Dr David Hamilton Home Page

Can You Erase Pain With Your Mind?
(www.drdavidhamilton.com)

Almost every month, as I read through the latest scientific journals, I discover some new evidence confirming the power of mind over matter. Usually we think of mind over matter as using the mind to make ourselves better, but the mind can also create disease, symptoms and pain.

Research published 6 weeks ago by Oxford University scientists showed that when people who have arm pain imagined themselves moving their arm, they experienced pain, even though they didn't actually move their arms. And tests revealed that there was increased swelling in their arms......just by a thought.

The study involved 37 people with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). When they imagined moving their arms, pain went up and swelling increased by 8%, even though they didn't actually move. It was all in the mind.

People still use the phrase, 'All in the mind' as if the mind is separate from the body. But now we have cast iron scientific evidence showing that the mind and body are so connected that every thought affects the body. You cannot think about anything without causing some chemical changes in your brain and body. The structure of your brain has just changed at the microscopic level as you read this sentence.

The people in the CRPS study created swelling in their arms just by imagining themselves moving their arms. We do this all the time. We create pain and symptoms of illnesses through our thinking. But one of the fascinating conclusions emerging from mind-body science is that we can use our minds in a beneficial way to help ourselves heal.

For instance, research of this type has recently been pioneered in stroke rehabilitation. In one study, stroke patients who are taught 'mental imagery', which is visualising themselves moving the impaired parts of their body for 30 minutes a day, improved much more than patients who didn't visualise.

What you imagine really matters!