Waking up under Anaesthetic

A report highlighting the variables found when anaesthetising patients, one of which is becoming conscious during a surgical procedure

Out of nearly 3 million operations in 2011 there were 153 reported cases of patients waking up during while under going surgery. These statistics were found when researchers asked a number of consultants 7,125 in all were asked to report any cases of awareness in the past year.

Hypnosis pain relief for childbirth

Hypnosis for childbirth has been around for many years. Dr Grantly Dick -Read, a British physician was the first to propose the "fear-tension-pain" syndrome in his work Natural Childbirth (1933) and recommended natural childbirth preperation as a means to prepare for birth.

Midwives and physicians recommend natural childbirth preparation. The Royal College of Midwives also admits that hypnotherapy can help some women and says that "any method that can help calm a woman's labour fears are beneficial"

Acupuncture for pain relief

The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2002 released a report entitled “Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials”. This report states that acupuncture “can be regarded as the method of choice for treating many chronically painful conditions.”

According to WHO, acupuncture’s effective rate in the treatment of chronic pain is comparable with that of morphine. Acupuncture has been shown clinically to trigger the central nervous system to release pain-relieving chemicals, such as endorphins. Many neurotransmitters are also affected by acupuncture, and changes in these may affect pain transmission from irritated nerves.