The word “Arthritis” is taken from the Greek words arthron, joint, and itis, inflammation. In other words, arthritis literally means “joint inflammation.”
Studies show that more than 75% of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Osteoarthritis, and other chronic inflammation-related diseases, experience significant pain relief when using clinical hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy has been proven to reduce the swelling and stiffness of Arthritis. Because the subconscious mind controls all of the circulatory, muscular, chemical, and hormonal actions in the body, a person in hypnosis can be directed to produce Chondrocytes, which increase the growth of healthy new cartilage. The more protection in the joints, the more comfort and mobility is experienced by the client.
One extensive study focussed on the depression that is often connected with Arthritis, due to the loss of physical ability and debilitating pain. The study found that depression was significantly reduced for those who utilised hypnotherapy to deal with the pain and other symptoms of Arthritis.
Clinical hypnotherapy helps people with Arthritis via a number of methods, including visualisation and direct suggestion, to reduce pain and inflammation, and to slow the progress of the disease.
The power of suggestion and mental imagery is a tool all too often overlooked by physicians; yet it can be of immense help to sufferers of degenerative diseases such as Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. One sufferer claimed he eradicated his Arthritis altogether, by visualising himself, every day, hoovering up ‘arthritic dust’ from between his joints. He said all symptoms of Arthritis had vanished within a month!
Another dramatic case was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. A 10 year-old girl had been diagnosed as having Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, which had responded minimally to large doses of aspirin and physical therapy, over a period of seven weeks. The doctors decided to try hypnotherapy, and four hours after her second session, the girl was able to ride her bicycle and was free from pain. Two further reinforcing sessions were given and the girl remained well for the three years to the time of the report.
In another study,* levels of pain, anxiety, and depression, and plasma levels of beta-endorphin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, were measured in 19 arthritic pain patients, before and after hypnosis. Following hypnotherapy there were clinically and statistically-significant decreases in pain, anxiety, and depression, as well as increases in beta-endorphin-like immuno-reactive material. This confirms that hypnotherapy can play an important role in conquering the painful symptoms associated with Arthritis. If you would like to know more about the clinical hypnotherapy techniques for Arthritis, please do contact me.
*[Biochemical Correlates of Hypnoanalgesia in Arthritic Pain Patients. Domangue BB; Margolis CG; Lieberman D; Kaji H – J Clin Psychiatry Jun 1985, 46 (6) p235-8,]
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