In the emergency room, a skilled hypnotist can use the frightened patient’s spontaneous trance to get rapid relief of acute pain, control bleeding, reduce a fracture, and allay fear. The office-based hypnotist is most likely to deal with chronic pain. Inflammatory processes are a common cause of chronic pain. Pain is an integral part of inflammation, so in these cases anti-inflammatory suggestions of being cool and comfortable are indicated. When the diagnosis is psychogenic pain, we must remember Milton Erickson’s dictum “The symptom is a solution.” Muscle spasm pain is severe and often psychogenic, and once mechanical and chemical causes have been ruled out, our duty is to help find a better solution.