If you opt not to use medication, hypnosis can lessen pain by changing the experience of pain by focused concentration to alter consciousness. Stanford University psychologist Dr. Ernest Hilgard did a study by hypnotizing people and then asking them whether a normally painful sensation to the arm was painful. The patients wrote that severe pain was experienced in the brain’s subconscious, but “because of the hypnotic trance it was not deemed ‘pain’ or perceived as ‘painful’.”

To hypnotize your child, you do not need the watch on a chain or the therapist’s license. Just get him to strongly focus both mentally and physically on something other than the pain. You may even use a Where’s Waldo book or one of those three dimension pictures with the hidden focal points that you can only see if you concentrate on the center of the print until your eyes go out of focus.

Most importantly, if your child is injured and in pain, don’t panic. The child will not believe things will get better if you are not acting like they will. Give your child control over the pain control mechanisms that s/he will use, whether it be deep breathing, concentrating on something else, rubbing the injury, etc. Use language and ideas that invite hope. And pay close attention to the nonverbal indicators that reveal how the child is feeling. A child who has been in pain for a prolonged period of time may say anything to join his friends and appear “normal” again.