What is hypnosis for chronic pain?

Let's learn a little more about hypnotherapy for chronic pain, and how it can assist with both reducing your pain and increasing your capacity to cope with the pain. 

What is hypnotherapy for chronic pain?

Chronic pain is any pain that lasts beyond expected healing time after injury or illness, generally 3 to 6 months. It is a common and complex condition, and the pain experienced can be anything from mild to severe. The defining characteristic of chronic pain is that it is ongoing and experienced on most days of the week.

Many people struggle to find effective treatments for chronic pain, and are five times more likely to seriously limit their daily activities, affecting their ability to take part in work, social and familial life. 

However, there are new, research-backed tools to help manage chronic pain, including hypnosis. 

The American Psychological Association defines hypnosis as: “a state of consciousness involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness characterized by an enhanced capacity for response to suggestion.” Another way of describing it is as a state of relaxed focus. The body is relaxed, but the mind is in a state of focused attention and more open to suggestions.

If you’ve ever daydreamed or zoned out while watching a movie, or can’t remember much of a drive along the highway, then you’ve experienced something akin to hypnosis.

When hypnosis is applied in clinical practice to treat medical concerns such as anxiety, pain, or even irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), it’s called hypnotherapy.

In this setting, hypnosis can be used as a psychological treatment for changing sensations, perceptions, thoughts, and behaviors. While you’re in a hypnotic state of relaxation, you’re more open to suggestions that can benefit your health and well-being.

How does hypnotherapy work for chronic pain? 

When there is danger or an injury to heal, your brain generates unpleasant feelings like pain in order to change your behavior, and protect the injury.

The longer you experience pain, the better your nervous system, including the spinal cord and brain, get at producing it. This occurs due to the development of neural pathways in the brain.

Once a neural pathway is developed, it gets stored into your memory. Just as the brain can learn and remember activities, it can also learn and remember pain.

This helps to explain how acute pain can become chronic. For most people, acute injuries will heal within three months and the pain will go away. But for some people, even when the body recovers, the pain continues. 

Hypnotherapy can help in several ways. Primarily it helps by modulating the pain signals, reducing the perception of pain. Additionally, it can also improve reaction to pain, helping to cope when pain happens and reducing stress and tension in the body.

How effective is hypnotherapy for chronic pain?

Extensive scientific evidence has accumulated to support the use of hypnotherapy as an effective, non-addictive method of pain management.

A large meta-analysis of the impact of hypnosis on treating chronic pain found that “hypnosis interventions consistently produce significant decreases in pain associated with a variety of chronic pain problems. Also, hypnosis was generally found to be more effective than non-hypnotic interventions such as attention, physical therapy, and education”.

A second recent meta-analysis of 12 clinical trials found that hypnosis was more effective for managing chronic pain than other psychological interventions such as relaxation, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and biofeedback.

There are also powerful real-world applications of hypnotherapy to control pain. For example, Dr Marie Faymonville is a leading anesthetist and Director of the Pain Clinic at the University of Liege in Belgium who has revolutionized how surgical procedures are performed using hypnosis.

Alongside her team, she has been using hypnotherapy for pain management during surgery for the past decade. They have now performed over 9,000 surgeries using only hypnotherapy for pain relief, including gallbladder removal, thyroidectomies, double mastectomies, and head and neck cancer removal. Out of these 9,000 surgeries, they have only needed to intervene in 16, and in these cases they only needed local anesthetic to control the patient’s pain. 

This is incredible and again shows the power of the brain in controlling the pain response.

The benefits of hypnotherapy as a management tool

There are considerable benefits of hypnosis when compared to traditional methods of pain management. 

Unlike some medication, including opioids, hypnosis for chronic pain is not addictive and side effects such as headaches and fatigue are rare and transient. 

When looking at surgery, studies have also found that after a spinal fusion (the most common surgery used to treat back pain), just 19% of people returned to work within two years. Almost one in five patients needed a second spine surgery within two years of the first operation, with some needing up to five re-operations. By comparison, hypnosis for chronic pain can be a pleasant experience with no downtime or recovery period. It’s even possible to complete a course of hypnotherapy for chronic pain via an app in the comfort of your own home as part of your daily routine. 

Unlike with medications and surgeries, hypnotherapy also encourages a more proactive role for the patient in managing their pain, which is much more empowering than being a passive recipient of treatments and feeling like the solution to your pain is out of your control.

What can be expected during a hypnotherapy session?

In a hypnotherapy session, you will be taken through relaxation exercises and brought into a focused state of attention. This simply means that you can focus on therapeutic suggestions that are being given to you while ignoring outside concerns. During a session, you are fully in control and aware of what is happening.

In this focused and relaxed state of attention, your brain becomes open to suggestions on how to turn down the sensation of pain and rewire thought processes that can help you better cope. 

Since hypnotherapy is a relaxing exercise that stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for rest and relaxation), it can also be a highly effective tool to help you sleep better, which is often a challenge when you’re in pain.  

How long does hypnotherapy take to work?

The timeline and effectiveness of hypnotherapy for chronic pain varies from person to person. Some individuals may experience results relatively quickly, while others may need more time before they notice changes in their symptoms.

Research has shown people can see results in as little as four sessions, while benefits are more pronounced the more someone practices the sessions. 

Where can I access hypnotherapy for chronic pain?

While we recommend talking to your doctor before beginning any new management tool for your chronic pain, there are several ways that you can get started with it.

Hypnotherapy practitioners or hypnotherapists

You might choose to see a hypnotherapy practitioner, also known as a hypnotherapist. There are many benefits to choosing this kind of hypnotherapy, including building a relationship with a professional who can keep you accountable to your goals. Many people enjoy this kind of hypnotherapy because it has similarities to other in-person healthcare models, like psychotherapy or counseling. 

However, before booking an in-person hypnotherapist, there are a few important things you need to keep in mind.

Firstly, in-person hypnotherapy can cost up to US$250 per session. While some practitioners may be cheaper, buyers beware: the quality of in-person hypnotherapy can vary greatly.

Hypnotherapy in Australia, America, and many other parts of the world, is not a regulated profession. This means hypnotherapists are not legally required to meet service standards or receive any specific medical training.  

Before booking a hypnotherapist, ensure that the practitioner:

• is a member of a professional hypnotherapy association, such as the American Board of Hypnotherapy, The Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists, or the Australian Hypnotherapists Association, and
• has appropriate credentials. Because hypnotherapy isn't a licensed profession, some hypnotherapists will only have completed a short online course while others will have medical degrees with specialized hypnotherapy training.  

Before booking a hypnotherapy session for chronic pain, ask if your practitioner has a medical degree (for example, physiotherapist, pain specialist, or psychologist); and additional certified hypnotherapy training.  

Audio recordings

Some people will choose to buy or download audio recordings of a hypnosis session as a cost-effective way to start hypnotherapy for chronic pain. Recordings may cost as little as US$8.

Many hypnotherapy websites provide an audio-download option, however, as these offerings are not regulated, the quality and benefits of this kind of hypnotherapy can be variable. The sessions also are not tailored to individual requirements. 

Hypnotherapy apps 

Therapeutic apps are a great option for people starting their chronic pain hypnotherapy journey. However, similar to choosing an in-person specialist, it's important to check the credentials of hypnotherapy apps before purchasing.

Hypnotherapy apps can vary greatly in price. However, for a quality app that replicates the therapeutic environment, you can expect to pay around US$20 a month. Some apps also provide a seven-day trial, so you can test the program before committing. 

Mindset Health is currently developing a digital therapeutic program in consultation with Neuroscience Research Australia that specifically targets chronic lower back pain. You can register your interest for this program to stay up to date with the development process and obtain early access when it launches. 

The Wrap Up

Hypnotherapy as a method to manage chronic pain is gaining traction from researchers, experts, and pain communities worldwide. It's a non-invasive, drug-free method that offers promising results including reduction in pain intensity and increase in function. By rewiring neural pathways in the brain that are causing pain and empowering you to take an active role in your pain management, hypnotherapy can make a significant difference to your quality of life. Whether you choose to see a practitioner, use audio recordings, or try a hypnotherapy app, remember to prioritize high-quality interventions and ensure any practitioner you engage with has the appropriate credentials. 

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