Using Visualization for Pain Relief

Chronic pain is difficult to treat. Standard treatment often includes prescription or over-the-counter pain relievers. For short-term use, these kinds of drugs are generally safe, but when used for a period of more than a couple of weeks, they can become quite dangerous, leading to stomach issues and bleeding problems.

Non-drug treatments for pain are desirable. Visualization for pain management provides relief for some people, is perfectly safe to execute and is affordable to learn.

How Visualization Works

• The brain responds well to sensory input even when that input is two-dimensional or imaginary. Think for a moment about whether you've ever gotten emotional over a holiday commercial. You don't know those people. Their situation has no real impact on your life. You know it's a contrived commercial designed to make sales, yet you have a very real response.

  Visualization for treating pain works in much the same way. You imagine a place and circumstances in which you have no pain, and doing so helps your body to relax. It can reduce the pain response and help to control anxiety related to pain.

Supporting Research

• Studies related to visualization as a technique for pain control are still limited, but initial results are promising. For example, in a study lead by Diane Arathuzik, who holds a doctorate in nursing, and published in Cancer Nursing, cancer patients were taught visualization as a means to control pain. The research showed that visualization techniques succeeded in helping patients to decrease their pain levels.

Visualization Techniques

• Visualization for pain relief requires little more than concentration and a willingness to practice. Techniques vary, and individuals have a great deal of input into the techniques and visual images they use.

  Most visualization is done in a quiet place where you won't be interrupted. Dim lighting or darkness often works best. You need a comfortable chair to sit in. Soft music or environmental recordings like that of ocean waves may help---especially if the music or sounds are in sync with your visualization.

  Try breathing deeply for a few minutes before you begin your visualization. Breathe in from your diaphragm, and exhale by simply relaxing the muscles in your chest. Focus for a moment on letting the tension drain out of your muscles.

  Think of a happy place or a happy moment in time. Choose somewhere that you feel relaxed and at peace. Many people visualize relaxing on a beach or walking through a forest. Others will pull from a favorite childhood memory for their visualization. Rather than just recalling a memory,try to put yourself mentally in the situation you've chosen.

  Try to feel, see, hear and small the sensations associated with that place. Remain within your visualization for as long as you can without breaking your concentration. You might find this is only a few seconds at first, but with practice you'll learn to concentrate for longer and longer periods of time, and the exercise will have an even greater benefit.