"Choose a medical condition that interests you and research it. Write about the possible uses of hypnosis in the treatment of the condition as you see them.
Induction
I have choosen to look at eczema for this essay. It is something that affects me personally. Eczema is a fairly common skin condition. It is an innflamation of the upper layers of the skin. It is seen mostly in children and affects around 1 in 12 adults. There does seem to be a link between eczema, hay fever and asthma, and as yet there is no known cure for it. Atopic eczema is a genetic condition based on the interaction between a number of genes and environmental factors. In most cases there will be a family history of either eczema or one of the other ‘atopic’ conditions i.e asthma or hay fever. The symptoms of ezcema can vary from being dry, itchy and inflamed to being broken and bleeding and raw. Ezcema is linked to stress levels in people and people who suffer with ezcema can develop anxiety around the way it looks and disfigures the skin, which in turn creates greater stress levels and ultimately leads to the eczema getting worse. It can be a viscious cycle. There is not a lot of research done into the power of hypnosis and other therapies such as meditation linked to eczema. The word eczema comes from the Greek word “ekzein” which means “to boil". The most successful treatment with eczema is steriod creams and ointments, one of the main problems with eczema is its extrememly itchy and this is what causes the flare ups and weeping. This is why I believe hypnosis is such a powerful tool when treating ezcema. There are four main ways in which hypnosis can be used :
* Using ego strengthing techniques. *Direct suggestion of reducing the itching, burning, insomina and anxiety.
*The suggestion that as soon as the paitents fingers touch their skin they will be aware of this, even at night, and therefore will be able to prevent scratching.
*That there will be improved blood flow through the skin, with better nourishment causing healing and a decrease in the sensitivity of the nerves. (Heap and Dryden pg139). How ever if there are emotional issues going on these must be explored and resolved if possible otherwise the ezcema will keep on occuring. Every persons pain threshold is different this can be due to your culture and beliefs and what we expect. Pain is measured on a scale of how we percieve it, its called the subject unit of discomfort (SUD) and is measured on a scale of 1-10. Western medicine uses modalities to test pain. Pain can be sharp, stabbing, intense, throbbing,hot, cold or a dull ache. It can also have a colour ie blue or red. If you are using hypnotheraphy as well as western medicine you must question the type of pain it is. Having researched, I have found out about magical imagery, which can be a very powerful tool when dealing with children as they respond well to this. Using images of wetness and coolness and relaxation are effective. It was Karle and Boys (1987) who treated a 4year old girl who had suffered with serve eczema from a week old. She had been on copious medications including antibiotics and steroids but still had serve itching which affected her sleep. The girl had agreed to learn a way to stop her itching using magical imagery hypnosis. Karle and Boys asked her to imagine a big red balloon tied to her arm which would lift her to a magical fairyland and when she got there she would be met by a fairy land kitten, who would escort her to a magical pool of water which would make her skin better. The cool fresh water would be applied to her skin until the itching stopped, she would then float back to the room and open her eyes. She was given a special key for the use of self hypnosis which she could use to return to the fairyland whenever the itching started. At the second and third session hypnotic suggestions were given that her hand had aquired some magical power from the water that she could use in the day, when ever she was unable to go to fairyland. This was very successful and after a week all her medications were stopped except bath oil. She stopped scratching and used the magic water when needed. This goes to show in my opinion, that hypnosis does have the power to at least relieve some of the symptoms of eczema. The subconscious part of our mind controls all our bodily functions such as breathing, sneezing, scratching, regulating our organs and hormones. It's able to fight infection and mend broken bones. It is also responsible for causeing eczema, hay fever and asthma. But why does it do this? Our subconscious is very powerful and some people believe that these symptoms are a coping statergy our mind uses when surpressing emotions and anxiety. While other people believe it is simply an allergic reaction to something. What ever your belief there is still no cure for eczema, it can only be managed. It is important when using hypnotherapy that a person has seen their Dr, as I believe that using certain creams and ointments it still very effective in the short term, but with all steroid creams should only be used for a short time. This is why I believe that hypnosis can give you the tools to manage the itching of ezcema, even just using simple imagery and relaxation can help. Having researched it states that hypnosis can help manage eczema by surpressing emotions that could be the result of eczema, as a training therapist I would find this very unethical as it would in my opinion only create other problems or illness such as weight gain, acne or blushing. According to city hypnotherapy centre using a technique called Lesserian Curative Hypnotherapy (LCH) is a gentle and logical approach that works with the subconscious and not against it. It uses an approach of why your subconsious creates eczema and why it needs it. Once the need has been established it uses logic to re-examine the need for it. As long as the misinformation exists, so will your eczema. But once your subconscious believes, rather than being told, that disposing of your eczema is in your best interests, then it will actively do so for good. (cityhypno.co.uk/eczema). There is definatley more research done with the treatment of eczema and children then in adults, using the imagery and relaxation appears to be most effective. Of course it is easier to treat children with any hypnosis as they are more suseptable and it can be far easier for them to visualise. You also have to take in to consideration that as an adult you have built up your own belief system and ideas on pain and healing. If a person doesn't believe in hypnotism then the chances of hypnosis working on that person are slim, looking at other factors that affect eczema like diet are also important. Having a good well balanced diet and taking regular exercise are great ways to help stop flare ups. The National Eczema society have a list of FACTS in managing stress, these are:-
*Minimise eczema flares up by using good skin care routine
*Learn a relaxation technique such as deep breathing, meditation, visualisation, yoga or tai chi.
*Aromatherapy or massage
*Counselling- this can help you find new ways of approaching a problem.
*Learn to recognise when you need practical or emotional support
* Take regular exercise.(Mindovereczemapg18).
All of these above statements involve some sort of relaxation, although, it doesn't state hypnotherapy, hypnotherapy uses alot of the above in its technique. The National Eczema society also state "There is a proven and effective technique that can reduce the frequency of scratching. It combines effective skin care routines with a way of reversing scratching habits"(mindovereczemapg13). As any qualified hypnotherapist can help with habits then surely it can help with the scratching that occurs when eczema flares up. To conclude this essay I would have to say that there isn't as much information as I thought regarding hypnosis and eczema. Although it is used as a treatment there isn't a lot of research to agree or disagree that hypnosis is effective in its treatment. I do however believe that, although it can not cure eczema it will certainly help a person dealing with it. This could be from changing the habit of scratching, to helping dealing with the emotional side of eczema, the fact that it can be very unsightly can be very upsetting and can lead to low self esteem and lack of confidence. There are different techniques a hypnotherapist can use such as relaxation ,they can teach self hypnosis and relaxation and can also teach different ways to break a habit such as scratching. The most effective way is by using imagery and relaxation, it seems more effective in children as they have a greater imaginations than adults. Using ego strengthening techniques and direct suggestions would be most sutable and of course giving the client the tools to use self hypnosis every day and relaxation techniques. There is no cure for eczema but there are definatley tools out their to assist in soothing the symptoms of eczema.