Hypnosis is a trance state
in which the subconscious
mind takes over from the
conscious mind. Hypnotized
patients must be deeply
relaxed, which in itself
reduces the perception of
pain, but hypnotherapy may
also help patients with pain
in another way. The subconscious
mind processes the
physical information that
the body receives before
relaying it to the conscious
mind; interrupting pain
signals while they are being
processed in the subconscious
may prevent them
from being consciously
perceived. If hypnotized patients are told that they do not feel pain, their subconscious minds, susceptible to the power of
suggestion, may accept this statement as reality and cease to relay pain signals to the conscious mind.