Hypnotherapy for the alleviation of phantom limb pain.I recently received a request from a former patient to see his mother and determine if I could help her discomfort associated with phantom limb pain phantom limb pain n. Pain or discomfort felt by an amputee in the area of the missing limb. phantom limb pain, n . The medical history obtained from the son and his mother's physicians indicated that this 72 year old lady suffered from a chronic diabetic problem that had resulted in amputation amputation (ăm'pyətā`shən), removal of all or part of a limb or other body part. Although amputation has been practiced for centuries, the development of sophisticated techniques for treatment and prevention of infection has greatly of her left leg below the knee. The son reported that his mother was experiencing extreme discomfort and after trying other modalities, and was receptive to hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy Definition Hypnotherapy is the treatment of a variety of health conditions by hypnotism or by inducing prolonged sleep. Pioneers in this field, such as James Braid and James Esdaile discovered that hypnosis could be used to for the alleviation of her phantom limb pain. Prior to my first session with this delightful and cooperative lady, I contacted Dr. R.D. Longacre and asked him to consult on this case. He recommended that therapeutic suggestions while the patient was in a hypnotic state Hypnotic state A state of heightened awareness that can be used to modulate the perception of pain. Mentioned in: Anesthesia, General include imagery that would allow her to replace the missing limb and then imagine alleviating the discomfort with methods she had used previously prior to amputation. These methods might include the use of a heat lamp heat lamp n. A lamp that emits infrared light and produces heat, used to apply topical heat to the skin for therapeutic purposes. heat lamp Infrared lamp, see there , massage, warm towels or other treatment prescribed by her physician that initially alleviated her discomfort. Dr. Longacre pointed out that imagery should be nonspecific nonspecific /non·spe·cif·ic/ (non?spi-sif´ik) 1. not due to any single known cause. 2. not directed against a particular agent, but rather having a general effect. nonspecific 1. so that the patient could develop imagery in her subconscious mind that would be the most effective for her. I began formulating therapeutic suggestions. In addition to emphasis on dealing with chronic pain as a medical conditions, there are a number of barriers to the broader and acceptance of alternative means of treating them. They include the time-consuming nature of the treatments, the reluctance of insurance companies to pay for them and the question of just who should administer the therapies. An NLP (Natural Language Processing) The capability of understanding human language. If the language is spoken, voice recognition plays an important role in converting the sounds to individual words. Then, natural language processing figures out what the words mean. study panel said doctors should consider a patients, social experiences with plotting treatment, and recommended educating patients about the health benefits and importance of the therapies. It said insurers should treat the alternative therapies as they do standard medical treatments and reimburse providers accordingly. It added that treatments can be administered by nurse-practitioners and social worker to reduce cost. From articles by Laurence L. Skolnik, Ph.D. To read more by L. Skolnick, see The Use of Dissociation as an Adjunct to Hypnoanesthesia for Pain Management in Articles of Interest on www.infinityinst.com |
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