London: A new study has found that Hypnotherapy can be used to relieve pain such as chest pain and pain due to heartburn.
In a small study researchers randomly divided 28 patients with the condition into two groups.The first group received 12 sessions of hypnotherapy over 17 weeks while the other group received "supportive therapy" and a placebo or dummy medicine.
According to the BMJ, the researchers found that interestingly 80 percent of the group that got hypnotherapy had significant improvement in the sense of well-being and there was a reduced the usage of painkillers and drugs prescribed to control severe chest pain. However in supportive group only three of the 13 people treated with supportive therapy and placebo had of pain relief.
The brain scan of the patients of patients treated with hypnotherapy showed that it directly affects a region of the brain, which processes the emotional content of a painful stimulus. In the past it has been shown that hypnotherapy can help in reducing levels of stomach acid. It has also been used to effectively treat irritable bowel syndrome and in treating bed-wetting in small children.
However hypnotherapy is labor intensive and can be expensive; however there is considerable potential for treatment with hypnotherapy.
The study has been published in Gut
