Welcome
Relaxation Therapy
What is it?
Relaxation therapy includes a wide range of techniques that use stimulus, concentration and psychological suggestion to induce a more relaxed physical and mental state to reduce pain. While relaxation therapy typically consists of techniques like hypnosis, music therapy, biofeedback and guided meditation, medical researchers are finding more and more value in intentional and intensive techniques like guided systematic relaxation, in which patients are cued to concentrate on relaxing specific muscle groups in a pattern across the body.
How can it help?
While the extent of the mind's control over pain, its mechanisms and effects is still being studied, few health professionals dispute the fact that patients who are more relaxed, who have less tension, and who maintain a positive mental state typically experience lower pain levels or need pain medication less frequently. Relaxation therapy attempts to release tension, encourage relaxation, enhance the patient's mental state and reduce pain.
What can I expect?
Patients don't always experience relaxation therapy in the same way or feel the same benefits. Relaxation techniques vary widely, but most require the patient to participate in exercises that link visual, audio or other sensory cues to conscious body responses in a quiet, relaxed environment.
Patients in a recent Case Western Reserve University study on post-operative pain were asked to listen to a tape while lying comfortably in bed. The tape gave them calming audio cues to close their eyes and relax each major body part in succession, starting from the feet and working up to the head. The suggestions were repeated in cycles for 15 minutes and at the end of the session, patients were asked to open their eyes and lie quietly for a few minutes. Patients who participated in the therapy reported experiencing 55% less pain than patients in a control group who didn't participate in the systematic relaxation.
Tips
Chronic pain sufferers are a favorite of dubious marketers and their schemes and products, especially on the Internet. While there are proven benefits to stress reduction, tension release, and both muscle and mental relaxation, exercise healthy skepticism regarding any grand claims of eradicating pain. However, if you find that relaxation techniques help reduce or manage your pain, request that your doctor incorporate them into your treatment plan and monitor their effect.