"...the well-documented effect of hypnotic suggestion in the production of analgesia. The first surgical operation (an amputation at the thigh) was conducted in England by Topham and Ward in 1842. Elliotson (1843) reported many surgical operations using hypnosis in London, and almost at the same time, Esdaile (1851) reported similar procedures in Bengal. Both Elliotson and Esdaile were ridiculed by the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society at the time.
Hypnotic analgesia was discovered at about the same time as ether analgesia and, since the latter was much more easily induced and widely applicable (although less safe), the use of hypnosis in surgery dropped from sight. Hypnosis analgesia is used today for a variety of procedures, including dental work, surgical procedures when the patient is unable to tolerate chemical anaesthetics, and in childbirth.
The current explanation as to why hypnosis can produce analgesia is that it is due to 'reduction of tension and anxiety, promotion of muscle relaxation, and diversion of attention from the pain stimulus'."
Shamans and Endorphins: Hypotheses for a Synthesis
Author(s): Raymond Prince
Source: Ethos, Vol. 10, No. 4, Issue Devoted to Shamans and Endorphins (Winter, 1982), pp.409-423
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3696950 .
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My high school senior. When she was born and breastfeeding every two hours, 24-7, and I couldn’t shower or read the Sunday paper anymor...
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