Candace used self-hypnosis for three knee surgeries instead of medication
and healed twice as fast as other patients.
Meet Candace:
A gregarious person who has lived all over the western U.S. throughout her long and full life. Besides running a daycare for 20 years and working in a law office, she now works with architects. Needless to say, she has a wide-ranging life story.
An unfortunate part of Candace’s story is that she’s had to have four knee surgeries. The first one was more than 20 years ago, and it was an absolutely horrible experience characterized by insurmountable pain.
For Candace, morphine doesn’t do anything to alleviate her, but that’s what most patients are offered. She had discovered hypnosis via happenstance, on a Medical Minute local TV news clip. She’d learned patients can use hypnosis as an alternative to pain medication when undergoing surgery, so she said when it came time to do her second knee surgery, she sought out a doctor who provided clinical hypnosis.
“I found a Dr. Mark Jensen at the University of Washington, and he was great. He recorded a pain management hypnosis tape for me to use before, during, and after my surgery for pain management and recovery. And guess what? After my surgery, my surgeon told me I’d taught him something…
“He’d never seen someone recover so well and so quickly, without pain meds! Out of 7,000 surgical patients, my surgeon said I recovered better than all of them. Three weeks post-op, my body appeared to be six weeks post-op. I didn’t need to come back again, I was completely healed.”
Candace had learned the power of hypnosis for pain perception control during surgery, and now, she realized it could even help her body heal faster.
Fast-forwarding several years, Candace found herself at Stanford Medical Center for an urgent procedure. She demanded to receive hypnosis for it, and a Dr. David Spiegel walked into the room. The psychiatrist who would later go on to found Reveri induced Candace, hypnotized her for pain management, and let her record the session to use throughout her recovery. “Immediately, my pain level went from a 10 to a 1.”
Candace's story is supported by science. Research has shown hypnosis can reduce pain by 30-42%, completely symptom-free.“Dr. Spiegel changed my life. I’ve had four surgeries between my two knees, and I have a low pain tolerance. After my session with Dr. Spiegel, I was walking a mile and a half 10 days later.”
Candace remembers that experience clearly, and she wants everyone to benefit from self-hypnosis. “I had some friends in need, so I sought out Dr. Spiegel again,” she reflects. When Candace contacted Dr. Spiegel in early 2022, he shared the news that his hypnosis sessions were available for everyone in the Reveri app. Candace immediately downloaded it, and shared it with her friends who were struggling with insomnia and cancer.
Now, at age 76, she uses Reveri’s Enhance Focus exercise to problem solve and stay sharp on the job.
How do you think hypnosis can benefit the world?
“People have so much pain, whether it is emotional or physical, and if we could just help them gain better control of their own mind to feel better… even if not 100% better, but just 15% better right away, so they can get through their day, they would be so much better off. And this is essentially free, with no symptoms!”
Candace is a real Reveri member.