When most people think about cancer they think about a disease that strikes suddenly and kills quickly. However were you aware that people develop cancerous cells everyday?
The reason that this rarely develops into a full on bout of cancer is because the immune system effectively attacks the cancer cell(s) before they can cause an outbreak. What does this mean? It means that cancer is caused by a failure in the immune system. Why does the immune system fail? Usually because of stress (both mental and physical) or poor nutrition.
Traditional cancer treatment typically consists of surgery to remove the tumor and either chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Sometimes a hormone therapy is also used. The idea behind this approach is to remove the mass of cancer and then to completely kill off any cancerous cells that may not have been caught by the surgery. While this is the best option we have currently come up with for fighting cancer it comes with several drawbacks.
Firstly is causes a lot of stress to the immune system, it’s not only cancerous cells which are killed but white blood cells too. Secondly it is both physically and psychologically demanding for the person receiving such an intense course of treatment. Thirdly all this treatment inevitably leads to pain, and with the immune system weakened the healing process can take even longer than it normally would to repair the damage. These are all good reasons why a cancer patient may wish to look for a complementary cancer treatment, one of the most popular options is in fact hypnotherapy.
Since the mid to late 1950’s where both the British and American Medical Associations’ gave their approval of the medical use of hypnosis (as well as Pope Pius XII) hypnotherapy has been used successfully to help people lose weight, quit smoking, improve their sleep, overcome their fears and much more. In more recent years though hypnotherapy has become the leading complementary treatment for cancer.
There are many reasons why someone who is suffering from cancer may wish to use hypnotherapy. To begin with hypnotherapy is an excellent method of relaxation, and with the stresses and strains cancer (and it’s treatment) causes this in itself can provide a great relief. Hypnotherapy can also help a patient think more positively about their situation and illness. It is a dark period of anybodies life, yet with the proper thoughts and suggestions a person can still be upbeat and enjoy life. It has also been proved by many scientific studies that people with a positive outlook heal more quickly and have lower mortality rates.
Perhaps the most useful use of hypnotherapy for cancer patients though is reducing the pain and nausea they may be suffering. Unfortunately pain is to be expected when fighting cancer, and both chemotherapy and radiotherapy have been known to cause severe nausea in some patients. Hypnotherapy can reduce both these issues because of the way it directs the subconscious mind. Have you ever had a scratch that you didn’t know was there, then when suddenly you saw it it suddenly started to hurt, even though it didn’t before?
That’s the power of the mind. In a reversal of this process a hypnotherapist can help a patient forget about the pain and nausea they have been experiencing and greatly reduce any discomfort.
Many hospitals and hospices now employ hypnotherapists to help people dealing with cancer as well as many other serious conditions. I hope that you have found this article useful. If you, or anybody you know, is currently fighting cancer please consider using hypnotherapy as a complementary treatment. It is not a cure, but it can make the situations much more bearable.
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