How One Person Used Hypnosis to Improve Their Surgical Experience

Self-Hypnosis Helps Some Surgical Patients - How One Person Used Hypnosis to Improve Their Surgical Experience

The time was drawing near for my surgery. I was scared even thinking about it. Then, I remembered that hypnosis might help me. I had previously read how hypnosis has been helpful to some patients to improve the surgical results. I was particularly interested in self-hypnosis, since it was something I could do myself. 

I thought I could try this. What do I have to lose? Here are the steps I took to improve my surgical experience, using self-hypnosis. 

1. First, I learned about self-hypnosis as applied to surgery by some Yahoo! Searching of the Internet. It is very helpful, particularly with relaxing before and after surgery. There were a few reports that people can hear soothing words and music even during anesthesia.

2. During this search, I found some products that I could purchase. The available products consisted of mp3 recordings of voice and/or music. There were even kits consisting of recordings and headphones. I decided to make my own kit, but the Yahoo! Search gave me some excellent ideas. My kit consisted of my digital recorder and a pair of comfortable headphones.

3. Next, I asked the surgical planner how long my preparation, surgery, and post-op recovery would be. In my case, this was 1-1/2 hours. I asked for permission from the surgical center and doctor. They were puzzled, since this was a new request, but allowed me to do this. One nurse even knew about this technique from using self-hypnosis in birthing.

4. I found on the Internet a hypnosis script that I liked - "Script To Promote Healing Before Surgery".

5. I then read the script into my computer, adding my name now and then to make it more personal. I used Audacity to record my voice in an editable format. Audacity is a free open source audio recording and editing program -.

6. I found some free mp3 music downloads that I liked from Danosongs.com and downloaded them.

7. I edited the soundtracks to achieve about 2 hours of music, with my self-hypnosis words occurring occasionally throughout. When I was done, I loaded my digital recorder with this 2-hour music/voice file.

8. My kit was ready. On the day of surgery, I learned that the headphones could not have metal on them, so the nurse covered them with a little tape.

9. I made it known that I wanted the recorder to play in my ears before, during, and after surgery. They agreed unless it hindered the surgical procedure. That sounded good to me.

10. It happened. I went into surgery confident and relaxed. There were no problems at all.

Looking back, I can see what really happened in my surgical experience.

• I believed hypnosis could work for me in surgery, since it had worked for others. I also believed it would work for me especially since I had used self-hypnosis with other conditions and had good results.
• I felt "in control" of my surgical experience with my little digital recorder and earphones. I did my thing while I was being prepped, operated on, and cared for. In a way, I was in my own little world.
• All these activities took my mind off the surgical experience, thus reducing my anxiety.

From all this, I would definitely do this again, for any troubling medical procedure. The medical staff was very cooperative and I appreciated that. I felt like I was a part of the medical team and not at the mercy of the team. 

For more information

• Hypnotherapy a Valuable Aide for Surgery - Hypnosis Receives Thumbs Up from Some Patients by Debbie, Yahoo! Contributor Network
• Discovering the Power of Self-Hypnosis: The Simple, Natural Mind-Body Approach to Change and Healing by Stanley Fisher, Newmarket Press, 2002 - See Chapter 2

Disclaimer - Article is for informational purposes only, and is not medical advice.