Hypnosis and Suggestion in the Treatment of Pain by Joseph Barber

Author:Joseph Barber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2014-03-17T16:00:00+00:00

CASE EXAMPLE: MRS. MARPLE, 67, ALLERGIC TO ANESTHETIC

Mrs. Marple had significant systemic diseases of the connective tissues, which required her to be on a wide variety of medications. Whether because of adverse interactions as a result of so many drugs, or her systemic disease, or a combination of both, Mrs. Marple insisted that she had an allergy to all local anesthetics and therefore needed to be treated using hypnosis. Mrs. Marple was well-oriented and very pleasant. She indicated she was seeing several different physicians for all her different ailments but no practitioners for her mental health. She carried a tripod cane, although she appeared not to rely on it. She said that her physical activity was quite reduced from what it had been previously, although she felt she had adapted well to the change. She did not appear to be depressed and frequently brought a puzzle book to pass the time while waiting for the transportation service to take her home.

Mrs. Marple’s myriad physical problems were very real; anyone could notice several physical signs, including disseminated vascular lesions on her face, hands and arms, and deformity of her fingers, all of which were manifestations of her diseases. I determined that appropriate dental treatment for Mrs. Marple would require extraction of 18 teeth and extensive restorative and prosthetic care. Because of her systemic conditions, I elected to extract three and four teeth at each visit. At each appointment, I hypnotized Mrs. Marple using a relaxation induction. Each induction became shorter and shorter as she became more adept at the process. At her request, guided imagery was employed to help her develop a “getaway” place on the beach where she could go while her treatment was being accomplished. Everytime the student practitioner or I extracted her teeth, Mrs. Marple asked if she could have them so that during practice at home, she could focus on the teeth as part of her induction. All of her dental work was successfully accomplished, including the extractions, using hypnosis as the sole anesthetic agent. She was very relaxed, calm, and comfortable during each procedure.

Yet to this day (and we still see Mrs. Marple regularly for all her oral health needs), she claims that she was never hypnotized. I believe that this is because her perception of hypnosis was that she expected to feel nothing. This was not the case; she felt “something,” although she reported that what she was feeling was not troublesome to her. She also had the impression that hypnosis would be more dramatic, similar to what she had seen on stage and television. Although I had initially described to her what hypnosis was and was not, she was not dissuaded. I did not attempt to change her beliefs, of course. The procedure was accomplished, the patient was comfortable, the therapeutic outcome was achieved—and that, of course, was the objective.

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