anesthesia, have less pain, make the procedure go faster, and it helps them get back on their feet faster after surgery.
There are three ways hypnosis can be used by anesthesiologists:
- In minor procedures as only anesthesia with clients who go into hypnosis very easily.
- As an adjunct to local or full anesthesia.
- As an adjunct before or after surgery[1], so the client remains calm and, for example, is less bothered by fear of needles or pain.
Hypnotherapy in addition to local anesthesia
With hypnotherapy alongside local anesthesia, the main goal is often to keep the client calm so the surgeon can do what is needed. Examples include taking a biopsy for further examination or setting sutures.
Hypnosis can also help with a bronchoscopy, lung examination, to reduce coughing, for example[2].
As an anesthesiologist, or nurse practitioner, you can put the client into hypnosis and then offer suggestions on whether or not to feel the needle, for example. Alert hypnosis is also possible, where you give the suggestions without consciously putting someone into hypnosis first.
Guided visualizations help people take their minds off the procedure and relax.
Thus, you can make suggestions such as:
Nurse anesthetist: "Do you like the beach?"
Patient: "Yes."
Nurse anesthetist: "Just imagine walking along the beach in your bare feet. The sand between your toes, the breeze on your face, the fresh salty smell of the sea. Delicious."
In this example, first check that the image you want to use suits the client by asking if they like it. After all, you never know if someone has ever experienced something nasty at the beach that makes them think it's terrible.
Therefore, check first and then you can proceed with the guided visualization in which you engage people's imagination by stimulating the imagination of the senses. By describing the feeling between the toes, the smell of the air, the breeze in the hair. Imagining all those feelings makes the client focus on that, and not on what the surgeon is doing.
Hypnotherapy in addition to full anesthesia
Full anesthesia is very scary for many people. They are then completely out of control, and that can be hard to swallow for some people. They want to know exactly what you are going to do and when. If it were possible, they would want to operate on themselves while the surgeon tells them what to do 😉 .
Fear of the process, fear of pain when they may still wake up unexpectedly. You've probably experienced it before an operation when someone was all upset and wouldn't or couldn't calm down. So instead of the extra shot of tranquilizers, hypnosis can play a role.
Giving hypnosis, or very brief hypnotherapy, before surgery can help reduce this type of anxiety and keep people calm. This has already been studied in France, Indonesia and the United States where it was found to have a positive impact on the whole process and even the period after surgery, people then experience less post-operative pain[3].
Research on women with breast cancer gave the same results. However, it did not affect nausea from surgery[4]. However, that may have been due to the suggestions given. In fact, hypnosis can be used to counter nausea in other situations. Perhaps that is another thing to explore with suggestions aimed at preventing nausea.
Hypnosis for pediatric procedures
It is especially important for children to get everything right, otherwise they may suffer from acute or chronic pain due to something going wrong during procedures. Children also benefit from hypnosis for medical procedures[5].
Acute pain and stress is often an issue in medical procedures with children. Hypnotherapy can then play a role in calming children and minimizing anxiety about the procedure. This also has benefits for recovery, and that afterward children can return to participating in school and their social lives as usual.
Failure to address the pain and stress associated with a wound or other medical problem can cause more inflammation than necessary. The healing process may take longer and patients may be less likely to adhere to the recommendations of a doctor, anesthesiologist or nurse.
Minor problems such as fear of needles can also be overcome with hypnosis.
Also, hypnosis is widely used in pediatric oncology procedures.
Compared to adults, it is also easier to help children with hypnosis because they are more likely to want to learn new things, have a vivid imagination and are generally more open to suggestions. Children between the ages of 7 and 9 are especially good at being hypnotized.
Learn hypnosis for medical hypnosis
Helping people with hypnosis in a medical setting need not be very difficult, but the basics of hypnosis are important. Good understanding of body language and small signals people give can make the difference between giving successful suggestions or suggestions that only work against you and make everything slow down and more difficult.
Initial training at Hypnosis Institute Netherlands will help you master the basics, have a good understanding of client body language and how to give good suggestions that help people relax.
Want to learn more about hypnosis and what you can do with it? Then come to the free online master class.
Or register directly for one of our events or trainings.
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