Hypnotherapy as a Treatment for IBS


Hypnotherapy is one of the best known and most widely used treatments for IBS, and can offer sufferers a drug-free solution to their symptoms of diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain and bloating.

There are now many hundreds of hypnotherapists who offer what is called "gut-directed hypnotherapy" for IBS, which takes the general techniques of hypnotherapy and applies them directly to the abdominal pain and digestive symptoms which IBS sufferers struggle with. This type of hypnotherapy has been clinically tested and found to be very helpful to many IBS patients.

One of the first studies of hypnotherapy for IBS was conducted by Dr Peter Whorwell, a leading expert on IBS and hypnotherapy in the UK. A trial he conducted in the 1980s found that a group of IBS sufferers who had failed to respond to other treatments showed dramatic improvements when treated with gut-directed hypnotherapy. Since then, other therapists have shown similar results.

What hypnotherapy involves

Hypnotherapy in a medical setting bears no relation to the kind of stage hypnosis where volunteers are made to do ridiculous things in the name of entertainment. In fact, patients remain entirely in control of their own actions, and are simply coaxed into a kind of deep relaxation state.

While the patients is in this state the therapist will talk to you and make positive suggestions - one typical method for IBS is to ask you to place your hand over your abdomen and imagine that a healing warmth is flowing from your hand to your stomach.

Some hypnotherapists will record each session for you so that you can listen to them again between your appointments, and therefore increase the effectiveness of the therapy.

Self-hypnosis

If you don't have the time or the resources to visit a qualified hypnotherapist, you might find some relief in one of the self-hypnosis CDs available, which can be listened to in the comfort of your own home.

While you will not get an individual treatment program from a ready-made CD, you will be able to benefit from the general hypnosis approach, and you can choose to listen to the CDs whenever you have the time.

The IBS Audio Program, developed by the UK hypnotherapist Michael Mahoney, is the most widely used program for IBS sufferers, and is available on audio CD and cassette. The program is designed to be used over 100 days, and includes four CDs and a program booklet. The makers claim that around 80% of listeners experience a significant reduction of pain and bowel dysfunction.

The program consists of three therapeutic session CDs, with an introduction and five different hypnotherapy sessions. It also includes a bonus fourth CD (the IBS Companion), which explains IBS to non-sufferers.

Sophie Lee has suffered from IBS for more than 15 years. She runs IBS Tales http://www.ibstales.com where you can read hundreds of personal stories of IBS and self-help tips.


MORE RESOURCES:

Malaysia Star

Study medicine for free
Malaysia Star, Malaysia - 7 hours ago
By SIMRIT KAUR What we want in the Latin American School of Medicine is that the students ? become impregnated with the same doctrine in which our doctors ...
Cuban adventure Malaysia Star
all 3 news articles


CT scans can be better medicine for doctors than for patients
Los Angeles Times, CA - 5 hours ago
A controversial study published last November in the New England Journal of Medicine estimated that CT scans administered today could cause up to 2% of ...


CBS News

Medicine Cabinet Must-Haves
CBS News, NY - 18 hours ago
It's very important to have your medicine cabinet stocked with the most essential, over-the-counter, at-home first aid products and medications - in the ...


Computerized Reminder System Drove Up Colon Cancer Screening Rates ...
Science Daily (press release) - 5 hours ago
The reminder system, called ClinfoTracker, was developed by family medicine doctors at UMHS to help track and manage primary care. ...


Readers want no part of two-tier medicine
Toronto Star,  Canada - 21 hours ago
Dr. Robert Ouellet advances the idea that Canada can develop a European-style health-care system with a public-private blend. This fallacy is promoted by ...


Ex-NJ politician headed to trial on fraud charges
The Associated Press - 11 hours ago
Wayne R. Bryant is also accused of steering state money to one of his employers, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. ...


Think tank: Ireland, a hub for GM meds?
Times Online, UK - 7 hours ago
The big difference between the growing of GM food crops and GM medicine crops is that scientists believe the latter is a safer and more profitable ...


Stem Cell Research Guidelines Released
Science Daily (press release) - 4 hours ago
In addition, a standing advisory committee -- a joint project between the Academies' National Research Council and Institute of Medicine -- was established ...


Healer to the stars in court battle to save his reputation
guardian.co.uk, UK - 7 hours ago
But the glittering reputation of Dr Ali, Britain's best-known champion of integrated medicine, is about to receive a stern examination. ...


Bostwick Therapeutics Announces Initiation of Novel Phase I/II ...
MarketWatch - Sep 5, 2008
... of each patient's own immature dendritic cells obtained from blood-borne precursors and introduced back to the individual ("personalized medicine"). ...

Medicine - Google News

home | site map
© 2006