Visualization techniques for the relief of serious illness and pain were first developed in the 1960s, when American cancer specialists discovered that if patients could imagine cancer cells shrinking and fading away, those cells often responded by doing exactly that.
Using your imagination as an adjunct to healing can bring about positive results.
Visualization is the ability to imagine yourself well, or successful, and in an optimal state of health.
By inducing such a state of mind, there can be profound beneficial effects on the body.
Visualization has become an integral part of complementary cancer care, and it is a therapy that is taught in many cancer hospitals.
These techniques can easily be adapted to other serious and chronic illness, including arthritis.
You might want to consider taking a holiday at one of the residential spas with a proven record for arthritis relief.
One of the best known of these is at the Dead Sea, in Israel and Jordan, where specialized doctors can treat arthritis in its many forms.
The mineral salts and heat in the Dead Sea combine to have a powerful healing effect on inflamed joints.
The Dead Sea is the lowest place on the surface of the earth, and the only place where you can sunbathe safely all day without burning.
This is because the sun's rays are filtered through the vapors of many salts above the sea surface.
Many natural hot pools and sulphur pools have specialized arthritis clinics attached to them, and more and more people are discovering that this natural relief can last far longer than the pain relief obtained with pills.
At some spas in the Czech Republic, where scientific research has been carried out on arthritis sufferers, it has been found that hydrotherapy treatment in natural hot pools can give complete pain relief for up to a year.
For many arthritis sufferers, that is a welcome prospect.
For relief from severe arthritis, you would probably need to stay at a spa for about three weeks.
Although you may derive some relief instantly, you will probably find that the effect does not last long with just one session.
It seems that if you can have hydrotherapy everyday, the effect is cumulative.
Many spas, although not all of them, combine hydrotherapy sessions with a healthy diet, perhaps with nutritional supplements, and the opportunity to relax in a beautiful and tranquil setting.
That is the connection between visualization and arthritis treatment.