Testing the potential
It's a situation many people will be familiar with – you've tried all the many options conventional medicine has to offer, yet the health issue still hasn't gone away. Dr Peter Gartner, Medical Director at Park Igls, talks about the big potential of combining medical hypnosis and acupuncture.
Healing illnesses and ailments
How can techniques such as medical hypnosis and acupuncture help?
Dr Gartner: As medical practitioners, we are able to help many patients using conventional medicine – but there are still situations where it is necessary to draw on other techniques. One of these is acupuncture. It has been shown to provide successful treatment in situations where conventional medicine is no longer able to help.
Which kinds of illnesses and ailments can be treated using acupuncture?
Acupuncture can help with chronic pain issues such as migraines, tension headaches, knee osteoarthritis and back pain. The needles are positioned at different parts of the body depending on the specific illness or ailment being treated. However, acupuncture too has its limits.
Addressing the unconscious
With classic, persistent and therapy-resistant disorders such as tinnitus, high blood pressure, sleep disorders, anxiety/phobias, untreatable pain syndromes, persistent migraines, etc., both conventional medicine and extended complementary medicine such as acupuncture can be useful but also have their limits. My approach here has always been that there must be something deep-seated that makes it impossible for me as a doctor to get to the root of the problem. I like to compare this to an iceberg: the symptoms form the visible part – the tip of the iceberg. The causal part, which is much larger, is underwater. Hypnosis opens up a way for me to address this unconscious area.
Interview with Dr Melanie Robertson
Why taking time out helps
Tell us about your experiences with combination therapy
Dr Gartner: Combined therapy using hypnosis and acupuncture, also known as hypno-acupuncture, is my great passion. I suppose you could call it my own personal hobby within the field of medicine, first and foremost because in my experience it is something that patients really benefit from. Many notice real improvements after just one session. The treatment itself takes between 60 and 90 minutes, but for the patients it feels more like 20 minutes – the trance-like state induced by the hypnosis makes time stand still.
The word "miracle" often comes to mind, but this is a therapy form based in science. There are numerous studies on medical hypnosis and acupuncture. In some countries, acupuncture actually considered conventional medicine. The combination of the two treatment methods is a formidable weapon.
What is better, hypnosis or acupuncture?
A combination of the two! Acupuncture and hypnosis don't just go together well – they increase each other's effect to create a therapeutic tool which is greater than the sum of its parts.
Can I still receive acupuncture even if I have a fear of needles?
Dr Gartner: Very few people have a real needle phobia. However, even in such cases it is still possible to receive acupuncture using soft lasers. This technique can be combined very well with hypnosis. Normally we place the needles first, then follows the hypnosis. When using soft lasers it is possible to start with the hypnosis and then begin the acupuncture.
A combination of the two! Acupuncture and hypnosis don't just go together well – they increase each other's effect to create a therapeutic tool which is greater than the sum of its parts.
Hypnosis to help people quit smoking varies in price. Most cost around €100 to €200 per session. Several sessions are normally required. Hypno-acupuncture is an excellent alternative – and in most cases a single session is enough. Each session costs between €350 and €480.
Patients who are easily hypnotised can experience a deep trance-like state after just a few minutes, while others need somewhat longer – and in some cases several attempts – to achieve this state.
Acupuncture can help with chronic pain such as migraines, tension headaches, knee osteoarthritis and back pain. The needles are positioned at different parts of the body depending on the specific illness or ailment being treated. However, acupuncture too has its limits.
Acupuncture can be particularly useful when treating chronic pain such as migraines, tension headaches, knee osteoarthritis and back pain.
Uner the guidance of a therapist, the patient slips into a trance. This is an altered state of consciousness characterised by deep relaxation which allows the therapist to access the unconscious areas of the patient's mind in order to bring about positive changes.
Hypnotherapy (clinical hypnosis) can help people who suffer with depression recognise why certain situations in life trigger depressive reactions. As a result, they can learn how to instead draw on positive memories in these situations and avoid a depressive state.
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Details on Modern Mayr Medicine and its benefits for your health can be found on our website.
About the author
Dr Peter R. Gartner
After studying medicine in Innsbruck and training as a general practitioner, Dr Gartner specialised in holistic medicine, nutritional medicine, acupuncture and hypnotherapy and has been practising diagnostics and therapy according to Dr F. X. Mayr with great success ever since. He is also a sought-after speaker at specialist conferences and has been sharing his knowledge on the Park Igls blog for many years.
