Studies Have Shown Hypnotherapy And Self- Hypnosis Are Effective At Relieving Fibromyalgia Symptoms

According to The Mayo Clinic, “Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain and spinal cord process painful and nonpainful signals.” Symptoms of Fibromyalgia include pain, anxiety, depression, brain fog, fatigue and headaches. While the exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, it can be managed and treated.

When working with Fibromyalgia clients, I have found that a two-pronged approach works towards alleviating symptoms. The first is the use of hypnotherapy to resolve any childhood traumas. The second is teaching my client’s self-hypnosis for pain relief.

Why Hypnotherapy Works-

In a 2006 study published in ScienceDirect, “Adults with fibromyalgia syndrome report high rates of childhood trauma. Neuroendocrine abnormalities have also been noted in this population.” In addition, “These findings suggest that severe traumatic experiences in childhood may be a factor of adult neuroendocrine dysregulation among fibromyalgia sufferers. Trauma history should be evaluated and psychosocial intervention may be indicated as a component of treatment for fibromyalgia.”

Dr. David Spiegel recently said on the Huberman Lab podcast, “You have got to confront the trauma, to restructure your understanding of it. ” He talked about Gordon Bower’s Concept of State Dependent Memory. “When you are in a certain mental state, you enhance your ability to remember things about it.” He continues, “People go into a dissociative states when they’re traumatized. So in a way hypnosis is helping them remember and deal with the memories better because they are more in the mental state that is more like what happened. And most rape victims will tell you I was floating above my body feeling sorry for the woman being assaulted below. People in traumatic episodes, they just say, I blanked out, I don’t know what’s happening I was on autopilot, that’s a kind of self- hypnotic state.”

Hypnotherapy allows a person to enter a mental state similar to that of when their trauma occurred. This enables the person to recall the trauma more clearly while in a safe place. Under hypnosis. one is able to look at the trauma in a different light. People can confront their trauma, rewrite and reframe it. Thereby, releasing the emotional charge of the trauma.

Why Self-Hypnosis Works-

A study, “Hypnotic intervention in people with fibromyalgia: A randomized controlled trial,” was published in the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. The study found, “We found that the self-administered audio-recorded hypnotic intervention significantly decreased the intensity and interference of pain and fatigue, as well as the depressive symptomatology. Audio-recorded clinical hypnosis techniques could provide an effective, practical, and economical alternative for reducing fibromyalgia-related symptoms.”

I have found that guided self- hypnosis for pain relief, in particular hypnotic analgesia (also known as hypnotic anesthesia and glove anesthesia) has been successful in alleviating fibromyalgia symptoms. A 1999 study sheds light on why hypnotic analgesia is effective, “Hypnosis is a powerful tool in pain therapy. Attempting to elucidate cerebral mechanisms behind hypnotic analgesia, we measured regional cerebral blood flow with positron emission tomography in patients with fibromyalgia, during hypnotically-induced analgesia and resting wakefulness. The patients experienced less pain during hypnosis than at rest. The cerebral blood-flow was bilaterally increased in the orbitofrontal and subcallosial cingulate cortices, the right thalamus, and the left inferior parietal cortex, and was decreased bilaterally in the cingulate cortex. The observed blood-flow pattern supports notions of a multifactorial nature of hypnotic analgesia, with an interplay between cortical and subcortical brain dynamics.”

I created a guided self- hypnosis for pain relief (hypnotic analgesia, hypnotic anesthesia or glove anesthesia) exercise for a client. I have posted it on my YouTube (Alexandra’s Hypnotherapy). You are welcome to to try it. I hope it brings you some pain relief.