A few years ago, I got a call from someone who had trouble swallowing after having a stroke. He was wondering if hypnotherapy can help him eat and enjoy food comfortably again. At a glance, a stroke may sound unrelated to swallowing however difficulty talking or swallowing are actually pretty common leftovers of a stroke.

Stroke is not the only health condition that can lead to complications. You may have heard of permanent loss of smell and taste after COVID, or changes in brain chemistry after chemotherapy treatments. Although the disease is gone, these side effects can make life significantly harder.

Sometimes, doctors recommend further medical assistance such as physical therapy or medicine in these instances. However, there are many cases these treatments don’t really offer a big relief. With the recommendation of your doctor, hypnotherapy can be an alternative solution that focuses on the mind-body connection.

Ultimately, the mind and body are connected. When we go through a significant life-changing health problem, naturally, the mind may be impacted as well. One may be overwhelmed with difficult emotions such as fear (what if I have to live like this for the rest of my life?), confusion (what now?), and/or anger. These emotions also disrupt the mind-body connection.

Hypnotherapy can help with releasing difficult emotions while enhancing the mind-body connection. Our minds have the ability to return to normal functioning. Hypnosis can help with the rediscovery of our natural powers.

Hypnosis for COVID side effects

Lately, our worlds have been shaking by COVID-19. Most of us had COVID, some of us lost someone to COVID and some of us are still dealing with the effects of COVID. Although we are still discovering new information about COVID, we know that it can lead to severe complications.

According to Mayo Clinic, COVID can leave long-term effects on different organs such as kidneys, heart, and brain. Blood clots are also a big concern with COVID since later it can lead to stroke or heart attack. Additionally, it can affect breathing in the long term as well as mood and well-being. For example, some severe COVID survivors can experience PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder), anxiety, or even depression.

To begin with, hypnosis can help with the psychological damage COVID may create. While dealing with COVID symptoms, it’s difficult to deal with heavy emotions. So these emotions usually get suppressed in the subconscious mind. Hypnosis can help with releasing COVID related anxiety and depression.

Additionally, let’s not forget how powerful the mind can be. If you decide subconsciously, your organs also have the power to repair and change in the long term. Clearing emotions and improving the mind-body connection can open up space for physical healing as well.

Hypnosis for stroke side effects

There are a few different types of strokes and they can all affect the body very differently. Although these side effects will not apply to every one, since strokes affect the brain significantly, side effects can be really life-changing.

Mayo Clinic states that some stroke complications can be loss of muscle movement, difficulty talking or swallowing, memory loss, loss of cognitive abilities, unusual sensations on the affected parts of the body, and depression.

Not being able to do even the simplest things can really take a toll on one’s confidence. Hypnosis can help with releasing related negative emotions such as self-doubt, anxiety, worry, fear, or anger while building confidence again.

The mind-body connection is also key when recovering from a stroke. With practice and self-hypnosis, your brain learns to activate certain muscles to regain movement in specific areas as well.

In the study “Pushing the limits of recovery: hypnotherapy with a stroke patient”, it is found that hypnosis can facilitate voluntary motor movement which can lead to increased muscle movement in the affected areas.

Hypnosis for chemotherapy side effects

For most of us, even just hearing about cancer, can be nervewracking. Imagine how it must feel for someone who is going through the whole process of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and so on. This whole process eventually can lead to long-term physical and emotional changes.

Mayo Clinic reports that chemotherapy can have significant side effects such as nausea, fatigue, pain, loss of appetite, and mouth sores. Considering how much emotional roller coaster and physical challenges one may already be experiencing, side effects like these can easily affect weight, mood, and confidence.

In the review “The Role of Hypnosis in Cancer Care”, findings suggest that hypnosis may help treat symptoms of nausea and vomiting in breast cancer patients, manage pain in a variety of contexts, and also reduce levels of anxiety and overall distress around surgical and medical procedures, both in children and adults.

Additionally, an article from Oncologynurseadvisor.com, suggests that hypnosis before chemotherapy or radiotherapy can help reduce side effects such as nausea or fatigue drastically.

It appears that hypnosis helps to relax the body and the mind which facilitates activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (rest-digest mode) rather than the sympathetic nervous system (fight-flight-freeze response).

Hypnosis for surgery complications 

Regardless of what surgery is performed, when someone is anxious before the surgery - considering most of us have negative associations with surgery and hospitals-, our bodies operate out of a fight-flight-freeze response. This means muscles are tense and the whole body is focused on survival rather than repair. 

Hypnosis can help to activate rest and digest mode which allows the body to repair and regulate necessary functions to heal as quickly as possible during and after the surgery.  

In a meta-analysis about hypnosis, by evaluating 50 studies and over 4000 patients, researchers concluded that hypnosis can help with pain relief, reduce mental stress, and facilitate quicker surgery recovery.

Another study conducted by Carol Ginandes and Daniel Rosenthal, professors of radiology at the Harvard Medical School, focused on understanding hypnosis’ effects on mending broken bones. The results pointed out that the group that received hypnosis showed significantly greater improvements in comparison to the group that received normal treatment.