Hypnosis for Surgery

Bernadine Coady insisted she wanted nothing other than hypnosis for the pain control. The operation involved drilling a hole into her knee and inserting a camera – otherwise known as keyhole surgery.

It’s not the first time Mrs Coady has done this. Ten years ago, she hypnotised herself before an operation on her foot where the surgeon had to saw into the bone. She said:

“I always thought that it was possible and I am proof that it is. I think it could be used for any operation – even heart surgery. If I ever need another operation, I won’t be using anaesthetics.”

Mrs Coady trained as a hypnotherapist with the British School of Hypnosis in 1994.

A spokesman for the hospital, where her surgeon was Ahmed Shair, said: “It’s the third time she has been operated on by Mr Shair in this way – the first two were for foot problems. She has known Mr Shair for a long time and she came with the express wishthat she wanted to be operated using self hypnosis. She has gone home looking very happy so I presume it was a success. Ms Coady is the only patient we’ve operated on in this way. If anyone else wanted to come along and have the procedure we would look at it on an individual basis.”

A representative from the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) said:

“It is used often other countries, for example Belgium, as an alternative to anaesthetics and patients report that it is very successful, that they feel no pain during their operations.”