Arthritis can be an extremely debilitating affliction for those it affects. It is a fairly common condition, which is suffered by millions of people around the world. It affects the joints of the body and can cause problems in everyday life for sufferers due to a lack of mobility and pain it causes. This can make walking difficult if the hip, knee or ankle joint is affected and can result in a lack of dexterity when the finger and wrist joints are arthritic.
More than one hundred different forms of arthritis have been identified although the vast majority of these have common symptoms. These can include inflammation of joints, stiffness of a joint resulting in limited movement, and varying degrees of pain. These symptoms can severely impact on the life of an arthritis sufferer and while a number of different treatments can provide some form of relief, one which has been shown to be effective is hypnosis.
While many people tend to think of hypnosis as a state of unconsciousness similar to sleep, research in modern times has shown it to be a form of focused attention with diminished peripheral awareness and heightened suggestibility. During this state the conscious part of the brain becomes quiet and it is possible to tap more effectively into the subconscious mind. This is a powerful tool which automatically controls much of our lives and being able to talk directly to it provides the opportunity to use its immense powers in a positive way. This is the basic premise of hypnotherapy, which is when hypnosis is used as a treatment or as part of an overall treatment strategy in medicine.
Hypnosis as a medical tool has been around for more than a century and during this time has continued to evolve and progress as it has become better understood. This is ongoing to the present day and many studies in recent years have shown that hypnotherapy can have positive benefits for a number of ailments.
Many of the diseases and conditions for which hypnotherapy is considered to be beneficial can only be partially treated by conventional medicines and hypnosis can therefore be a complimentary part of the overall treatment used by a sufferer to relieve their symptoms. This is certainly true of arthritis for which there is no real cure. Treatments such as arthritis medication may provide relief for some sufferers of the condition although can cause severe side effects in many people. Using hypnosis to deal with the symptoms of arthritis can therefore be used as part of the overall strategy for treatment or can be a viable alternative to the use of conventional medicines.
The major benefit of using hypnosis as a treatment for arthritis is that it is a relatively harmless procedure, which causes little in the way of side effects. Many people can suffer serious problems as a result of taking conventional medical treatments for the condition and this can make hypnosis an attractive choice. Many studies have been carried out which show the positive benefits that hypnosis can have.
This is particularly so with regard to the painful symptoms of the condition and hypnotherapy can be used to diminish these to provide a sufferer with some level of relief. Ways in which this can be done include using the subconscious mind to increase endorphin production. This works as a in the body and by increasing the level of endorphin it can help to reduce the pain. Other ways in which hypnosis can help include redirecting the sensitivity of the joints affected by arthritis to other areas of the body which are less sensitive to pain and in this way help to reduce the intensity of the perceived pain.
Other methods which have been used to reduce the pain of arthritis include having the sufferer think of a ruler showing the numbers 1 to 10 and asking them to assign a number to the level of pain they feel. A suggestion is then made that deep cleansing breaths will help to reduce the number on the ruler and the sufferer can watch as the indicator moves down to a lower number and reduces their pain. In a similar manner a hot color such as red can be assigned to the pain with a cooler color such as a blue assigned to the relief of the pain. A suggestion is given that the sufferer try and change the color from red to blue and if they can do this it has been shown that it can help with pain relief.
While there is no known cure for the symptoms of arthritis, hypnosis can be an effective tool in helping to effectively mange these on a daily basis. It can be used to provide a sufferer with a level of relief which can make a great difference to their life. If arthritis is something that you suffer from, hypnosis can be used to provide positive benefits and is certainly something that should be given serious consideration.
source: teckler.com
