

Medical
"It must be
completely understood that anytime I work with a client with a medically diagnosed
condition, I will ONLY do so with their referring Physicians complete
knowledge, co-operation and approval."
"Hypnosis can be used very effectively for pain reduction. It can also be
very useful in treating anxiety in people who are anxious. Hypnosis has been shown to be
effective in helping people to stop smoking and in controlling overeating." David
Spiegel, M.D. Associate Chairman of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford
University.
Discover Magazine, January 2005
"YOU WILL NOW FEEL BETTER
.
As a surgeon who has used hypnotic techniques with patients, I
heartily support psychiatrist David Speigels findings [Hypnosis Works,
November]. I think that studies of the brain both under anesthesia and under hypnosis
would show many similarities. I have been able to correct cardiac arrythmias, bleeding,
rapid pulse rates, and other physiological problems by talking to anesthetized patients in
a therapeutic way during surgical procedures and by using similar procedures
preoperatively. Surgeons have also done major abdominal surgery on patients under hypnosis
alone. Hypnotic and communication techniques can create positive results. The placebo
effect is, in essence, a positive result of communication. I have had children go to sleep
as they entered the operating room because I told them they would, and some have resisted
hair loss from chemotherapy because we relabeled their vitamins hair growing
pills. Just as we can heal with a scalpel, we can heal with words." Bernie
Siegel, Woodbridge, Connecticut
Hypnosis can be used for pain management, emergencies, irritable bowel,
pre-during-and after surgery, cancer treatment support, auto immune diseases, and simple
everyday procedures and much more:
Hypnotherapeutic interventions are used for allergies, asthma, arthritis, cancer,
cardiovascular disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, ulcers, colitis, headaches,
hypertension and dermatological disorders and more;
Help clients eliminate anxiety and discomfort for surgery and other medical procedures
Alleviate side effects of chemo and radiation therapy and accelerate healing
Hypnosis for Dental procedures
Of course we use medical hypnosis or hypnotherapy for weight loss and losing weight
naturally, and to stop smoking, however, there are many more possibilities. You can use
hypnosis for stress management, pain management, to increase your immune system, overcome
insomnia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, pre-operative and intraoperative procedures, promote
healing, skin conditions, phobias, anxiety and the list goes on and on.
Medical Hypnosis and the AMA
In 1958, the American Medical Association accepted Hypnosis as an adjunct to medical
practice. In 1958 hypnosis was recognized by the American Medical Association as a
legitimate, safe approach to medical and psychological problems. The American Psychiatric
Association (APA), and the British Medical Association (BMA), has recognized hypnosis as a
viable therapeutic tool as well. According to the AMA, within the decade virtually every
outpatient surgery unit and clinic will be utilizing hypnosis. More than ever before,
people are demanding alternatives to traditional medicine.
Alternative therapies are having an incredible impact on people's perception of health. A
1998 survey by Stanford University reported that 69% of all Americans use some form of
complementary or alternative medicine. It is estimated they spend almost $28 billion a
year on them - more than they spend out of pocket for conventional medicine. An American
Medical Association study that same year showed U.S. adults made over 600 million visits
to alternative practitioners - exceeding the number of visits made to primary care
physicians. The medical community is now taking notice.
Mind over Medicine
Hypnosis as an alternative to sedation is making a comeback in the operating
room. Here's how it works!
By SORA SONG
Time magazine article
Sunday, Mar. 19, 2006
Shelley Thomas, 53, was wheeled into an anteroom at London's Middlesex Hospital in
preparation for pelvic surgery. A patient going into that operation is usually given a mix
of painkilling narcotics and nerve-quelling tranquilizers. But not Thomas. Instead she
rested on a gurney, alert and calm, taking deep breaths at her hypnotherapist's
instruction. Thomas counted aloud, "One hundred, deep sleep; 99, deeper sleep; 98
..."
"By the time I got to 95, the words and numbers had all gone," says Thomas.
"It's quite peculiar. They all go."
Minutes later, thoroughly hypnotized, Thomas was rolled into the operating room. There she
underwent a 30-min. procedure with no anesthetics and no discernible pain. Her
hypnotherapist stayed by her side throughout, monitoring her trance state and refocusing
her mind when it drifted.
Thomas' story is not as extraordinary as you might think. Since the early 1990s, thousands
of patients have opted for hypnosis--either as a substitute for or (more typically) as a
complement to anesthesia--in a wide variety of surgical procedures, from repairing hernias
to removing tumors. At the University Hospital of Liége in Belgium, a team of doctors led
by Dr. Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville has logged more than 5,100 surgeries by hypnosedation,
a technique Faymonville developed that replaces general anesthesia with hypnosis, local
anesthesia and a mild sedative. "Patients tell us that it is a very special
experience," says Faymonville. "We now have people coming from all over the
world."
Hypnosis was first used as a surgical anesthetic in India in 1845 but was quickly
abandoned with the introduction of ether the following year. The practice languished for
decades, becoming, at least in the public eye, little more than a parlor trick. In 1958 it
was sanctioned by the American Medical Association for use in medicine and dentistry.
Since then, doctors have hypnotized patients to help ease such ills as migraines,
depression, anxiety and chronic cancer pain.
But it is in Europe that surgical applications of hypnosis have flourished. The new
interest stems in part from studies showing that hypnosedated patients suffer fewer side
effects than fully sedated ones do. According to Faymonville, hypnotized patients can get
by on less than 1% of the standard medications required for general anesthesia, thus
avoiding such aftereffects as nausea, fatigue, lack of coordination and cognitive
impairment. In a 1999 study of thyroid patients, Faymonville found that the typical
hypnosedated patient returned to work 15 days after surgery, compared with 28 days for a
fully anesthetized patient.
Meanwhile, studies using advanced scanning technology have shed new light on how hypnosis
works to block pain. In a report published two years ago in the journal Regional
Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Dr. Sebastian Schulz-Stübner of the University of Iowa
reported using heat-producing thermodes to measure the pain thresholds of 12 healthy
volunteers ("painful" stimuli earning a rating of 8 or higher on a 10-point
scale). When the participants were hypnotized and re-exposed to the thermodes, all 12
reported feeling significantly reduced pain (with ratings of 3 or lower) or no pain at
all.
The differences in the subjects' brain scans were equally striking. The typical pain
signal follows a well-worn path from the brain stem through the midbrain and into the
cortex, where conscious feelings of pain arise. In Schulz-Stübner's study, the hypnotized
group showed subcortical brain activity similar to that of nonhypnotized volunteers, but
the primary sensory cortex stayed quiet. The "ouch" message wasn't making it
past the midbrain and into consciousness.
The new findings have fostered interest in the U.S., where doctors are using hypnosis for
procedures in which sedation is inappropriate or for patients who are allergic to
anesthetics. Dr. David Spiegel, associate chair of the department of psychiatry and
behavioral sciences at Stanford University, hypnotizes Parkinson's sufferers during the
implantation of deep-brain electrodes--a process that requires tremulous patients to
remain conscious and calm. He has also coaxed children into imagining that a balloon tied
to their wrist will fly them to their favorite places, a hypnotic technique that has
lessened anxiety in pediatric patients undergoing bladder catheterizations. In Iowa,
Schulz-Stübner hypnotizes patients to reduce pain and anxiety while they receive
presurgery nerve blocks, such as epidurals. He finds that the calming effects of hypnosis
often last through the entire operation.
Yet even the most enthusiastic proponents of hypnosedation don't suggest that it replace
anesthesia entirely. For one thing, not everybody can be hypnotized. Some 60% of patients
are hypnotizable to some degree, Spiegel says; an additional 15%, highly so. The rest seem
to be unresponsive. Moreover, many patients are fully sedated before surgery not because
the surgeon requires it but because they choose to be. "People don't want to feel or
hear anything. They want to be out," says Schulz-Stübner. "That's what you hear
most of the time."
Medical Hypnosis is gaining credibility! In July,
2001, Scientific American stated, "Though often denigrated as fakery or
wishful thinking, hypnosis has been shown to be a real phenomenon with a variety of
therapeutic uses especially in controlling pain." The Wall Street Journal in
the October 7th, 2003 issue stated, "Numerous scientifc studies have emerged in
recent years showing that the hypnotized mind can exert a real and powerul effect on the
body."
"I frequently refer patients to Hypnotherapists because I have seen it
produce excellent results in many illnesses..." - Andrew Weil M.D. Clinical Professor
of Medicine at the University of Arizona and Director of Integrative Medicine.
Testimonial for Hypnotherapy
By Rhonda Colia
Elko, Nevada
I was in Reno for a business seminar. My
husband and I drove in the night before so we'd be well rested. However, sleep wasn't my
friend that night. The morning started out much like any other ordinary day, with
just one exception. After I took my shower, I noticed my head was twitching to
the left. I wasn't terribly alarmed, but I noted it was odd. Then when I
started to apply my makeup both of my hands were shaking to the point that I had to
use one hand to hold the other. I managed to get enough makeup on and continued to
realize that my head was still twitching to the left.
I attended the seminar, but at break time about an hour and a half in I went to the ladies
room and noticed that now my head was bobbing in a circle to the left. I was now
alarmed, yet I returned to the seminar.
By the end of the conference it was 3:30 pm. I went straight to my husband and asked
him to take me to the hospital because I thought I was having a stroke. We left
immediately for Elko. It was a 4 hour drive.
We got something to eat thinking it might help and it did to a small extent. Then I
took some ibuprofen and tried to go to sleep. Things calmed down for about an hour and I
thought it was over. But we stopped about an hour outside of Elko and I
couldn't move my left leg. I have a family history of strokes and all evidence was
pointing to that end.
My husband had to help me walk. After we got back into the car and started
driving again I suddenly went into a very violent convulsion-type episode. This
lasted all the way to the hospital and then some.
I was admitted and they began running some minor tests for blood and urine, then I waited
for several hours still convulsing on the left side. I remember leaning my
head against the bed to relieve some of the violent jerking. Both sides of my
neck looked like they might burst open at any time. I still waited for hours
before I saw a physician.
She ordered some pain meds which finally put me out and gave me some relief.
By about 5am I was awakened by a nurse and they did a CT scan and sent me home. I was
still shaking quite obviously, but not violently. They ordered a bunch of
medicines and bed rest for the next week. They would be scheduling MRIs
and other neurological tests during that time.
I dont remember too much of the next few weeks other than taking lots and lots of
blood tests and enduring several procedures. The rest was a blur due to all of the drugs
they had me taking. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was terrified for
myself and my family and that I was getting worse everyday. I had already witnessed
the demise of four of my five core family members and was thinking this was the beginning
of my end.
I was now on Federal Medical Leave Act that lasts for only 90 days. The clock was
ticking for us to find a diagnosis. I went from one doctor and specialist to another
repeating the same tests over and over again. Because we live in a remote area in
the west, we have to drive at least 3 to 4 hours to see any of the specialists.
Its quite inconvenient, tiresome and spendy to make all of the appointments.
I was told of the many things I didnt have, but no one seemed to know what I
actually did have.
I could no longer walk, so I had begun crawling to the bathroom because I wouldnt
have as far to fall. Speaking of falling, I did so all the time, bruising my entire body
and collecting a couple of new scars too. I blacked out and passed out quite often.
My family pretty much did everything for me in order to minimize my movement and
falls. (Good thing this happened during the summer when my daughter was out of school and
able to care for me all day).
My body continued to shake non-stop. I would experience periods in which I would
have less shaking than others, but I still had my regular attacks which would
last 6 to 8 hours of flopping around on my bed. I looked much like a fish out of
water. It was pretty clear the many kinds of meds werent helping me.
Neither were the specialists. One neurologist did tell me that I have a
spot on the right side of my brain, but that I shouldnt worry about it
as it could be nothing. It was located in the motor sensor division of my
brain. Hmmm. Sure sounded like something I thought was related to my condition, but
the experts didnt think I needed to follow up on it.
Finally, a friend and former client of mine called me and told me that if he continued to
hear any more declining stories regarding my health, that he couldnt live with
himself if he didnt offer to help me. So he did. My friend is Ron Abbott. He
knew I couldnt drive so he arranged to pick me up and take me to his
office for a hypnotherapy session. He had to escort me into his office as I could
hardly walk.
He was very kind and interviewed me quite extensively. He explained that
hypnotherapy was just really a state of deep relaxation, focused attention and
hyper-suggestibility. I was ready for anything that would help me relax, let alone
gain some improved health. The session lasted about two hours or so. When I
left I was able to stand alone on both of my two feet for the first time since
September 28th! I was no longer trembling or shaking anywhere. I felt so calm and
serene inside. It was just so transforming. I was absolutely amazed! I wish I
had taken a picture of my family when they came home and saw me. This took place on
a Friday afternoon.
I continued to improve over the weekend and then throughout the next week. In fact,
I was able to drive to my next appointment with Ron Abbott that next Wednesday afternoon.
I've been seeing him regularly ever since and have completely recovered control of
my entire body. I still work with Ron Abbott and my other Doctors trying to find an
answer to all of this. But I can tell you that because of hypnotherapy I feel like I
finally have some control over my physical body and my life. Ron works with all of
my Physicians as well. But the greatest change I've received from hypnotherapy is
that it's now a daily part of my life. I find myself able to go into a state of
self-hypnosis and deep relaxation in times of stress, or just because I want to relax and
give myself some "me" time.
I went to Ron Abbott hoping for any kind of help. I left with a new body and mindset
and a power I didn't even know I had within me. I truly believe with all my heart that
hypnotherapy saved my life. And it gave me more than hope; it has empowered me to
help myself and others by telling them my story. I'm eternally grateful to Ron for
introducing me to self- hypnosis and hypnotherapy and showing me how to unlock the power
within me. I no longer have to just wait for whatever comes next. I am now
pro-active with my health, my mind, body and soul.
12-11-2007
"The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting
well." - Hippocrates
Alcohol | Dental | Gambling | Hypnosis | Medical | Phobias | Smoking | Stress | Weight | Links | FAQ's
Copyright 2005-2008 Healthy Horizons Hypnosis
Web Designs by rdtecklink.com