Hypnosis May Ease Pelvic Pain Symptoms

Hypnosis seems to help men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). Hypnosis was combined with cognitive behavioral therapy and guided imagery. Sixteen men who had had pain for a median of seven years and who had high pain scores underwent seven weekly sessions in which they learned to hypnotize themselves. The researchers looked at changes in their symptoms and whether the patients followed through with their home exercises, using audiotapes of their sessions and behavioral therapy workbooks. Six months later, the median score on the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (CPSI) went down by a median of 10.5 points in 57 percent of the patients. (The abstract did not note what the change was for the other 43 percent.) The pain and quality-of-life CPSI subscores improved significantly. McGill pain scores decreased by a median of 6.5 points. Most patients (88%) said that continued self-hypnosis was effective for relieving symptoms and coping.

Rodney U Anderson, Thomas F Nagy, Elaine K Orenberg, Angie Morey, Patricia Glowe. Feasibility Trial of Medical Hypnosis and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Men With Refractory Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome. UroToday Int J. 2011 Aug;4(4):art46. doi:10.3834/uij.1944-5784.2011.08.02.