Hypnosis can reduce anxiety and pain in burn patients
Being burned can cause severe pain, anxiety and stress, both physically and mentally. Patients who have suffered from severe burns have to endure frequent dressing changes which is alone painful process but they also have a constant fear of disfigurement, surgery and the worry of a long healing process.
The Journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries have recently published an article about a study which was undertaken in 2001 regarding the effectiveness of hypnosis compared to stress reducing strategies for burn victims.
The study involved thirty participants who had been burned over 10-25% of their body and all required a minimum hospital stay of 14 days. The patients were placed into two different groups at random. Both received treatment on days 8 and 10 after they were admitted to hospital, group one received hypnosis, and group two received stress reducing strategies.
Researchers examined a visual analogue scale which was their method of recording the patients anxiety, pain, control and satisfaction. The results showed that those who received hypnosis had far lower levels of anxiety than those who had received the stress reducing strategies. In general, the scores were better in the hypnosis group.
The study concluded that hypnosis can reduce anxiety in burn patients among other benefits. The study also showed that stress reducing strategies were beneficial for pain control.
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