by Bette Wayne

Created on: October 01, 2008   Last Updated: October 11, 2008

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Hypnotherapy: Does it work?

For many years hypnotherapy carried a stigma associated with sideshows and magicians. However, in the past 50 years, doctors, dentists and psychologists have promoted the use of hypnosis for diverse medical reasons. Although I have known a few doctors who did not deserve the title, I do not think a general resurgence in the use of hypnotherapy can be credited to medical quacks.

We had a family friend who was instrumental in promoting the use of hypnosis as a pain control measure. He used me as a guinea pig to demonstrate its effectiveness. Because we demonstrated pain control so many times, we were able to thwart a potentially devastating occurrence. While washing a drinking glass, and with my hand inside, I accidentally broke it. One of my fingers was sliced through to the bone and, of course, blood flew everywhere. My friend guided me through pain control and, to my amazement, enabled me to control the flow of blood into my hand. Several bandages held the cut in place but my curiosity motivated me into removing them the next day. My cut, the one which exposed bone, was no more than a pencil line which did not leave any scar. This is my personal argument for the effectiveness of hypnotherapy.

For those of you who doubt my story, I suggest you visit MedicineNet.Com and follow the prompts under medical terms. Prior to doing this, I was unaware that hypnotherapy use was so widespread. It is now being used in conjunction with medications to help diabetics stabilize their blood sugar and aids in the treatment of hemophilia. Probably the most surprising use of hypnotherapy today is in the treatment of allergies.

For those who fear dentists' drills, hypnosis can be used to dull or eliminate pain. Many other doctors use it as a pain control for some diseases or painful injuries.

Psychologists use hypnosis in the treatment of many phobias, such as the fear of flying. It has also proven helpful in the use of various addictions, including drug use, smoking and food abuse.

After learning the widespread uses of hypnotherapy, can anyone continue to doubt its effectiveness? Although hypnosis was once considered a drawing room game, it has taken its place in the medical terms dictionary as another tool used by many doctors. Of course hypnosis works.

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