If you want to ward off pain without the dangerous side effects of opioids or acetaminophen, a study in Europe shows just how it can be done.
According to this research, by visualizing a safe place that offers comfort and security, you can self-induce a pain-reducing trance that makes events like surgery less painful.
“We ask patients to describe a comfortable safe place they want to be during the procedure. People have chosen a summer house, the beach, or the woods. During the procedure the nurse asks the patient to focus on their safe place and how it looks, smells and sounds,” says researcher Marianne Wetendorff Nørgaard, lead author and a clinical nurse specialist at Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
Nørgaard says, “When the patient expresses pain, the nurse helps the patient visualize an alternative scenario to the invasive procedure. For example, if the patient says ‘my chest is burning’, the nurse may say ‘imagine that it’s a cold day and there is ice on your chest’. Patients tell us that being in this trance like state with safe images makes the procedure a pleasant experience and it feels shorter.”
The researchers found that patients who used visualization during their procedures were in pain less often and asked for fewer painkillers.