Pain, Pain, Go Away
The USA with all the trappings of modern life has a big problem - Pain.
In fact, more than 30% of Americans are living with some form of chronic or severe pain.
Chronic pain is pain that lasts longer than the typical healing time - in some cases beyond 1-3 months. According to the American Pain Foundation, Chronic Pain is a complex condition that affects some 42-50 million people in the USA. However, despite decades of research, chronic pain continues to increase year by year and remains not only poorly understood by the medical community but notoriously difficult to control. A survey by the American Academy of Pain Medicine found that even comprehensive treatment with pain killing prescription drugs helps, on average only 58% with chronic pain.
Chronic pain has been called the ignored epidemic because it receives less attention than other diseases, and yet more people suffer from chronic pain than cancer, heart disease and diabetes combined.
Chronic pain is not only physical pain but also emotional pain. Anxiety, depression, use of antidepressants, opioids and suicides are all increasing year by year.
Chronic pain is a very common condition, and one of the most stated reasons why a person will seek medical care. Sadly this medical care often leads to the high cost use and overuse of prescription painkillers and antidepressants leading to an increase of overdose, and suicide. Studies have estimated the cost of pain on society as $635 billion annually.
Suicide is a major national public health issue in the USA. Alarmingly, the country has one of the highest suicide rates among wealthy nations.
What to do about it
For anyone in pain, the first thought is how to escape it. By sheer coincidence, as I was writing this article I accidentally burnt my hand while cooking, touching for just a split second a boiling pot on the stove. The searing pain in my hand was intense. My first response was grabbing an ice block out of the freezer then pressing against the small burn to reduce the pain. This brought me instant relief. The challenge was to hold that ice block against my skin while I got on with my life.
I was yet to have my morning shower and dreaded the warm water making the pain even worse. And sure enough as I entered the shower there was even more pain. The one thing comforting my mind was knowing that this intense pain would fade by the hour, and tomorrow I wouldn’t even remember it. Which of course is exactly what happened. By the afternoon the intense burning pain had thankfully disappeared.
Acute pain like a burn, a sprain, break, scratch or cut is one thing. But chronic pain is another entirely different situation.
Chronic pain is pain that lasts for over three months. It can happen anywhere in your body. The pain can be there all the time, or it may come and go. Chronic pain can interfere with your daily activities, such as working, having a social life and taking care of yourself or others.
Among the more common chronic physical pain areas are joint pain and arthritis, lower back pain, migraines and fibromyalgia. To make matters worse, one in four people with chronic pain will go on to have a condition known as Chronic Pain Syndrome. That’s when people have other conditions beyond pain alone, conditions such as depression and anxiety, which interferes with their daily lives.
It came as a complete surprise to me when I personally found myself suffering with Chronic Pain Syndrome. For me it happened several years ago when I experienced my own progressive health crisis that started with restless legs, and then over the next few years I had accumulated a list of other chronic ailments, including migraines, borderline ovarian cancer (for which I had a radical emergency hysterectomy). Then came constipation, sciatica which was unbearably painful and I still have numbness from that decades later on my left leg.
Following that came adrenal fatigue and walking pneumonia, finger pain, cracked skin, chronic pain in my lower back making sitting unbearable.Physical therapy helped the lower back pain gradually subside. Next ailment for me was a severe case of psoriasis and eczema covering my arms, legs, chest and back. What started as an unbearable itchy rash all over my body turned into a festering wound that refused to heal no matter what I did. Then came pelvic organ prolapse.
Even though I think of myself as highly resilient and optimistic, suffering with these conditions week after week, month after month, year after year eventually took its toll on me emotionally. It felt as if my body was turning on me, betraying me, letting me down, which led me to become even more anxious and disturbed. The very thought of putting up with living with all this pain was disheartening. It may seem like I’m over-dramatizing the situation but I started to feel and think - I’d be better off dead than going on like this. An overreaction? Absolutely. But now I totally understand how people with chronic pain can take drastic measures to escape their pain.
It’s funny how your whole life direction can turn around in an instant. One day on the way to church I was rear-ended on a freeway. As a result of the accident I ended up receiving treatment from a holistic chiropractor for my lower back. When the doctor noticed my oozing eczema wound during a session she suggested I consider a full elimination and detox diet to get to the bottom of my skin ailment. I was desperate and had nothing to lose at this stage and so I decided to eliminate everything but fruit and vegetables and this led me down the path of healing. I even took a course to become certified in Holistic Nutrition where I could completely focus on my health and well being with a full detox and elimination diet of zero meat and animal products, dairy, grains, sugar, caffeine and alcohol.
It wasn’t a quick fix but day by day, little by little I experienced a deep healing. It took about a year of being on this elimination diet and detox for my skin and digestive system to heal and become clear. And for me it was an exhilarating, drug-free experience with me taking back my power to help my body heal itself.
What about emotional pain?
Emotional pain is any pain that stems from non-physical origins.
It could result from loss, grief, or regret such as losing an unborn baby through miscarriage, losing a child, losing a spouse to separation, divorce, or illness or death, losing a loved one to illness or death, losing a friend, a house, a job, an opportunity.
It could be the result of adverse childhood experiences - also known as ACE’s, where childhood neglect, abuse, torment or bullying creates deep trauma in the child that continues to stress the body through adulthood.
It could also be caused by underlying mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety. It could also be the result of trauma from being involved in a terrifying, life threatening situation such as a natural disaster or an attack.
Symptoms of emotional pain can include feelings of deep sorrow, sadness or depression, grief, intense distress, loneliness and isolation, negative emotions, panic, rage, shame and worthiness.
“Within the soul of all human beings, there lies an innate spiritual knowledge that has the power to repair mental disturbances … not through analyzing their thoughts, but by seeing the power of thought itself.
”
People in pain understandably seek relief. And the typical route is that they visit a doctor for pain, and even though there are safer, less riskier alternatives available the doctor will typically prescribe painkillers or antidepressants Which leads us to the high levels of drug use, overuse and the opioid crisis we see in the US today.
The opioid addiction problem escalated when patients wanted more opioids and doctors were restricted to prescribe less. This then led to patients turning to other sources - cheap street drugs - starting with heroin, and now fentanyl (which causes many overdoses). The overprescription of highly addictive legal pain medication led to the opioid crisis.
“These opioids do bring a certain amount of euphoria to all kinds of pain - psychological pain, emotional pain and physical pain which leads to addiction desire and craving opioids more than other things that are desires and necessities in our lives.”
Why drugs?
The most probable answer is that people want a quick fix rather than a slow solution. And because we are restless, we don’t have the time or patience to be still, and so the quick fix has led us as a society to a big problem.
“Mental health lies within the consciousness of all human beings, but it is shrouded and held prisoner by our own erroneous thoughts.” — Sydney Banks
In light of how deadly the opioid crisis is, how do these people become involved with overuse and addiction?
I recently watched “7 Days in Arkansas“ , a documentary about the opioid crisis in that state. It interviewed people who were able to break free of the drugs. They spoke of their use of opioids, how they got into it - typically because of trauma and pain.
Some had long-standing emotional pain. “My mother died when I was aged three, I was angry at the world and that was my excuse for using opioids. I then needed stronger drugs and then started using heroin and became a heroin dealer. I had a promising career in baseball but my opioid addiction got in the way” said Tadd Hickerson in the documentary.
It’s not only people who have had a traumatic childhood. Another ex-user in the documentary said he took his first prescription pain killer at age 21 for migraine from all the stress of bills and life getting on top of him. “Not only did the pain medication take away the pain, but it also made me feel so great. Then something clicked in my brain that this was a solution to all my problems, my solution for anything, and for any emotion, I didn’t like I would take pain pills. Then my body started craving to get the pain pills. I was sick in my stomach every day so I took more pain pills. I didn’t know my body was addicted to the pills until one of my work friends pointed out to me that I may have become addicted. I needed to take higher and higher doses just to feel OK, and then one day I took heroin because I could not find pain pills” said the ex opioid and heroin addict.
For others like Mikaila, it was an easy quick way for her to get calm. “It felt like I was being wrapped in a warm blanket coming out of the dryer - and just wrapping me super tight in it - and it stopped all the problems for that moment, it made me just slow down, it was just a calming feeling I guess, but also it was killing me” Mikaila Wingfield, ex opioid addict.
“If you’re searching for happiness; if you’re searching for tranquility; if you’re
searching just to have a nice, peaceful, loving, understanding life… in
actual fact, you're searching for your inner self. — Sydney Banks
Given the opioid crisis worldwide with unintentional overdoses, working with the brain would easily and economically alleviate much of the misery caused by the overuse and misuse of opioids by people simply trying to escape their pain.
Eminent psychiatrists including Dr. David Spiegel professor at Stanford University Medical School and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, leading authority in PTSD treatment and research agree there are many viable alternative treatments available for chronic pain.
Alternative Treatments to Chronic Pain and Trauma
Among the alternative treatments that have proven to be effective in relieving chronic pain, PTSD, and Anxiety over time include (in alphabetical order):
Acupuncture
Amygdala Training
Aromatherapy
Biofeedback
EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming
Hypnosis or hypnotherapy
Laughter and happiness therapy
Mindfulness training
Music, art, drumming, dancing, swaying, and chanting
Pet therapy or Equine therapy.
Prayer and belief in a higher power, and meditation
RTT - Rapid Transformational Therapy
Reiki or Healing Touch
Relaxation techniques such as yoga, massage, and guided imagery.
Rolfing or Myofacia massage
Somatic Experience
Walking in nature
Yin Yoga
Let's look at Hypnosis
Dr. David Spiegel, Psychiatrist, and professor at Stanford Medical School spoke at a World Economic Forum on the opioid crisis. He began his talk with a bold statement “Replacing opioids with hypnosis for pain treatment and teaching patients in pain self-hypnosis could help curb the opioid crisis”, and continued that “hypnosis is an underutilized yet scientifically proven method to reduce pain and anxiety”.
When it comes to hypnosis Dr. David Spiegel has for over 40 years been at the forefront of research and education for the science of hypnosis and the many ways it can help people in pain and also with PTSD. Studies show people with PTSD are “more hypnotizable than those without PTSD, and that hypnosis is a more effective PTSD treatment than some comparison psychotherapies, studies show” reported Spiegel.
Hypnosis is a proven alternative that helps people in pain.
Dr David Spiegel reports hypnosis to be an effective approach for the management of pain, and the treatment of anxiety and stress-related disorders.
Past studies have shown that people hypnotized before operative care have a shorter procedure time and a significant reduction in intraprocedural complications, such as hypoxemia and vomiting. One study showed that in select cases "hypnosis as sole anesthesia works extremely well" Spiegel said. Spiegel has given many talks to the medical community and shares examples of recent research showing that hypnosis can relieve Parkinson’s tremors, help people stop smoking and even help gastric acid production.
Hypnosis is drug free, completely safe and is nowhere near as costly compared with pharmacological and medical treatments. With just 1 to 5 hypnosis sessions, people are finding relief from their pain.
So why is hypnosis still largely ignored?
“There’s a prejudice in modern medicine that the only real interventions are the physical ones” said Spiegel, and suggested it hasn't caught on because "we just don't have an industry to push it." With so much attention going into profit-driven medical intervention and pharmacology it’s no wonder. However a growing body of scientific evidence supports that hypnosis can yield a wealth of health benefits including treating chronic pain, addictions and phobias.
Some personal stories about hypnosis helping with chronic pain
I can speak about the successful outcomes in my specialty as a certified hypnotherapist, Rapid Transformational Therapist and Stress Management Coach. It’s helped me, and many others break free from the prison of pain.
Following are just a few of the thousands of testimonials from people with physical and emotional pain including PTSD, Anxiety, Migraines and chronic TMS Pain, who experienced significant relief after hypnosis and Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT). These stories are from my direct clients, and also clients of my RTT colleagues. All the names have been changed to protect their privacy.
Migraines
I’d suffered from severe migraines for many years. Six months ago things got worse and for 20 days I had a constant migraine, I couldn't work, day by day I suffered from nausea and vomiting, all I could do was try my best to sleep off the migraines and hope for the best that when I woke up the migraine would be gone. But no matter how many pills I took it wouldn't ease the pain.
Because of this constant pain in my life, I got hooked on taking medication, and even if the pain wasn't very intense because I was so afraid of the pain!
Out of desperation, I decided to seek alternatives to painkillers so I tried hypnosis and Rapid Transformational Therapy even though I was skeptical at first and wasn’t sure how it was going to help me. I had just one session where under hypnosis I got to the root of the problem stemming from my childhood issues and then listened to a self-hypnosis recording every day for 21 days.
Now after 2 months I have not had any more migraines, and I got rid of all the medication in my house too. I’m so happy to be just living my normal life without Migraines.
Alicia, Rapid Transformational Therapy client.
Anxiety & Stress
I had my first session with Zelda a few days before my wedding. I was experiencing so much stress and anxiety that I could barely think straight. I couldn’t eat and could barely sleep.
When Zelda told me about the benefits of rapid transformation therapy I was excited by the idea and got slightly skeptical. She came over to my house in order for me to be the most comfortable and we began our session.
The results were incredible. I was finally relieved of my stress and anxiety and was able to start keeping down food again. We were able to address issues and explore memories that I haven’t thought of in years where I had experienced trauma.
I wholeheartedly recommend Zelda’s coaching To anyone struggling with anxiety, depression, addiction, procrastination, self-doubt, the list goes on. I can’t wait for my next session, and I hope whoever is reading this review will take this amazing step forward in enriching their life.
Cassie, Rapid Transformational Therapy client.
PTSD and panic attacks from childhood trauma and abuse.
Anxiety for me is a 10/10 for full-blown panic attacks which I regularly experienced since my traumatic childhood.
After RTT I would estimate the anxiousness at 1 or less. Where did the anxiety go? I feel super confident, calm, with no anxiety, and no complaints. I’ve been listening to the recording every night. I don’t think I make it more than a few minutes into the recording before I’m fast asleep. Things are going well and I’m not feeling much anxiety, even though I have had some things relating to the divorce/paying for attorneys/ visitation with my kids and I also strained my back - all of these things have contributed to a significant amount of stress.
I have been listening to the recording every day and I do believe I am benefiting from it, and I am certainly enjoying it. I’ve really been enjoying my dreams, and even had a dream that my dad was in that wasn’t a nightmare - I actually confronted him in my dream and didn’t have fear in the confrontation - so that was lovely. I’ve also been having other vivid dreams that have been neutral or pleasant to recall.
Overall I have felt calmer and have been handling stressful situations in a much healthier way than I used to, so that’s a big plus. My anxiety is almost nil, and considering I haven’t been drinking or smoking and I’m in a very difficult transition in my life, and yet almost zero anxiety. Woohoo! I thoroughly enjoy the awesome recording you made and I’ve been spreading the word about your therapy. Zelda, Thank you so much.
Brendon. Rapid Transformational Therapy client.
TMS pain - Tension Myoneural Syndrome
This is my own success story for multiple physical symptoms known as TMS that have accumulated in my body for decades including restless legs, migraines, sciatica, eczema and psoriasis, overactive bladder, prolapsed pelvic organs, and constipation.
Through Rapid Transformational Therapy and listening to self-hypnosis recordings as well as holistic nutrition and relaxation the TMS pain has reduced tremendously. The sciatica that was at one time a 9.5 out of 10 is now virtually non-existent most of the time and if it does return it’s very easy for me to ‘turn it down’ with my brain so that instead of it being at a high distressing 7-8 or 9 level it’s at a very bearable 1-2 or 3.
The chronic constipation has improved dramatically and I’m now happy to be regular.
The chronic RLS Restless Legs Syndrome I had suffered nightly for decades has a lot better thankfully with zero medication with RTT, mindfulness, relaxation, massage, and soaking in Epsom salts. The chronic POP Pelvic Organ Prolapse and bladder is also a lot better with RTT and mindfulness, I can turn all this pain down too, and the chronic eczema and psoriasis were healed totally with a combination of elimination and detox and relaxation, meditation, hypnosis, and RTT.
It’s been years since I had a migraine and I am so grateful to know that with self-care, self-hypnosis, and RTT I can enjoy life without stress and anxiety and turn down any pain whenever I need to, which makes the pain less frightening and then the pain just disappears from my thoughts. This brings me not only great relief but also tremendous confidence knowing that because I experience my own healing I can now help many others struggling with their own emotional and physical pain.
Zelda Sheldon, Licensed RTT Therapist
Hypnosis Benefits
As hypnotherapists, we start with a core belief that the person who comes to us for help has all the resources, all the understanding, and all capacity to overcome their problems.
What we have as hypnotherapists is the trained ability to guide people into a calm state where their conscious, limiting mind gets out of the way for a while, while their unconscious mind is the center of focus. And it’s this focused attention that is at the heart of hypnosis. The person is in a heightened state of relaxed concentration and then they can identify and recognize any faulty beliefs that no longer serve them that may be causing stress hormones to react with tension and pain in their body.
Hypnotherapy helps people break free of their phobias, addictions, and pain prisons.
The modern medical and pharmacological approach “is to do things to the brain, rather than use the brain in treating pain” according to Dr. Spiegel who concludes that “The strain in pain lies mainly in the brain.”
With one in three Americans having an opioid prescription, the rate of accidental drug overdoses has tripled since the year 2000, and 64,000 people died of it in 2017. That’s "twice the number of people who died at the peak of the AIDS crisis," said Spiegel who continued “By contrast, hypnosis doesn’t kill people, it doesn’t addict people, but it does reduce pain."
We’re at the end of this lengthy read about Chronic Pain. If anything in this article resonates with you and if you are searching for a way out of your own chronic pain - be it physical or emotional or both without the use of drugs, I invite you to consider reaching out to me to explore a Hypnosis session with me via zoom. To schedule a free Discovery Call reach out via Zelda Sheldon
With hypnosis, you can turn down the pain and enjoy living again.
By Zelda Sheldon, Consultant & Coach ~ BA, C Hyp, Rapid Transformational Therapist, Performance Coach, Master Life Coach, Certified Stress Management Coach, Certified Suicide Prevention Workplace Trainer.
NEXT STEPS
What next? If you are suffering from chronic pain - be it physical or emotional - here are four next steps you may want to consider.
1. Download the Self Hypnosis for Pain Reduction onto your smartphone or computer that you can use every day.
2. Book a free 30-minute discovery call with me for a chat
3. Join my community of self-helpers and receive 'The Daily Dozen’, a free mini-course of simple and effective actions to help you right now.
4. Do a deep dive reading the reference sources below to learn more about the latest science for relieving chronic pain, Complex-PTSD and PTSD, trauma, and anxiety. Start reading the excellent book 'The Body Keeps the Score’ by Bessel van der Kolk and be inspired to break free of chronic pain, trauma, and tension-related issues.
SOURCES:
20.4% of the US adult population suffers chronic pain.
25% of US population have chronic pain
Opioid Overdoses in US Veterans increasing trend. Am J Addict
7 Days: The Opioid Crisis in Arkansas.
Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. Up 30% in 2020
Socio-Economic Burden of Chronic Pain
Antidepressants prescriptions in the USA - American Psychological Society
Holistic Alternatives to Antidepressants
Hypnosis effective for management of pain
Dr. David Spiegel - HypNOpioids - Pain Relief Without Drugs
Hypnotherapy for the Management of Chronic Pain
Dr David Spiegel - Hypnosis with PTSD
Episode 45 David Spiegel talks about the science of hypnosis and the many ways it can help people - Studies show those with PTSD are more hypnotizable, and that hypnosis is a more effective treatment than comparable therapies.
Teaching Patients self-hypnosis could stem with Opioid Crisis
