Page 28 - Oct Nov 2017
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Teaching Children to Deal with Pain
as morphine can be used. on something other than be in pain. This is part of
Less potent medications, the pain. You may even their growing and learning
such as acetaminophen, use a Where’s Waldo book experiences, just as it is a
ibuprofen and corticoste- or one of those three-di- part of our learning expe-
roids (such as hydrocorti- mension pictures with the riences as parents to grow P
sone ointments) can also hidden focal points that through our children’s O
be used for some pain and you can only see if you pain. Keep a positive out- L
injuries. concentrate on the center look. And the next time
of the print until your eyes David bumps his leg on I
If you opt not to use go out of focus. the fireplace bricks after C
E
medication, hypnosis can being told not to run in the
lessen pain by changing Most importantly, if your house, do not say “That’s B
the experience of pain by child is injured and in what you get for not lis-
focused concentration to pain, don’t panic. The tening to me,” but get out R
U
alter consciousness. Stan- child will not believe the ice pack and sit with T
ford University psycholo- things will get better if him on the couch and ex- A
gist Dr. Ernest Hilgard did you are not acting like plain what happened to his L
a study by hypnotizing they will. Give your child body. Pain should not be
people and then asking control over the pain con- seen as a punishment but I
T
them whether a normally trol mechanisms that s/ as a message to heed. And Y
painful sensation to the he will use, whether it be pain from bumping into
arm was painful. The pa- deep breathing, concen- the fireplace bricks may
tients wrote that severe trating on something else, teach David that running
pain was experienced in rubbing the injury, etc. in the house is not a good
the brain’s subconscious, Use language and ideas idea faster than any words
but “because of the hyp- that invite hope. And pay or lectures you could say.
notic trance it was not close attention to the non-
deemed ‘pain’ or per- verbal indicators that re-
ceived as ‘painful’.” veal how the child is feel-
ing. A child who has been
To hypnotize your child, in pain for a prolonged
you do not need the watch period may say anything
on a chain or the thera- to join his friends and ap-
pist’s license. Just get him pear “normal” again.
to strongly focus both
mentally and physically Children will get hurt and
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