My Blog

Footballer Wes Brown's wife talks hypnobirthing

02/25/2012 11:52:00

The wife of Premier League footballer Wes Brown has talked about her experiences of hypnobirthing and how it changed her view of childbirth.

Leanne Brown told the Manchester Evening News how she tried the labour technique for her third child and it was "beautiful", although she admitted that when she first attended the classes she was sceptical.

She described how the births of her first two children were manic and painful, but her third was fine because she was relaxed.

Ms Brown said: "All the talk in parenting classes is about pain and pain relief, so you're bound to get frightened. But when you're scared, your body tenses up, making it worse. You have to change the way you think."

Writing for Mindful Mum, midwifery expert Amanda Gwynne agreed and claimed that more money should be spent on ensuring that women are feeling relaxed when they go into labour, rather than introducing further medical interventions. She suggested ladies could then experience the joy of giving birth.

Ms Gwynne pointed out that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has just introduced "controversial" new guidelines allowing women to choose to have a caesarean section even if it is not necessary - a move she disagrees with.

Hynotherapy considered for pain alleviation in dentistry

02/25/2012 11:49:00

A growing number of organisations are promoting the use of hypnotherapy in dentistry as a means to alleviate pain, reports Worldental.org.

A rising number of anecdotal cases suggest that hypnosis could replace other methods of pain relief - like injecting anaesthesia medication - when practised by trained professionals.This is because hypnosis "can be used as a means to tell your subconscious that 'the drill will not hurt', or that 'the tooth extraction is a fast and painless process'," for example.Some bodies, like the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association, are so convinced in its ability to help patients that they are advocating the provision of hypnotherapy courses in complementary health care.Similarly, the USC School of Dentistry (University of South Carolina) is teaching students hypnosis that can be used as an alternative to Novocain injections - the oldest injectable local anaesthetic still in use.

Bruxism and Hypnotherapy

11/21/2011 13:46:00

Bruxism is a habit that affects around eight-ten per cent of the population which is characterised by grinding of the teeth and clenching of the jaw.

The habit affects people's sleep, in fact, it is the third most common sleep disorder behind insomnia and snoring.

It can be frequent and severe enough to lead to jaw disorders, headaches, damages teeth, loss of sleep for self and partner.

Other symptoms of Bruxism include chewed tissue on the inside of the cheek, indentations on the tongue, damaged teeth and tooth sensitivity.

The condition does not always occur in isolation either, as sleep studies have shown that those living with the disorder might also suffer from snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea - pauses in breathing during sleep.

The Bruxism Association recently conducted a survey focused on hypnotherapy as a treatment. The shocking results showed that those who suffer may not fully understand the treatments that are available. A huge 91 per cent of respondents did not know that hypnotherapy was a recognised and proven treatment but those who tried it, found it to be effective.

Experts are divided about what to do about it, but applying lifestyle changes and stress reduction techniques can help in many cases, so simple changes such as listenting to a relaxation CD and a warm bath prior to bedtime should be considered.

Bruxism Association

Joanna Lumley used hypnotherapy to overcome anxiety

11/01/2011 11:46:00

Joanna Lumley has revealed how she used hypnotherapy to overcome her horrific anxiety attacks.

Whilst in her mid-20s, the actress' anxiety got so bad that when on stage, she convinced herself there were assassins in the audience trying to kill her.

She said the issue put her on "the brink of utter insanity", but claimed she was able to completely overcome it - thanks to hypnotherapy.

Describing the condition in The Daily Telegraph, she said: "I couldn't cross the road, I didn't dare go into shops, I had to concentrate on breathing in and breathing out. It's panic attacks and you are on the brink of utter insanity.

"I knew I was going to make myself waterproof against it. It would not happen again, not on my watch."

According to Mail Online, Lumley claimed that her anxiety attacks began because she was so worried about money. At one point, she was just living off Marmite and toast, such was her financial strain.

Lumley isn't the only famous face to have turned to hypnotherapy for anxiety problems or other issues.

Many celebrities - including Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, actress Gail Porter and dance teacher Louie Spence - have recently explained how

they have used it to overcome various traumas which occurred during their lives.

Hypnotherapy and phobias

10/19/2011 12:18:00

Arachnophobia is mainly learnt from our parents or peers, research shows Spiders, snakes, claps of thunder - we can have phobias about anything.
But new research has revealed that while they often run in families, that's not because we genetically inherit them, but because we learn them from our parents - scientists from Rutgers University in New Jersey, who conducted the study, have suggested.
As a toddler, if your mother screamed the first time you proudly showed her the spider you'd just found, her behaviour certainly primed you to find spiders frightening, too.
But to turn it into a full-blown phobia some other traumatic event has to happen to you, too.
Your parents, if you like, act as the phobic trigger, but it's your own traumatic experience and your unique response to it that fires the starting gun on the phobia.
When people are stressed, their vulnerability to phobias is far more pronounced because the full phobic response is the emotional and biochemical equivalent of the straw that breaks the camel's back.
The good news is that if it is true that generally phobias are learned rather than inherited - and therefore harder to treat - there are ways of tackling them. One is to teach people to reduce their stress levels by using relaxation techniques.
Another method is desensitisation which involves relaxing the patient and then gradually exposing them to whatever it is that triggers their phobia.
Hypnotherapy has been shown to be very effective at helping people cure their phobias, such as fear of flying.... or of crashing.
This places the patient in an extremely relaxed state, at which point they can be exposed to their phobic trigger.
As both the level of relaxation and the exposure to the phobic trigger is controlled, what we're effectively doing is rewriting their response to that trigger.
With simple self-hypnosis techniques, the aeroplane that once inspired blind panic can now be boarded calmly.

Hypnotherapy can cure premature ejaculation

10/19/2011 12:03:00

Hypnotherapy can be a fantastic cure for sufferers of premature ejaculation, according to new research.

In a feature for contracostatimes.com, health journalist Laura Casey studied how hypnotherapists are attempting to cure sexual health problems and concluded that premature ejaculation is often a mental condition which can be cured via hypnosis.

Casey discovered that many hypnotherapists provide a course aimed at activating the parasympathetic nervous system, in order to elongate the sexual experiences of male patients.

The method - described as 'meditation with a purpose' - was first introduced as a self-treatment by Seth-Deborah-Roth in the 1980s and has been widely-adopted by hypnotherapists around the world today. Within the article, Casey also suggested that similar treatment could be a viable solution for those who suffered from other bedtime problems - such as impotency and bed-wetting.

Evaluating the research, fellow health journalist Sam Davidson agreed that hypnotherapy would appear to be a plausible solution for those who suffered from premature ejaculation.

Writing for 121doc.co.uk, he said: "As anxiety is known to be a risk factor for premature ejaculation, the treatment suggested by the daily can be effective in relieving anxious thoughts an individual faces when excited.

"A two-hour session can take a person to a state of 'relaxed awareness', which could be helpful in regulating the rapid stream of impulses linked to premature ejaculation."

Hypnosis used in dental procedure

06/29/2011 13:08:00

Hypnosis used in dental procedure

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7433646.stm

Hypnobirthing

06/29/2011 12:55:00

NHS study tests effectiveness of 'hypnobirthing'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13451452

Hypnosis on the NHS??

06/29/2011 12:46:00

NHS should offer hypnosis as standard says new report

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13664587

Dental phobia

06/19/2011 17:45:00

Patients turning to hypnotherapy to deal with medical conditions and fears

In the early 1990's one Sheffield-based dentist took to using the skills of hypnotherapists to ease the fear that many people feel when visiting the dentist. It was a complete success, which saw urgent calls for the service to be given to cancer patients in the local area too.

Dental phobia affects 25 per cent of the population, with fear of the procedure, cost and potential pain playing a big role in establishing the phobia. As a result, it is increasingly common for those who are suffering to visit a hypnotherapist to help them deal with the problem.

Dental specialist at the King's College London Dr Carole Boyle told nhs.uk the reasons people give for not attending the dentist as regularly as they should. "Some people blame the cost because it's easier than saying they're frightened," she said.

Now, in a bid to combat such fears, schemes like the one in Sheffield could be offered on a wider scale to alleviate fears of all medical procedures, following requests for the service to be offered to cancer patients.

David Simmons, an ex-dentist who opened the "Cavendish Centre" told the Sheffield Telegraph of the approach, saying "When I started there were still dinosaurs out there who thought we wore cheesecloth and swung incense but now doctors believe in the holistic approach and are interested in anything that helps their patients.