Hypnosis in the management of fibromyalgia pain

Aug 19

Posted in Techniques

Thanks to Bronwyn Thompson at Health Skills, not only for linking to my site but also for drawing to my attention a study published in the European Journal of Pain: Fibromyalgia pain and its modulation by hypnotic and non-hypnotic suggestion: An fMRI analysis by Stuart W.G. Derbyshire, Matthew G. Whalley and David A. Oakley. Functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) is a brain scanning technique which uses changes in the magnetic properties of parts of the brain to measure brain activity. Fibromyalgia is a condition involving widespread and chronic pain.

The study used the “dial” technique which I talked about in Pain management part 2: Imagination techniques last week. The experimenters selected participants for the scanning phase of the study who showed high scores on a standard scale of hypnotic ability and reported the ability to adjust their pain, using the imaginary “dial”, by 6 points or more (on a 10-point scale). This was a total of 13 patients, all female (women are nine times as likely as men to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia). All 13 were scanned 4 times each, twice with and twice without hypnosis, with the order varied between participants. They were signaled by taps on the foot to either turn the dial as low as possible, to the middle range, or as high as possible.

photo credit: Matt McGee

The researchers found that in the hypnosis condition the participants’ ability to turn the dial down was significantly greater, and that their self-report of perceived control over their pain was significantly higher when hypnotized, though there was still an effect of suggestion while not hypnotized (that is, they did not require a formal hypnotic induction to be able to affect their pain levels, but it helped). There was also a significant difference in the activation of a number of brain regions between the hypnotized and non-hypnotized conditions. The researchers point out that these were differences of degree rather than kind, that is, that some areas were more strongly activated and others less strongly activated in one condition versus the other, but the general pattern of activation was the same between the two.

As is so often the case with hypnosis studies, the sample is small and the results need to be replicated more widely before we can generalize them with confidence. Also, the participants in the study were carefully selected and were unusually hypnotically responsive (since the point of the study was primarily to study the brain activation – the hypnosis was a means to an end). However, we can say that here is a study which shows a measurable difference between the use of a hypnotic induction and the same suggestions without an induction, and also validates the effectiveness, for at least some people, of using the “dial” technique for pain control.

Pain CD face Relevant Product: Pain Management (audio CD)