# hypnosis and pain



## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

Contact: Leonard Milling milling###mail.hartford.edu 860-768-4546 Center forthe Advancement of HealthHYPNOSIS DOESN'T IMPROVE PAIN RELIEF STRATEGIESTechniques like relaxation and visualizing a pleasant scene can take thesting out of mild pain, but adding hypnosis to the mix does not make suchtechniques more effective, according to a new report in Health Psychology.Leonard S. Milling, Ph.D., of the University of Hartford and colleagues,compared five different behavioral treatments for finger pain deliveredunder hypnotic and non-hypnotic conditions.Treatments included imagining a pain-protective glove, relaxing variousmuscle groups, picturing a warm summer day and reciting statements like:"I'll make the pain less severe when it comes."While all five treatments lessened the intensity of pain among participants,the hypnotic versions were no better than their non-hypnotic counterparts inreducing pain, even among participants who were highly sensitive to hypnoticsuggestions, say the researchers.The amount of pain relief experienced by all participants, regardless oftreatment, was due in part to how much they expected to benefit from thetherapy, according to Milling.Shorter treatments were also just as effective as longer ones, anencouraging sign for their use in pain relief among patients who have a hardtime concentrating or who suffer through multiple painful tests andtherapies, like burn victims or cancer patients.Milling and colleagues caution, however, that the study's results may belimited."Our results may generalize more readily to acute clinical pain that is mildto moderate in intensity, like a finger stick, and less readily to severeacute pain or to pain that is recurrent or chronic," they say.Bada


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