That hypnosis can do a lot for your psyche has long been known, but that's not the only thing hypnosis is good for. Research has been conducted since the 1980s on the usefulness of hypnosis for healing wounds. Of course, you still need stitches after surgery and you won't get your body back scar-free after a wound, but there are theories that hypnosis can speed up the healing process.
In this article, I discuss the healing power of hypnosis after suffering a wound, surgical or otherwise.
Let's face it your brain can't heal everything. Serious diseases can just run their course no matter what you think and do. If you think meditation and self-hypnosis can stop a scary disease it will not end well with you. That is why it is not surprising that people question the healing power of hypnosis when it comes to your body rather than emotional and other psychological aspects.
I also really don't want you to think that hypnosis or self-hypnosis can set your broken arm by itself. That idea alone is ridiculous, so you get the point. You should always see a doctor if something is wrong. It's not for nothing that if you take a big fall with scrapes and wounds that need stitches you can also get a tetanus shot to make sure you don't get any scary diseases from the dirt on the street.
Hypnosis supports the medical process
When I talk about the healing power of hypnosis, it's about the support hypnosis can provide in healing your wound. For example, is it possible that hypnosis can help you get rid of your stitches faster? That you won't pick at that scab, thus reducing the chances of a scar? In what ways is hypnosis healing?
A 2003 study of women undergoing breast surgery measured the effect of hypnosis on breast healing after surgery. Photographs were taken to determine the actual healing of the surgical wounds and questions were also asked of the study participants to measure their subjective experience.
The actual study showed that the group of women who had also received hypnotherapy had faster wound healing than those who had not received hypnosis. This was the case in the first week after surgery and in the seventh week after surgery.
Subjective outcomes that patients could self-report also had a significant difference. The women who had undergone hypnotherapy had less pain, faster healing in their own eyes and they were also more quickly functional again after surgery. Thus, they were able to resume their daily activities sooner after surgery.
Hypnosis has also been studied in burns to see if it can help speed up healing; this study was conducted back in 1983. In the study, people who were burned on two sides of their bodies were allowed to participate and thus received hypnotherapy for one side of their body and not the other. So the hypnotherapists focused mental attention mainly on the left side, for example, and not the right side. Five subjects participated in this study so it was too small a group to generalize the results. Obviously the subjects knew which side received "hypnosis treatment" and which side did not, but the medical personnel who did not give hypnosis did not know this. At the end of the study, it was found that in four of the five patients, one side had indeed healed faster than the other. The fifth patient had rapid healing on both sides, but whether or not this was due to the hypnosis was not immediately clear. In any case, the results are promising in terms of the support hypnosis can provide in the healing of burns.
Going back to those broken bones for a moment. In 1999, a study was conducted on the effect of hypnosis on healing broken bones. It was only a small study so the results could not yet be classified as generalizable, but this study found that people with ankle bone fractures healed faster if they received hypnotherapy than those who did not. Pictures of the bone fractures showed this. This was especially evident in week nine. Thereby, people who had hypnotherapy at week one, week six and week nine could get by with less pain medication.
By week 9, people could also already use their ankles better than those who did not receive hypnotherapy after surgery to reset the bone fracture. For example, they could already walk down the stairs again.
What hypnosis exercises work for healing
That hypnosis works or at least has strong indications that it works may be obvious, but hypnosis an sich mainly provides a lot of relaxation. Doing exercises during hypnosis can increase the effect. Therefore, the question now is which exercises work to support your body to speed up the healing process.
Back in 1988, research was done on the effects of relaxation exercises enhanced with visualizations that the hypnotherapist devises for you. I briefly call these guided visualizations; you are guided through a visualization, so to speak, by the hypnotherapist. This study found that subjects who used these after hypnosis had less stress hormones, less anxiety and less redness around the wound than people who were not given these exercises.
Relaxation Exercises
One relaxation exercise you can perform is to lie down somewhere and breathe in deeply through your nose and out through your mouth. When you lie down, your breathing automatically goes through your abdomen. You notice this when you put your hands on your belly. These come up automatically when you inhale and then go down again when you exhale.
For example, take a breath for three seconds. Hold the breath for a count and then exhale for three seconds. Repeat this breathing. You can stay focused on your belly and breathing during this exercise. How the fresh air entering your nose fills your lungs, providing fresh oxygen to your blood. As you exhale, you let go of all the gases, such as CO2, that your body cannot use. All waste products that your blood cannot use from the air are removed from your body this way.
Guided visualizations
If you are breathing in and out properly and relaxing wonderfully, the hypnotherapist can help you with a visualization that promotes healing of your body. This can also be an mp3 file that the hypnotherapist has given you that you can turn on if you want to apply self-hypnosis at home.
The guided visualization applies to your situation. For example, if it involves a broken bone, the hypnotherapist can help you visualize the healing process. How the bone becomes intertwined again and comes closer and closer together until it becomes a strong whole again as strong as all the bones that are not broken.
How the bone can carry the weight of your body again when you are better and what fun things you can then do with your body, such as walking, swimming and more.
Guided visualization has the advantage that you don't get distracted by your own thoughts and your visualization goes in a direction you don't want. Because you stay with the hypnotherapist's story, anxieties are much less likely to interfere with the visualization.
Suggestions
A 1991 meta-study also shows that in addition to relaxation exercises, hypnotic suggestions also help shorten hospital stays after surgery .
For example, a suggestion might be: After surgery, you feel relaxed and rested. You feel confident that your bone will heal itself quickly and have no trouble getting the rest you need.
The suggestion depends on your own beliefs you have about the severity of the wound and the fears you have about the healing process. So to get good suggestions, it is wise to seek out a hypnotherapist.
Hypnotherapy for wound healing in children.
The use of relaxation exercises and visualizations was also tested in children. The visualizations included suggestions about the desired outcome of the operation. In the process, the children learned how they could also perform visualizations themselves without the hypnotist being present. This study found that the relaxation exercises and visualizations also helped children feel less pain after surgery and they did not have to stay in the hospital as long as those who did not receive hypnotherapy.
In short
Hypnosis is not a substitute for medical treatment for a wound. Hypnosis does speed up the healing process of wounds treated in the hospital or resulting from surgery. Relaxation exercises, guided visualizations and suggestions are considered effective in accelerating the healing process.
Want to learn more about how hypnosis works? Then check out the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' events and trainings.
Sources:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00029157.2003.10403546
http://search.proquest.com/openview/0125e69dba69bb76743d56b1ac2aff39/1?pq-origsite=gscholar
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nur.4770110405/abstract
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00029157.1983.10404132
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00029157.1991.10402927
