Studies


"The purpose of hypnosis as a therapeutic technique is to help you understand and gain more control over your behavior, emotions and physical  well-being."    MayoClinic.com



There have been many studies that show how effective hypnosis is for a wide variety of health issues. Here a just a few summaries. 
On the bottom of this page, there are links to studies and hypnosis in the news. 



Surgery

Case study by Montgomery reported that the use of hypnosis for excisional breast biopsy or lumpectomy not only required less anesthesia and sedatives than the control group, but also resulted in less pain, nausea, fatigue, discomfort and emotional upset as well as saving just under $800 per patient due to a shorter time in the operating room.


Healing Fractures

Harvard researchers, Ginandes and Daniel Rosenthal, published a report on their study of hypnosis to speed up the healing of broken bones. They recruited 12 people with broken ankles that didn't need surgery and in addition to the regular treatment, they hypnotized half once a week. At six weeks radiologist confirmed that the hypnosis group showed an equivalent of eight and a half weeks of healing.


Allergies

A research study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology from 1990 showed some interesting results with a skin prick test. The volunteers in the hypnosis group were able to increase the reaction on one arm and decrease the reaction on the other.


Warts

A study in the American Journal of Hypnosis by Ewin used direct suggestions in hypnosis, followed by age regression for those who didn't response right away. The study included 41 patients with refractory warts resulted an 80% cure rate with no recurrences.


IBS

In the 1984 issue of the Lancet, there was a study released by researchers in England who found that of thirty patients with severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome found relief with hypnosis. The patients were assigned to 7 sessions of hypnosis or psychotherapy plus placebo pills. Some of the control patients did see some improvement, however all of the patients in the hypnosis group had significant improvement with no relapse at the 3-month follow up.


Smoking

In 1970, the International Journal of Clinical Experimental Hypnosis had a study that used a single 12-hour group session for volunteers that had unsuccessfully tried everything else to quit. The results were astonishing. An 88% rate of abstaining from smoking for an entire year.


Fibromyalgia

A study by Hannen in 1991 showed that patients with fibromyalgia responded better to hypnosis than to physical therapy. The hypnosis group received eight sessions, while the physical therapy group received twelve sessions including massage and muscle relaxation training. The hypnosis group showed to be more effective than the physical therapy for muscle pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, distress, and medication use with a 35% improvement compared to 2%.


Bone Marrow Transplant

There was a study in 1992 by Syrjala, Cummings and Donaldson with 45 cancer patients who were undergoing a bone marrow transplant. They had four groups, routine treatment, a therapist attentional control, hypnosis, and cognitive behavior. The hypnosis group reported significantly less pain after the transplant than the other groups even though there was no difference in the amount of pain medication.


Pediatric Cancer

There are several studies using hypnosis to help children with cancer. In 1998 there a was a study in Greece by Hawkins, Liossi, Ewart, Hatira and Kosmidis who found that patients who used various forms of hypnosis to help with the pain and anxiety in children facing lumbar punctures. They found that the children who used hypnosis reported a significant reduction in both pain and anxiety compared to the baseline.


Quality of Life

Liossi and White reported a study in 2001 on the effects of hypnosis on the quality of life for patients with terminal cancer. There were 50 patients who received either routine medical and psychological care or standard care plus hypnosis. The hypnosis group had a significantly better overall quality of life and lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to the standard care group.


Insomnia

There is a study by Anbar and Slothower in 2006 who found that hypnosis is very effective for children who have insomnia. Of the children who reported that they had trouble falling asleep, 90% reported a reduction in the time it took to fall asleep after hypnosis. For those who woke up during the night, 52% reported that hypnosis resolved the problem and 38% reported an improvement.