Irritable bowel syndrome: Is there a chance hypnotherapy might help?

Hypnotherapy might be able to help some people with irritable bowel syndrome. But it is not clear how many people could expect to benefit and, if so, for how long.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can cause cramping, abdominal pain and bloating, along with constipation and/or diarrhoea. This condition is not dangerous, but is very unpleasant and sometimes difficult to live with. It can last for longer periods of time, but the symptoms will usually improve by themselves after a while.

IBS mostly affects people between 35 and 50 years of age. Including its milder forms, about 2 out of every 10 women and about 1 out of every 10 men have IBS. To read more about the signs and symptoms of IBS, click here.

It is not really clear what causes IBS. Certain foods may trigger IBS episodes in some people, and stress could also play an important role. Treatment options include anti-cramping medications, treatments for diarrhoea or constipation, stress reduction techniques and options like exercise and probiotic products (for example, yoghurt with live lactic acid bacteria). You can read more about the condition and the treatment options in our feature on IBS.

Some people with IBS try hypnotherapy to relieve their symptoms and help them cope with the condition. Hypnosis is a technique where a therapist helps a person focus very intensely and solely on one thing, so that they stop being aware of other things. The person’s conscious mind is placed “on hold”. The idea is that their sub-conscious is then more receptive to suggestions the therapist makes.

There is a special hypnosis technique for people with IBS. Here the therapist first uses hypnosis to help the person relax progressively. Then the therapist uses a process called “guided imagery”. This aims to give people a strong mental image of having a normal and well-controlled gut, where they do not need to use medication or seek medical care. This technique usually also involves teaching the person self-hypnosis.

Researchers from the Cochrane Collaboration in Australia studied the results of clinical trials to see whether hypnotherapy can help to reduce the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. The researchers found four trials that used a control group (people who did not receive hypnotherapy) to compare the effects of hypnosis against. All of the trials found that hypnotherapy seemed to relieve symptoms of IBS. This does not necessarily mean that this therapy really works.

In total, just under 150 people participated in these trials. To be sure of the results, more and better trials are needed. All of the trials had flaws, making it difficult to draw any reliable conclusions about the effects of hypnosis. For instance, it was not reported whether there were any adverse effects. More research is needed here as well.

Generally, the people in the trials had had irritable bowel syndrome for a long time and had already tried usual treatments. Hypnotherapy takes a lot of time and motivation — there are usually 5 to 12 lengthy sessions with a therapist, followed by regular self-hypnosis sessions at home.

In the best trial so far, researchers in England compared the outcomes of hypnotherapy and conventional treatments for about 80 people. All of them had had IBS for a long time and had tried other treatments, but with little success. For this trial, each participant had five sessions with the hypnotherapist.

Most of the participants were women (over 80%), and the average age was 42. Three months after the treatment started, the people who had had hypnotherapy were more likely than those who had not to report that their IBS had improved. But this improvement did not last: after a year, all participants again had much the same symptoms, whether or not they had had hypnotherapy.

Other studies have reported greater success, yet they used less reliable methods. Either way, there are many differences between hypnotherapists and what they do exactly, including how many sessions are involved. More research is needed before it is possible to assess what benefits or problems people could expect if they try hypnotherapy for IBS.

You can read more about other treatment options here.

Author: German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG)

© IQWiG (Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care)