The Arthritis-Hypnosis Connection

The Arthritis-Hypnosis Connection
Paul Gustafson RN, BSN, CH

Did you know that we all have the ability to enhance self-healing, increase comfort and improve nutrition, exercise, communication and flexibility? This article explains clinical hypnosis and how it can bring relief to clients suffering from arthritis. Hypnosis is easy to learn, you can do it on your own and it empowers you to take an active role in your healthy well-being.The subconscious mind has many jobs. It quietly and effectively regulates our bodily functions and stores all of our values, beliefs and memories. It also balances our blood pressure, heart rate and co-ordinates each step we take everyday of our life. The negative effects of arthritis extend into many areas of a clients life, as does the positive resolve and relief of hypnosis. Hypnotherapy is the simple process of accessing and directing the subconscious mind to support certain positive changes. It is the language of the mind, it access the most powerful level of awareness and down loads new applications of freedom and relief.Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It causes a deterioration of the protective lining of cartilage in our joints. This deterioration occurs due to a breakdown of the chondrocytes that form cartilage. Osteoarthritis affects men and women equally. Most people over 30 years of age have some features of early osteoarthritis. The degree of limitation depends on the location of the inflammation. The major areas of concern are hips, knees and spine. The development of osteoarthritis may be related to trauma, aging or heredity.The symptoms of stress play a big role in exacerbating the situation. Communication with family and friends plays a key role in managing stress and hypnosis makes this a lot easier. Suggestions offered to a client during a hypnosis session encourage them to share whats on their mind enabling them to offload concern and frustration, giving them more time doing things they enjoy.It takes energy to deal with any physical or emotional burden. Hypnosis creates ideal sedation allowing for sound sleep. We all follow the path of our most dominant thoughts and if the last thoughts a client has at bedtime involve deep restful sleep, they are in a much better position to recharge their body and mind for tomorrows challenges. For those suffering with arthritis its often difficult just keeping up with the fast pace of day-to-day life. Hypnosis helps individuals adjust to a more appropriate pace and also to release the frustrations and anxiety associated with any limitation. Clients who routinely relax with hypnosis are more centered, balanced and less affected by things they can not control. Increasing muscle tone reduces stress to affected joints, which increases mobility and comfort. Low impact activities like swimming; walking and range of motion exercises are commonly recommended to clients with arthritis. With hypnosis its easier to integrate new regimes and to establish positive subconscious connections between healthy activity and improved mobility, comfort and freedom.The more protection in your joints, the more comfort and mobility you create. Since the subconscious controls the multitude of our bodily function, hypnosis can direct it to increase the production of chondrocytes, which increases the growth of healthy new cartilage. Pain is often the biggest issue with arthritis. Some pain, however, is necessary; it acts as a warning system telling us that something isnt right. The responsible approach with hypnosis is to only reduce unnecessary pain, leaving intact the bodys ability to signal us and protect us from further complications.Hypnosis can also be used to regulate the flow and distribution of endorphins, which are the feel good chemicals the body uses to create comfort and relaxation. Using hypnosis to regulate endorphin production plays a big role in putting the client in control. Hypnosis can also alter the perception of where the pain is located. By redirecting sensitivity away from key areas such as hips, knees and vertebrae to a less critical part of the anatomy like a finger tip, the client has much more control.The same approach can be used to attach a different quality to pain. A sharp pain can be perceived as dull; burning pain can be perceived as cool. Involving other senses is one of the distinct advantages hypnosis offers in managing the symptoms of arthritis. Another technique involves using one color to represent pain and another to represent comfort, and then blending the two offering instant relief.Lastly, by attaching a number value to pain creates the option of change. By imagining a yardstick during hypnosis a client can pick the number that best reflects their current level of pain, and then they are directed to different numbers which changes their perceived level of discomfort. With hypnosis arthritis sufferers gain a distinct advantage in managing and even reversing the limitations of arthritis. Hypnosis is simple, empowering and extremely effective. A few sessions with a hypnotherapist gets you started and with a little practice you begin to effect healthy positive changes in your life. We all have remarkable self-healing abilities and hypnosis is an excellent way to jumpstart a return to a healthier more active life. About the Author
Paul Gustafson RN, BSN, CH runs HealthyHypnosis.com of Burlington, Massachusetts. His 11 years of acute cardiac and hospice experience offer a solid foundation supporting his clinical approach to hypnotherapy. Visit HealthyHypnosis.com or call toll free at 888-290-3972.

How to Gain Stress and Anxiety Relief

Here are several ways to obtain stress and anxiety relief:

Do You Know Whats Causing It

Some people dont even know that what theyre feeling are general symptoms of stress and anxiety. They simply believe that theyre overly tired and one night of complete rest is sufficient for them to get back on their feet. You should know what the common symptoms of stress and anxiety are and most of them have already manifested, its highly possible that you are indeed suffering from this condition.

If so, the next thing you should do is to determine what caused it then make the necessary adjustments to alleviate the situation.

Are You Ready for Lifestyle Changing Effects?

Theres a good possibility that it could be some specific aspects of your lifestyle are whats causing you to experience stress and anxiety. Too much obsession on work and partying too hard are common sources of stress and anxiety. And obviously, the best way to get rid of them is what else get rid of the source.

All You Need is Some Sleep

Studies reveal that in most cases, sleep is actually the best answer against stress and anxiety. Adults generally need at least eight hours of restful sleep everyday. Napping every few hours or so dont count. When the human body is unable to obtain the needed hours of sleep, it tends to act abnormally and its why people who lack sleep are usually more emotionally high strung as well.

The Only Way to Conquer It is to Confront It!

If phobia or a traumatic event in your life is whats causing you to experience extreme stress and anxiety then the only way for you to survive it is to directly confront the source of your nightmares once and for all. Its reasonable to have fears, yes, but whats not reasonable is letting fears control your life. Remember however that this method applies to stressful but relatively harmless situations like conquering your fear of open spaces. Conquering hydrophobia is another matter entirely as directly confronting it will mean exposing yourself to the risk of drowning.

Escaping is Not Always Bad

As long as youre not running away from your problems, escaping to take a breather once in a while is not at all bad and it is quite good in reducing the amount of stress and anxiety in your life. If your work, for instance, consumes almost all of your time and thoughts then its extremely necessary for you to take one hours break at least two times a day just so you can relax and clear your mind bit. Let the pressures simply flow away. Youll see that youll be able to think more clearly afterwards.

No Man is an Island

And though some may say otherwise, its true in this case. Having a friend or relative to help you out is never a bad thing to have. Sometimes, we need other peoples support to conquer problems in life and thats not something to be ashamed of contrary to what others may seem to feel.

Be Careful of How You Obtain Stress and Anxiety Relief
If youve noticed, most of the techniques discussed here are natural ways of combating stress and anxiety relief. Its alright however if you wish to obtain relief through medication but be aware that you could suffer from side effects. Whichever way you prefer, good luck!

Relaxation Techniques for Stress Management

The following paragraphs summarize the work of stress experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of stress. Heed their advice to avoid any stress surprises.

Relaxing in the Midst of Stress

Stress management is an important practice that most people nowadays need to learn. With a fast paced working environment, people are constantly subjected to tremendous pressure that result to reprobate levels of stress in their lives. You ought to be able to cope quickly with the amount of stress that you have to turmoil with since it produces several negative effects on your body in mind.

First off, stress can cause your performance to drop because of your inability to focus on the tasks at hand. Stress can also affect your health and body. Oftentimes, stress power escalate into depression or burden. Relaxation is one of the best techniques used to cope with and reduce the symptoms of stress. Relaxation methods have been utilized for stress management during olden times and they prove to be as effective immediately. Therefore, propaganda how to relax in the midst of powerful much stress in your everyday life will mean a star of difference.

Starting a Relaxation Practice

As with anything, starting a relaxation practice is often the biggest hurdle that people are faced with. Once you begin to notice that you seem to fast lose energy and constantly change your mood, then maybe it’s time to re – evaluate yourself because this can be all caused by stress. There are several relaxation activities that help combat stress in your life whether as simple as deep vital, stretching or meditation, to more advanced relaxation methods such as yoga or tai chi.

To experience the husky benefits of such relaxation methods, you need to take time each year to perform them. Only then would you reproduce able to harness its relieving power so you rap benefit from stress relief. It does not have to take so much of your time each day, maybe at least 10 organ to as much as 20 minutes is enough for stress management.

For better success at developing this practice, take note of the following tips:

Determine a given schedule for each day when you rap perform these relaxation exercises. If possible, schedule once or twice a day, whichever is most apt for you. Then, make sure you follow your schedule strictly.
Refrain from scheduling your relaxation practices imminent bedtime seeing you’re sleepiness could get in the way.
Never opt for an enterprise method that could stress you out all the more. Find a level of practice that are most comfortable and feel relaxed with.

Stress Relief Through Deep Breathing

This is particular of the easiest and simplest exercise you can perform to achieve stress relief. This would allow additional air to get into your lungs. To perform effective deep breathing, proceed from these methods:

Sit straight with one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
Breathe through your nose, enough to make your stomach rise. Make explicit that your chest produce elfin movements.
Use your mouth to exhale and push the opinion out with as much force as possible.
Repeat the same proceeding. Take note of the rise and fall of your lower innards.

Muscle Relaxation, Yoga and Meditation

For further stress relief, you can perform different relaxation methods that involve your muscles and mind. In muscle relaxation, your objective is to tense and relax the various muscle groups in your body. To do this, find a comfortable position and start by taking slow and deep breaths. Then, create tension on your body by squeezing them tightly while counting slowly until its time to let go. Focus on the release of the tension in a specific body part until you feel relaxed. When doing this, start from foot and eventually move upwards.

Yoga and meditation are also two other techniques used in stress management methods. These are associated with slow and unbroken movements, as husky as gentle buildup. This practice is best for relieving product in the body and mind, which is why it is recommended for stress relief practices.
This article’s coverage of the information is as complete as it can be today. But you should always leave open the possibility that future research could uncover new facts.

Stress and Your Health

Have you ever wondered if what you know about stress is accurate? Consider the following paragraphs and compare what you know to the latest info on stress.

Dangers of Stress

Stress is a constant part of most people’s lives. And although it is quite common, it at peace needs to be addressed given its impact on an individual’s health condition. When you experience stress, your body produces chemical changes in your brain that could also affect your health.

While some sources of stress are temporal, there are those that are produced over a long period of time so that it builds up. Before you know it, it becomes so serious that veritable affects your health in various levels. Even if you organize not have member existing health condition, it can actually boom your risk of developing them.

You can exhibit the following symptoms of stress, which eventually contributes to the health problems associated with stress:

sleeping troubles
lack of energy
tension
headaches
depression
anxiety
high blood pressure
pain in the back or neck
weight loss or advancement, etc

Stress Related Illnesses and Conditions

Continued research is being done to show more of the impact that stress has on one’s overall health. But despite of this, there has been several scientific claims linking stress to several health conditions from backaches, to insomnia, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

When a person experiences stress, it produces chemical changes in the frame that consequently alters some biological processes. For instance, some women who had to deal with stress in their lives suffer abnormalities in their menstrual cycle. Others miss their menstruation, hour some suffer from abnormal down. Aside from that, stress could also result to hormonal imbalances that cause symptoms for fibroid tumors and endometriosis to exhibit.

Heart disorder is another common illness associated with stress. It intervenes with your cardiovascular condition such that people with stress can suffer from conditions twin heart attacks, heart palpitations, high blood onus, and stroke. Particular common illnesses suffered by highly stressed individuals include prostration, emotional disorders, headaches, ulcers, IBS, infections, colds, and lowered immunity system responses.

Taking Care of Your Body

Having known the impact that stress has on one’s body, it is then marked to take all the necessary steps to not only combat stress but also keep yourself free ride from organ type of illness. Some people are too consumed with stress that they fail to pay attention to their body. Be more sensitive to your body and health needs.

The following are helpful tips on how you can handle stress and improve your health:

Take time off work to relax. Give your constitution a chance to recuperate.
Get enough price of sleep, especially if you are going to work excessively during the day.
Eat well. Include enough amount of fruits and vegetables in your diet, as well as proteins.
Engage in a physical activity during your free time. Working out releases endorphins in your system, which is why it improves your mood.
Never resort to unhealthy methods of dealing with stress, such as drugs, smoking, or alcohol.

Seeking Professional Help

When stress begins to concern your health, undeniable is important to seek professional guidance on the matter. The case is more important when stress has affected your health to a large extent. Unquestionably, there are professionals that can help you deal with the situation and overcome stress so your health can doctor up as well.

But a person can be too consumed with their stressful situation that they fail to recognize when help is necessary. The following are symptoms of radically much stress and requires immediate professional attention:

sleeping problems due to anxiety
suicidal thoughts
loss of wish often leading to weight loss
feeling of isolation or desire to be isolated from other people
high irritability

Those who only know one or two facts about stress can be confused by misleading information. The best way to help those who are misled is to gently correct them with the truths you’re learning here.