What is Anodyne?

Anodyne Awareness is a concise set of language and rapport techniques used by medical and dental professionals. As a new component of their practice, physicians, nurses, dentists, dental assistants and other health care professionals use Anodyne techniques to help patients very quickly relax and relieve pain and anxiety, regardless of the circumstances.

The specific Anodyne techniques have been refined through clinical use with hundreds of patients undergoing a wide variety of medical and dental procedures, and are successful with virtually every patient.

Because Anodyne is conversational and fluid, it accompanies any procedure without requiring extra time. In fact, Anodyne patients' greater ability to relax and cooperate saves time and enhances procedural efficiency.

The specific techniques of Anodyne Awareness are drawn from the fields of hypnosis, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), intuitive awareness, guided imagery, and conscious breathing. Anodyne is grounded in clinical experience of what works quickly and effectively in the acute, time-conscious domain of modern medical and dental practice.

Anodyne is useful in any procedure where patient comfort is an issue and serves especially well as a complementary alternative to pharmacological conscious sedation for relief of pain and anxiety. Anodyne is also used to quickly control physiological processes such as blood pressure, heart rate, bleeding, peristalsis, and rapid metabolizing of chemical anesthesia. Because it is fluid and conversational, the Anodyne interaction takes no additional time and most often saves time.

Although Anodyne is technique-based, it is not a modality or form of therapy. Rather, it is a new way of bringing higher awareness and mindfulness to every patient interaction. Medical professionals also trained as Anodyne practitioners have many more choices for successfully interacting with patients. Patients feel empowered as they learn relaxation tools they can use anytime.

How Does Anodyne Work?

While interviewing the patient or preparing them for a procedure, the practitioner internally accesses Anodyne Awareness and uses instant rapport techniques and special language patterns to help the patient relax.

If the patient is experiencing anxiety or pain, the practitioner uses Anodyne imagery, relaxation, breathing or pain control techniques to quickly relieve the patient's discomfort.

With the introduction of a potentially painful stimulus such as an injection, tube placement or catheter, the practitioner helps the patient shifts their awareness to competing sensations (e.g. warmth, coolness or fullness). Patients remain conscious and cooperative, responding to the staff when necessary.

What are Benefits of Anodyne?

• Improves procedural safety
  
  
• Reduces or eliminates the need for medication, recovery time, and associated costs
  
  
• Decreases procedure time
  
  
• Decreases recovery time
  
  
• Mitigates or eliminates patients' fears and anxieties
  
  
• Greatly enhances patients' cooperation
  
  
• Enables physician or other team leader to more fully focus on managing the procedure
  
  
• Fosters in patients a sense of self-empowerment, satisfaction and well being
  
  
• Improves staff morale and enthusiasm
  
  
• Promotes a more relaxed and efficient working environment
  
  
• Provides a stress management tool for clinical staff

Tools of Anodyne

Immediate Rapport

Rapport is the foundation upon which all other elements of Anodyne are built. Quick and predictable rapport establishes the trust necessary to effectively induce and maintain the Anodyne State of relaxation and patient cooperation.

 

Effective use of language

The correct use of language is vital to the results we get, it enables us to address both the conscious and unconscious mind of the patient. We directly affect the outcome of the patient's experience with language because literally everything we say is a suggestion to the unconscious mind.

 

Relaxation Breath

The "get you through anything" tool, the relaxation breath is easy to learn and easy to teach to every patient. It's uses include: general relaxation, relief of pain and anxiety, and control of physiological processes.

 

'Preferred Place' Imagery

The preferred place imagery technique easily allows the patient's mind to be anywhere they choose while their body is comfortably undergoing the procedure.

 

Shifting Submodalities

Shifting submodalities is an extremely quick and effective imagery technique that can literally dissolve any resistances the patient has to relaxation and/or cooperation.

 

Pain Relief Techniques

Anodyne practitioners choose from among several pain relief techniques for both acute and chronic pain. They also use a meta-technique for creating custom pain relief techniques for any situation.

 

Control of Physiological Processes

Simple language techniques enable practitioners to help patients control physiological processes such as bleeding, heart rate, blood pressure, peristalsis, salivation, and swallowing.

 

Is there research?

Several studies of the effectiveness of Anodyne have been conducted and two have been published:

Lang E, Hamilton D. Anodyne Imagery: An Alternative to IV Sedation in Interventional Radiology. American Journal of Radiology 1994;162:1221-1226

Lang E, Joyce J, Spiegel D, Hamilton D, Lee K. Self-Hypnotic Relaxation During Interventional Radiological Procedures: Effects on Pain Perception and Intravenous Drug Use; The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 1996; 293194

For citations of related studies visit the Anodyne Bibliography.