Hypnotherapy for Nocturnal Enuresis
Enuresis is the term used to describe nocturnal bedwetting, which according to the charity ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence), affects around half a million children and teenagers in the UK.
Figures suggest that around a fifth of children between the ages of four and five and eight percent of children aged between nine and ten, wet the bed at least once or twice each week.
However, despite these high figures there is very little treatment on offer for sufferers, especially young children to whom treatment is deemed ‘unnecessary’ until they have reached the age of seven. Up until this age medical professionals consider bedwetting to be a natural part of childhood and attribute it to their young age.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) are set to change all this with their new nationwide guidelines which state that no child should be excluded from treatment because of their age.
Now, if a child with no history of Enuresis begins bedwetting, or doesn’t show positive results when using treatments such as a reward system or a damp detecting alarm then they should be referred to a urinary specialist so that other medical conditions such as diabetes and overactive bladder can be discounted.
It is at this stage that GPs and specialists would also have to consider and eliminate psychological conditions such as issues at home or bullying etc.
Jenny Perez, director of ERIC has described this move as ‘a big step forward’.
If you believe that either yourself or someone you know are suffering from Enuresis then it is important that you visit your GP as soon as possible as they will be able to provide you with the appropriate advice and support.
As mentioned above there are many treatment options available to you and something which can be used alone or alongside any conventional medical treatments without causing unwanted side affects is that of Hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy has long since been used as a method for helping to eliminate unwanted habits and it does so through accessing the subconscious mind and reprogramming those negative patterns of behaviour into positive ones.
Hypnotherapy works on both a medical and psychological level, meaning that should the reason for bedwetting stem from fear of the dark or any other psychological reason, this is something that can also be dealt with during treatment.
The process of hypnotherapy will help individuals to take control on a subconscious level, often using techniques such as imagery with which children especially, can connect. Eventually, the brain will learn how to control the bladder so that a child or any other individual will not need to go during the night.