Hypnosis And Anaesthetics

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Hypnosis was used by health professionals more than 200 years ago as a healing tool and for the induction of anesthesia in surgery. John Eliotson (1791-1868) founded a hospital in 1849 and performed nearly two thousand operations painlessly using the hypnotic trance to relieve pain. James Esdaile (1808-1859), a Scottish physician working in India performed over three hundred and forty major operations, including amputations and removal of larger tumours with hypnosis as the only anesthetic. Esdaile reduced the death rate from 50 per cent to 5 per cent by the use of mesmerism. Hypnosis gives us the ability to tap into the working of the subconscious in perhaps the only way it can be done. Scientists have conducted studies in comparing…show more content…
Many athletes use hypnosis to improve focus and enhance their performance, many do this instinctively. At the start of a race or high jump they are focused and really concentrating, they are working things through and rehearsing movements in their mind. This mental rehearsal is a type of…show more content…
It is also a useful tool for pain management and can effectively reduce cravings and addictive patterns. Because it is an easy to administer procedure hypnotherapy is encouraged in the treatment of many physical and psychological problems. There are no deep or long lasting side effects either, which promotes the relaxation techniques even further. The use of relaxation is based on the recognition that stress can cause or exacerbate many different conditions. Relaxation is a part of hypnosis, getting into a state of hypnosis. When we relax, we naturally enter into a type of trance state, we feel calm in our minds and our bodies. Hypnosis and relaxation are very similar. Like meditation the mind becomes focused, we start to let go of other thoughts with a passive acceptance of relaxation or making positive changes. Hypnosis involves guided concentration, regular practise of relaxation response does seem to block the ability of stress hormones to influence the brain and the body. The role of relaxation in hypnotherapy therefore is to take the client to a relaxed mental and physical state, a safe trusting environment. Attention is narrowly focused so that environmental stimuli are ignored for a period of

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