Medically unexplained symptoms: Possible causes and what to do

Medically unexplained complaints are super exhausting to have. You have an obvious complaint, such as pain that just won't go away, but doctors can't find anything. Blood tests show nothing, neither do ultrasounds and scans. You have to learn to live with it, but how do you do that?

The frustrating thing about unexplained symptoms is that you can start to focus on them, causing them to get worse and worse. For example, you might notice something once, and because you focus on it afterward, you find that your symptoms keep getting worse[1].

So somewhere there is a mental process going on, making symptoms worse when they don't have to be.

Other research indicates that unexplained symptoms stem from a troubled subconscious and your behavior[2].

Unexplained pain and your mental health

Research shows that people with chronic pain that cannot be explained may also suffer from mental health issues. For example, you may be suffering from depression or another mood disorder without realizing it. Women are more likely to experience this than men[3].

How can this be done now? You may find it difficult to recognize your own emotions and moods due to circumstances in your life. Yet your subconscious will want to give your conscious a signal that something is not right and that you need to change something in your life. This signal may then be unexplained pain.

In the study that revealed this correlation, participants suffered from chronic neck, head, back, joint, and/or limb pain that lasted longer than six weeks.

Treatment of unexplained symptoms

When symptoms cannot be explained and you do not respond to medication that is sometimes tried anyway, treatment is often of a more mental nature. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy may be given to help you cope with your pain or other unexplained symptoms.

In addition, meditation and hypnotherapy are recommended to treat unexplained symptoms[4].

Research conducted in Sri Lanka shows that cognitive behavioral therapy also helps against these types of symptoms[5].

You may also experience unexplained symptoms even while suffering from another, explainable illness. For example, people with cancer may experience dizziness because the stress caused by the disease leads to significant neck tension. In a study comparing one group of cancer patients suffering from unexplained dizziness with another group experiencing the same symptoms, it was found that the group that received hypnotherapy to become more aware of the tension in their bodies and then relax it was, statistically speaking, less likely to experience dizziness[6][6].

Visualizations can also play an important role in treating unexplained symptoms. In pain, for example, you may feel that nerves, tendons or muscles are tangled. By visualizing how this all unravels and lies neatly back in your body, you can already do a lot to reduce the pain.

These kinds of suggestions can help you experience your symptoms in a completely different way or even make them disappear[7].

Relaxation is also important for making you less sensitive to these unexplained symptoms. This is precisely because relaxation temporarily distracts your conscious mind from that sensation, so it’s no longer so intensely focused on it (source 4). For example, you can perform progressive muscle relaxation through a guided visualization. By focusing on the hypnotist’s voice and which parts of your body to tense and relax, you’re completely distracted from the symptoms for a moment.

Neurological unexplained symptoms

Even if you have no other illness, but suffer from seemingly neurological symptoms that doctors can't find anything for, hypnotherapy can be very helpful in resolving these symptoms. Research also further shows that people with these types of complaints enter hypnosis faster than those without them[8].

Think of complaints such as unexplained dizziness, unexplained paralysis, not being able to feel properly/ numb with no apparent cause, unexplained blindness, unexplained deafness and unexplained seizures.

With neurological unexplained symptoms, it is always smart to take a moment to consider what benefit this complaint is giving you. Most people do things to help themselves and not to get themselves into trouble.

In a case study involving a man who suffered from unexplained neurological problems, those issues prevented him from returning to work. Something was clearly wrong, so hypnotherapy was used to explore his emotions regarding his job. In his case, he was experiencing an internal conflict regarding a promotion he was set to receive at work.

Possibly he was suffering a bit from scammer syndrome .

By resolving these kinds of internal conflicts about what the complaint brings you (not having to go to work for a while and solving those " problems"), then often does more for people than reducing stress and relaxation exercises (source 4).

It doesn’t always have to be a neurological-type complaint involving an internal conflict that needs to be resolved. Another case study features a man who vomits after eating , but this is not due to a desire to achieve an ideal weight, as in anorexia, but rather something else. It began after the death of his son, who was riding a motorcycle in front of him at the time (while he was driving a car). He found it difficult to cope with the emotions surrounding the loss of his son. He experienced anger, anxiety, and feelings of guilt due to his son’s death. In this study as well, resolving the internal conflict was key to resolving the unexplained vomiting[9].

Resolve internal conflicts to resolve unexplained symptoms

So if you need to do something, but if for some reason you don't want to do it and you can't say so, your subconscious can give you unexplained complaints. That way, what you don't want to do, you don't have to do.

That alone is not a convenient long-term solution.

A hypnotherapist can then help resolve these kinds of internal conflicts so that you can either still say what you need to say despite the consequences or so that you can do what you need to do but so that you feel good about it.

First, try to consider what your unexplained symptom might mean[10]. What is your body trying to tell you? How is your life going, and is there an area where you need to take action?

Why is something so troublesome that your body seems to get sick sooner than you can tell?

The answer to that last question lies in the beliefs you hold about yourself, life, and how you think you’re supposed to function in the world.

With regression, for example, you can find out what beliefs are causing some problems, such as when you can't handle something well at work and then just get "sick."

During such a regression, you often end up with a moment from your childhood, because that's when you determine what the "rules" of the world apparently are. Sometimes circumstances can give you beliefs that do not help you in the long run, and with regression you can find out when such a thing arose.

Then, in your mind, you can fix this moment, removing the limiting belief[11]. Then you can, for example, set your boundaries at work, or just confidently face your promotion.

Another technique that can help is to visualize how you will enter into the conversation with someone. In this way, you can, for example, work out certain issues with people who are no longer in your life for one reason or another. Because your brain can't quite tell the difference between reality and your visualization. So even if you have the last word that way, this can provide relief.

Ideal if you had wanted to say something anyway, but didn't get around to it in reality.

Once obstacles have been removed, a hypnotherapist can also help you move forward with the rest of your life—whether by building your self-confidence or through post-hypnotic suggestions that influence your mindset, for example , at work or when you’re with friends and family.

These may include suggestions such as:

"When you are done with this hypnosis session, your life goes on as usual, but you will find that everything goes easier. That you can express your emotions appropriately and your bonds with friends and family improve. Even your collegiality will improve, and in a few months you will reflect that everything is actually flowing very smoothly and that you have no unexplained health issues."

This is just an example, depending on your problems and goals, a hypnotherapist may give you a different post-hypnotic suggestion.

Would you like to learn more about hypnosis and what it can do for you or others? Then join the free online masterclass.

Or sign up right away for one of our seminars and training programs. Ideal if you want to help yourself and others feel better.

Do you need help with unexplained symptoms? Then visit bestetherapeut.nl

Sources: