Hypnosis Can Help Control Pain Among Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer

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According to a study by a University at Buffalo School of Social Work, hypnosis can help alleviate the pain and suffering experienced by women being treated for breast cancer.

The randomized trial, among 124 women with metastatic breast cancer, measured pain and suffering, frequency of pain and degree of constant pain, according to Lisa D. Butler, associate professor in UB's School of Social Work, and faculty member in the Buffalo Center for Social Research. She is also first author of the study.

Pain levels, at four-month intervals over one year, were recorded by researchers. Women who were assigned to the treatment group received instruction and practice in hypnosis to moderate their pain symptoms as well as group psychotherapy. They reported "significantly less increase in the intensity of pain and suffering over time," compared with a control group, who did not receive the group psychotherapy intervention.

However, those not using hypnosis reported no significant reduction in the frequency or constancy of pain episodes.

According to Butler, "The results of this study suggest that the experience of pain and suffering for patients with metastatic breast cancer can be successfully reduced with an intervention that includes hypnosis in a group therapy setting.” She adds, “These results augment the growing literature supporting the use of hypnosis as an adjunctive treatment for medical patients experiencing pain."

The study was published last year in an issue of the American Psychological Association journal Health Psychology.

The researchers also found that, within the treatment group, those patients who demonstrated "high hypnotizability" or who could be hypnotized more easily, reported greater benefits from hypnosis. These patients used hypnosis more overall, including outside of the group sessions, and in some cases to address other symptoms related to their cancer.

"These results,” notes Butler, “suggest that although hypnosis is not at present standard practice for treating a wide range of symptoms that trouble cancer patients, it is worth examining that potential.” And adds, "Together, these findings suggest that there may be a number of benefits to the use of hypnosis in cancer care including, but not necessarily limited to, its more traditional application for pain control."

After doing research at Stanford University's School of Medicine, Butler joined the UB faculty in January 2009 in order to strengthen the university's research focus on "extreme events" as part of the UB 2020 strategic planning initiative. She recently published a nationally recognized study on how some people living through an extremely traumatic event -- including the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- have the ability to recover or even grow in personal and interpersonal functioning.

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Source:

University at Buffalo (2010, February 26). Hypnosis can help control pain among women with metastatic breast cancer. ScienceDaily.