Neuropathic pain is a common type of chronic pain that mostly affects people with diabetes mellitus. Painful diabetic neuropathy is characterized by mood disorders, sleep disturbances, reduced quality of life, and morbidity. One of the challenges faced in the management of chronic neuropathic pain is the unavailability of a standardized treatment method. The existing studies in this area do not address the use of combination therapy as a treatment method, and many of them do not support the use of opioids. However, the use of opioids and other analgesics have increased over the past few years. Despite these developments, research shows that only one-third of patients realize more than 50% treatment success when they use the conventional methods of treatment. These failures call for the adoption of alternative methods of treatment, some of which have proved to be helpful in certain situations.
According to McKittrick et al. (2020), hypnosis has proved to be a viable and cheap treatment method for chronic pain. The researchers present a successful treatment process of severe diabetic neuropathy through hypnosis. The patient was undergoing severe pain that could not be effectively addressed using conventional medication and interventional therapies. For this study, the patient was treated using an integrative health regimen, where hypnosis was used as the definitive treatment. The study results showed significant reductions in pain ratings for the patients. The patient reported improvements in both pain and functionality after undergoing hypnosis, and the results could be observed over time. This study was the first to report on the efficacy of hypnosis in treating chronic painful diabetic neuropathy. Thus, this research contributes to the growing research on the use of hypnotherapy in treating chronic neuropathic pain.
Ciaramella (2018) investigated the effects of psychiatric disorder treatment and hypnosis as alternative treatments in managing chronic intractable pain. The two methods were compared with conventional neuro-modulation. The study was conducted between 2011 and 2017, where participants were patients who had been referred for treatment of chronic intractable pain. Their treatment with the conventional methods, such as the Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) had failed. The researchers developed a Structured Phenomenological Hypnotic Protocol (SPHP). The technique is commonly used in clinical settings. The technique comprises of four hypnotherapy sessions with different suggestions for each session. Each session takes about 45 minutes and is administered after every two weeks. The therapists record each session and give it to the patient to go and practice everything at home.
The results showed that patients responded positively to the treatment techniques used for each one of them. The study determined that the treatment of psychiatric disorders reduces intractable pain. The use of hypnosis in treating moderate pain also proved to be a viable technique of controlling pain. The technique worked even for individuals with low hypnotic susceptibility (Ciaramella, 2018).
Thus, hypnotherapy can be used as an alternative treatment method for chronic pain. The technique has proved to be an effective tool in pain management especially when used correctly. Chronic pain, which is a condition that characterizes various illnesses, requires an alternative treatment method due to the failure of conventional treatment methods in a variety of patients.
References
Ciaramella, A. (2018). Person-centred management of chronic intractable pain: An observational study comparing conventional treatment with hypnosis and treatment of psychiatric comorbidity. Journal of Pain Management, 11(4), 369-379.
McKittrick, M. L., Walters, J. L., Finn, M. T., & McKernan, L. C. (2020). Hypnosis for refractory severe neuropathic pain: A case study. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 63(1), 28-35.
Melvin S. Marsh is a certified hypnotherapist serving Atlanta GA, Augusta GA, Statesboro GA, and Savannah GA. He performs hypnotherapy appointments both in person (although that is on hold due to covid) and worldwide virtually. He can be reached at www.afterhourshypnotherapy.com .
