Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Hypnotherapy and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Question:
I am 62 year lady, and was diagnosed with IBS 2 years ago, my symptoms come on very suddenly, hot sweats, fainting, pain in the left hand side, it only eases when I manage to go to the toilet. I can not identify what triggers this, I know that stress seems to trigger an attack, and would really like to speak to people in the same position, I am new to the internet. Has anyone tried hypnotherapy for Irritable bowel syndrome? or hypnotism?

Answer:
Only ten percent or so of the population is not susceptible to hypnosis – the rest of us can turn to this therapy for relief of symptoms from disorders as wide ranging as: asthma, allergies, strokes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, high blood pressure, nausea and vomiting, irregular heartbeat, muscle spasms, paralysis, and, with well-documented success rates, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Hypnotherapy has in fact been proven successful at reducing or even eliminating all Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms.[3] Over 15 years of solid scientific research has demonstrated hypnosis to be an effective, safe and inexpensive choice for IBS alleviation.[4] It has been so overwhelmingly successful in this regard that Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD, chair of the National Women's Health Network in Washington, DC, has said that hypnosis should be the treatment of choice for Irritable Bowel Syndrome cases which have not responded to conventional therapy. Since the conventional therapy offered to most IBS patients ranges from nothing at all to a lifetime prescription for semi-effective anti-spasmodic drugs, I take this statement as the closest thing to a whole-hearted endorsement an alternative therapy can hope to get from a mainstream medical spokesperson. For Irritable Bowel Syndrome, one of hypnotherapy's greatest benefits is its well-established ability to reduce the effects of stress. Your state of mind can have a direct impact on your physical well-being, even when you're in the best of health. If you're struggling with IBS, the tension, anxiety, and depression that comes from living with an incurable illness can actually undermine your immune system and further compromise your health.