The neurological event that is known as pain or discomfort is not just a uncomplex, simple phenomena. Many guess that injury to the body is the sole culprit of pain, but this is not a full account (for example, neuropathic pain in which an undamaged but irritated nervous system causes chronic pain is an all-too-common condition). In fact, the experience of 'pain' includes at least 3 major areas of the brain bi-laterally, the peripheral nervous system's nociceptors, and the spinal column. When there is an insult to the anatomy, neurons do attempt to transmit a neuronal impulse to the brain. The neurology associated with representing bodily experience responds in several potential ways.
The first stop-off for almost any neuronal impulse is the thalamic cortex, a subcortical structure that catches all nerve signals. Hypnosis and pain control will, as it can with the majority of cortical regions in the CNS, adjust considerably how the thalamic junction responds. Hypnotic pain control work partially via dampening of thalamus behavior. The thalamic gateway is a gateway for all the senses, excluding your nose. With the thalamic region as the initial stop, if hypnosis is not applied to block the impulse in that location, the somatosensory region and the ACC are another place that the pain sensation can be is relieved. These two being the key players in experiencing pain. Interfere in the function of either the ACC or the somatosensory strip, and you also interfere with the pain experience on an essential level.
Pain control (even chronic) can be achieved using hypnosis and pain control in both the sensorial area as well as in the cingulate. The anterior cingulate cortex is responsible for the uncomfortable aspect of pain, while the somatosensory is receiving the specific somatic sensations that are occurring (the mechanical sensation of the skin being spread or cut apart for instance). Many docs and pain specialists educate clients about how to use self-hypnosis for the control of pain as a critical aspect of the patient's treatment. Hypnotherapy does act as a substitute for analgesia and general anesthesia with invasive operations, even operations that would otherwise be intensely painful such as gall-bladder surgery. This seems fantastical to people naive about alternative pain relief therapies, but the application of hypnotic techniques for pain control during invasive procedures goes back some two hundred years already to an English physician named James Esdaile operating exclusively with hypnosis in India! Although the data support is admittedly minimal currently, there is some support that pain control with hypnosis acts beyond the brain directly on trauma via beta endorphins. Dulling the pain signal at the site of the nerves sending the pain signal allows a two-pronged advance wherein the mechanical and psychic expressions of experience of pain are addressed with hypnotherapy.
Che Lucero is a research scientist and clinical hypnotist. He writes about how to improve our daily lives from a perspective of neuropsychology, and hypnosis. He maintains a blog with writings ranging from the very personal to highly-technical and academic, as well as a mailing list with mental-health tips and tricks at CheLucero.com
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