Hypnotherapy is an effective natural treatment for migraines and headaches

Hypnotherapy is gaining wider acceptance as an alternative treatment for various health conditions, including stress and chronic pain. Recently, a group of researchers from Iran also proved that this practice can be used as a non-pharmacological approach to treating headaches. They determined this by conducting a randomized clinical trial involving patients suffering from either tension or migraine headaches.

• Headaches are the most common manifestations of chronic pain. It can be classified as either secondary or primary headaches, which are further divided into tension or migraine headaches.
• Migraines are unilateral and pulsating headaches caused by stress or sensitivity to lights and sounds. Meanwhile, headaches caused by tension are bilateral and non-pulsating.
• Although conventional treatments for headaches are available, many of these are associated with side effects like drug resistance and dependence.
• Hypnosis is commonly used for the treatment of headaches, which does not have any side effects. However, not much research has been done to determine the extent of its effectiveness.
• The authors of this study, which was published in Sleep and Hypnosis, conducted a clinical trial with 36 participants, 18 of which suffered from tension headaches while the remaining had migraines.
• Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups, which were: 1) standard drug treatment, 2) standard drug and hypnotherapy, 3) hypnotherapy. Patients in the second and third groups participated in five 30-minute hypnotherapy sessions that were conducted in biweekly intervals.
• Effects of the different treatments were determined based on questionnaires that were accomplished before and after the treatments.

The researchers observed that hypnosis significantly reduced the number and the severity of the headaches that the patients experienced, as well as their inability to work. Furthermore, they also noted this effect can be observed in both tension and migraine headaches.

Read the full text of the study at this link.

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Journal Reference:

Ahmadi AM, Jafari M, Sabzevari L, Fallahtafti A, Bidaki R. EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF HYPNOTHERAPY ON THE HEADACHE. Sleep and Hypnosis – International Journal. June 2018;20(2). DOI: 10.5350/sleep.hypn.2017.19.0142