PAIN MANAGEMENT

Pain is a natural human survival mechanism. It is our body's way of telling us that we are being damaged and that we need to act - fast! Without this kind of pain, our very survival would be threatened. However, when pain serves no useful purpose, we need some way of handling it, and chronic pain can make our lives feel almost unbearable.

While the source of the pain may be located somewhere in the body, signals have to reach the brain before we become aware of this. In fact, pain is both physical and psychological. The fact that people can continue to feel pain in an amputated body part clearly shows that the brain is capable not only of interpreting pain messages from the body, but that it can also initiate these messages independently of a physical cause. This pain can feel as real as pain coming from an injury.

Hypnosis is used for pain control and pain management; it can alter the brain's perception of the pain message; it can turn down its intensity and enable the body's natural pain control mechanism.