This one popped up as a headline on AOL last week. Since their links
go away, I nabbed the text.

Pretty good article, though I'm curious to know what people here have
to say about this paragraph:

"A doctor in the operating room says only a small percentage of
people would be able to put themselves into such a deep trance, so it
wouldn't work for large numbers of people."

Enjoy,

James


Man Hypnotizes Himself for Surgery
CBS News
Posted: 2008-04-22 13:09:41
LONDON (April 22) - A British man who hypnotized himself before hand
surgery last week so he could skip the anesthetic says he was fully
awake and pain-free during the 83-minute procedure.

Professional hypno-therapist and psychotherapist Alex Lenkei, 61, put
himself into a deep trance so he wouldn't feel the pain -- he says it
took him only 30 seconds to put himself under.

During the surgery, some bone at the base of his thumb was removed,
and some joints were fused in an attempt to improve his arthritis.

Lenkei says anesthetic has gotten him nauseous before, and he just
feels avoiding it is healthier than using it, in part because it
takes awhile to get it out of your system.

Doctors "were using a chisel, hammer to basically break a sort of
walnut-sized bone in the hand to take it out. They also used small
medical saw to attach tendon to the thumb," he told Early Show co-
anchor Maggie Rodriguez Tuesday.

"I didn't feel anything at all," Lenkei says. "There was no pain,
just very deep relaxation. I was aware of everything that was going
on in the (surgical) theater. I was aware of the consultant tugging
and pulling during the operation. But there was no pain.

"And at the same time, the anesthetist had my vital signs monitored
all the time. They were fully in control of everything. They hooked
me up with reference to anesthetic if I needed it, but it was not
necessary."

This wasn't the first time Lenkei went that route, he says: "In 1996,
I had a hernia operation with no anesthetic. But at that time, I had
a colleague with me to stand by with hypnosis. And, being a
professional, I know how to go into what they call deep hypnosis. And
the local hospital was kind enough to actually allow me to use
hypnosis for the operation."

Lenkei says there's a lesson to be learned here for the medical
profession, "basically, that hypnosis can be actually used post- and
pre-operation to actually help the patient (relax) for a much better
successful operation. And I feel that doctors ought to investigate
this in a lot more detail and actually use it for the benefit of the
patient."

Lenkei says people can heal more quickly if hypnosis is used, and
patients are more relaxed.

A doctor was in the operating room says only a small percentage of
people would be able to put themselves into such a deep trance, so it
wouldn't work for large numbers of people.

However, it's interesting to note that hypnosis was used quite widely
before anesthetic was developed.

Copyright 2008, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.