Self-Hypnosis More Effective than Biofeedback for Pain
At the University of Washington in Seattle, there was a study with randomly assigned 37 adults with spinal-cord injury and chronic pain to receive 10 sessions of self-hypnosis or EMG biofeedback relaxation training for pain management. Participants in both treatment conditions reported substantial, but similar, decreases in pain intensity from before to after the treatment sessions.
Participants in the SELF-HYPNOSIS condition, but not the BIOFEEDBACK condition, reported statistically significant decreases in daily average pain pre- to post-treatment. These pre- to posttreatment decreases in pain reported by the SELF-HYPNOSIS participants were maintained at 3-month follow-up.
Those who took part int the SELF-HYPNOSIS part, but not the BIOFEEDBACK PART, also reported significant pre- to posttreatment increases in perceived control over pain, but this change was not maintained at the 3-month follow-up.
Citation: Jensen MP, Barber J, Romano JM, Hanley MA, Raichle KA, Molton IR, Engel JM, Osborne TL, Stoelb BL, Cardenas DD, Patterson DR. Effects of self-hypnosis training and EMG biofeedback relaxation training on chronic pain in persons with spinal-cord injury. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2009 Jul; 57 (3): pages 239-68.
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