Imagery, Surgery and Pain Management

by Belleruth Naparstek

Principle investigator, Elvira Lang, MD, of the Department of Radiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, in a study co-funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Office for Alternative Medicine, published these findings in the April, 2000 issue of The Lancet, Vol 355, pp.1486-1490:

When 241 patients were undergoing percutaneous vascular and renal procedures (translation: either invasive balloon angioplasties, or going after blood clots in the leg, or draining urine from an obstructed kidney -- i.e., your basic, roto-rooter, clear-the-pipes, surgical procedure), they were randomized to receive either standard care, or "structured attention" (meaning they had their own health care person at their side, offering reassurance, answering questions, and tending solicitous support, etc etc - kind of like a radiology doula, if you will); or the structured attention along with relaxation, self-hypnosis and imagery guidance of the David Spiegel variety (roll your eyes up and close the lids, breathe deeply, concentrate on the sensation of floating, and remember a safe and pleasant experience.). All had access to intravenous pain medication, and all rated their pain & anxiety on a 0-10 scale every 15 minutes during and after their procedures.

	Pain increased steadily as the procedure went on for both the standard group and the attention group, but stayed flat with the hypnosis/imagery group.
	Anxiety decreased over time in all 3 groups, but most dramatically and significantly in the hypnosis/imagery group.
	Drug use was significantly higher in the standard group as compared with the attention and imagery/hypnosis groups.
	Only one hypnosis/imagery patient became hemodynamically unstable (that's blood pressure trouble), as opposed to 10 attention patients and 12 standard patients (whoa!).
	And finally procedure times were significantly shorter in the hypnosis/imagery group (61 minutes) as compared to the attention group (67 minutes) and the standard group (78 minutes).

Please visit Belleruth's web site at: www.healthjourneys.com

All pages and text of this website copyright � 2004 by The Seeker's Circle�. All rights reserved. No part of this site may be copied or distributed, by any means or methods, without express written permission of the author and copyright holder.

[ Home ] [ Message Board ] [ Articles ] [ Interviews ] [ Audio Interviews ] [ FREE Ezine ] [ Ezine Archives ] [ Recommended Books ] [ USA Book Stores ] [ Calendar of Events ] [ Chat Room ] [ Chat Transcripts ] [ Professional Intuitives ] [ Links You'll Love ] [ Sign Our Guest Book! ] [ About Us ] [ Email Us ] [ Privacy Statement ] [ Intuition Development ] [ Personal Growth ]

Website maintained by author, speaker & intuitive consultant Dr. Lauren Thibodeau
Website design by Karyn Greenstreet, Passion For Business