Research

Every year many clinical trials are conducted to prove the usefulness of medical hypnosis in specific situations. After all, it is the original mind/body medicine.

Here are some recent outcomes:

Surgery

Would you take a pill that promised to speed you through surgery? Would you take a pill that's been tested on hundreds of surgical patients and all but one of them maintained stable vital signs during their operation - no sudden high blood pressure- and all needed far less pain medication than patients who did not take the pill-much reduced pain after surgery, and there's more. The surgeons were able to complete the operation quicker in the patients who had the pill.

I suspect if there was such a pill every HMO would insist upon it. After all, they'd save money on medications and on time spent in the operating room. The 'pill' that's been proved to have this effect is hypnosis!

A 2007 study conducted by Dr. Guy H. Montgomery, Associate Professor of Oncological Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine involved 200 women scheduled for lumpectomy or breast biopsy. The control group had a supportive conversation with a psychologist, the experimental group received hypnosis. The women in the experimental group reported fewer side effects, had less pain, less nausea, and less fatigue and emotional distress after surgery. Additionally, they required less anesthesia and therefore spent a shorter time in the operating room, thus lowering surgical costs.  

In the April 29, 2000 edition of the scholarly medical journal, the Lancet, Dr. Elvira Lang of Harvard University published her study of clinical trials using hypnosis before surgery. People who had been hypnotized prior to surgery needed less pain medication, left the operating room sooner, and had more stable vital signs during their operation.

Psychologist Dr. Maggie Mauer conducted a study in 1999 at the University of Miami on 60 hand surgery patients. Those patients who received hypnosis showed significant decreases in pain and anxiety after the surgery, and had far fewer medical complications.

In 1997, Dr. Charles Ashton of Columbia University studied 32 patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery. Half the patients were given hypnosis and relaxation techniques and the other half received regular treatment.  After surgery, those patients who had had hypnosis were significantly more relaxed and required much less pain medication.

A 1997 study conducted by Diane Tusek, RN and Director of the Guided Imagery Program for The Cleveland Clinic, concerned 130 children undergoing abdominal surgery. Those children who were taught hypnosis required significantly less pain medication, had faster return of bowel function and reported much less pain and anxiety, than did the other children.  The hypnosis group also had fewer complications, reduced bleeding and were able to leave the hospital sooner than the others.

A 1997 Belgium study had 60 patients scheduled for elective plastic surgery. Half received instructions on using stress reducing strategies and half received hypnosis. Those that had been hypnotized reported much less pain and much less anxiety. They needed far less pain medication and their vital signs were significantly more stable.

Children and Surgery

Prior to surgery twenty six children were hypnotized and twenty six others, who were the same age and having the same surgery, were not hypnotized. The hypnosis group was taught self-hypnosis (guided imagery) and given the hypnotic suggestion that they would recover easily and quickly. After all the children were recovered it was determined that those who had been hypnotized had less pain, needed fewer pain killers, and went home days earlier than those in the non-hypnosis group. Also, those in the hypnosis group were calm, while those in the other group were anxious, even after the surgery.

This study was done by Sally Lambert at the Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kids and Spinal Taps

Dr. Christina Liossi, from the University of Wales, documents a study of 80 hospitalized children who had cancer and were having lumbar punctures. Half of the kids were hypnotized to control pain and then taught self-hypnosis, too. The hypnotized group reported far less pain during the procedure and also suffered less cancer-related pain.