Hypnosis for Medical Procedures

I perform hypnosis in my husband office for a procedure called "Cystoscopy"( a telescope like devise is inserted into the bladder) when it has been decided to not do the procedure under general anesthesia. It was nice to read the following article:

16:26 AEST Tue Sep 13 2005
AAP

Hypnosis can relieve pain in some patients - even procedures capable of making the toughest men wince, a visiting American psychologist says.
Michael Nash, of the University of Tennessee, said medical hypnotists these days were using the power of thought to help men undergoing cystoscopy - in which a thin probe is inserted into the urethra via the penis.
Dr Nash said he had successfully treated a 25-year-old man to feel no pain during cystoscopy despite him having to undergo the procedure every three months over five years.
Nevertheless, Dr Nash admitted hypnosis would not work as well in everyone.
"Some people experience it very, very little if at all and in others, their experience of hypnosis is rather dramatic," he said.
Dr Nash will give the keynote address to the 35th annual congress of the Australian Society of Hypnosis starting in Sydney on Wednesday.

He said scientists still had a long way to go to understand how hypnosis worked on people's brains and to identify people most likely to benefit.
"It doesn't seem to correlate with any kind of personality factor," Dr Nash said.
He said hypnosis could also be used to help people suffering from anxiety, depression, high blood pressure and those wanting to give up smoking.
But he stressed it should only be considered as an adjunct to conventional medicine rather than a treatment in and of itself.
"When it's used properly it's part of a broader treatment," Dr Nash said.
Patients thinking about trying hypnosis should look for a qualified health professional who has been trained in hypnotherapy, he said.
"They're best able to make a decision about whether hypnosis is indicated or not," Dr Nash said.