Hypnotherapy for IBS

Dr. Alan Inglis (House Calls)
Visualize an end to a stomach problem
Even though it's not fatal, irritable bowel syndrome can make life just about unbearable for people who suffer from it. In fact, research has shown that the psychological effects of this illness— such as anxiety and a fear of going out in public—can be downright crippling.

And for the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients who deal with chronic constipation, the hard-to-control diarrhea caused by the prescription medication they often have to take can make venturing out a really hard thing to do in the first place (anxiety or no anxiety).

But researchers are getting closer to finding drug-free ways of treating this problem. Some research that mainstream medicine may dismiss but that you should know about is hypnotherapy—it can have a profound effect on fixing IBS problems.

In a study of 75 IBS patients (both men and women), participants received between five and seven half-hour hypnotherapy sessions over a three- month period. During the sessions, the patients were asked to put their hands on the place where they felt the most abdominal discomfort to create feelings of warmth and comfort in that area. Then, the patients were told to imagine their guts as a river. Constipated patients were supposed to envision the river as freely flowing. Patients with diarrhea were supposed to imagine the river moving slowly.

When it was over, all the patients—regardless of which form of IBS they suffered with—reported reductions in pain and bloating. They also saw improvements in their emotional stability, energy levels, sleep, diet, anxiety levels, and in their overall physical health. Talk to your doctor about a referral to someone who practices hypnotherapy. It's worth seeing if it will work for you—and keep you from hiding in the house.