Hypnotherapy for Ulcerative Colitis
Anyone who has experienced or suffers from Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Crohn’s Disease or Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) will know just how debilitating and painful these conditions can be. The chronic inflammation in the lining of the colon and rectum caused by Ulcerative Colitis produces severe abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
Although there are a number of medications available, many patients report only slight improvement in their symptoms while others feel no change at all. However, research suggests that hypnosis for colitis can be used as a very effective complementary therapy.
Hypnotherapy is already used successfully in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and stomach ulcers which, like colitis, involve inflammation which can be worsened by psychological stress and anxiety.
A study carried out by Dr David S. Rampton of Barts and the London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry showed that hypnotherapy can help ease some of the bowel inflammation seen in Ulcerative Colitis. The study looked at the effect of one 50 minute “gut-focused” hypnotherapy session on 17 patients while another eight patients acted as a control group and listened to their choice of music for 50 minutes.
Results showed that blood levels of a specific marker for inflammation in the body fell by 53 percent in the group given hypnosis, whereas the control group showed no significant change. Other similar chemical markers of inflammation were also shown to decline in the hypnosis group, but again not in the control group. Senior researcher Dr. David S. Rampton said that “This work shows that a single short session of hypnotherapy can return some of the chemical changes in the bowel associated with inflammation back towards normal in patients with ulcerative colitis”.
Rampton’s team suggest that hypnosis might have direct effects on colon activity or it might affect people’s pain tolerance or perceptions of their symptoms. Whatever it is that hypnotherapy does, its benefit to patients are obvious.
Hypnotherapy for Colitis
Hypnotherapy for Ulcerative Colitis
Anyone who has experienced or suffers from Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Crohn’s Disease or Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) will know just how debilitating and painful these conditions can be. The chronic inflammation in the lining of the colon and rectum caused by Ulcerative Colitis produces severe abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
Although there are a number of medications available, many patients report only slight improvement in their symptoms while others feel no change at all. However, research suggests that hypnosis for colitis can be used as a very effective complementary therapy.
Hypnotherapy is already used successfully in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and stomach ulcers which, like colitis, involve inflammation which can be worsened by psychological stress and anxiety.
A study carried out by Dr David S. Rampton of Barts and the London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry showed that hypnotherapy can help ease some of the bowel inflammation seen in Ulcerative Colitis. The study looked at the effect of one 50 minute “gut-focused” hypnotherapy session on 17 patients while another eight patients acted as a control group and listened to their choice of music for 50 minutes.
Results showed that blood levels of a specific marker for inflammation in the body fell by 53 percent in the group given hypnosis, whereas the control group showed no significant change. Other similar chemical markers of inflammation were also shown to decline in the hypnosis group, but again not in the control group. Senior researcher Dr. David S. Rampton said that “This work shows that a single short session of hypnotherapy can return some of the chemical changes in the bowel associated with inflammation back towards normal in patients with ulcerative colitis”.
Rampton’s team suggest that hypnosis might have direct effects on colon activity or it might affect people’s pain tolerance or perceptions of their symptoms. Whatever it is that hypnotherapy does, its benefit to patients are obvious.