Complain about a product or service

Hypnosis Reduces Pain and Costs in Breast Cancer Surgery

Researchers found shorter recovery times, fewer side effects in hypnotized patients

August 29, 2007

Breast Cancer • What Women -- and Men -- Should Know about Breast Cancer • Daily Aspirin May Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer • FDA Approves New Genetic Test for Breast Cancer • Gene Mutation Spreads Breast Cancer • Research Finds Green Tea Helpful Against Breast Cancer • Marijuana Compound May Fight Breast Cancer • Mayo Clinic Sees New Hope In Breast Cancer Drug • FDA Approves Evista For Reducing Breast Cancer Risk • Side Effects Drive Women from Breast Cancer Drug • Hypnosis Reduces Pain and Costs in Breast Cancer Surgery • Grapefruit Linked to Breast Cancer • Study Finds No Link Between Abortion, Miscarriage and Breast Cancer • Falling Breast Cancer Rates Linked to Declining Use of Hormone Replacement Therapy • Hispanic Women Three Times More Likely to Develop Advanced Breast Cancer • MRI Screening of Opposite Breast Necessary for Women with Breast Cancer • FDA Approves Tykerb for Advanced Breast Cancer Patients • FDA Clears New Breast Cancer Test • Needle Biopsy May Not Be Enough to Rule Out Breast Cancer in Some Cases • Red Meat May Increase Breast Cancer Risk • Breast Cancer Survivors Skipping Mammograms, Study Finds • Breast Implant Complications Frequent, Study Finds • Tests Show Drug Fights Aggressive Breast Cancer • California Sues to Require Cancer Warnings on Potato Chips and French Fries • Study Ties Fries To Breast Cancer Risk • Low-Fat Diet May Reduce Risk of Recurrent Breast Cancer • Study Suggests Pain Reliever, Breast Cancer Link • Trials Show Herceptin Aids Breast Cancer Recovery • That Pink Ribbon Can Be Misleading, Consumer Group Warns • Survival Better When Breast Cancer Detected Through Mammography

The use of hypnosis prior to breast cancer surgery reduced the amount of anesthesia administered during the operation, the level of pain reported afterwards, and the time and cost of the procedure, according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Breast cancer surgery patients often suffer side effects such as pain, nausea, and fatigue during and after their operation. These complications can lengthen their hospital stay, lead to hospital readmission, or require additional medications -- of which increase medical costs.

Several previous studies have suggested that hypnosis may reduce pain, recovery time, and the need for medications after surgery.

Guy Montgomery, Ph.D., and colleagues from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York conducted a clinical trial to examine the effects of hypnosis when it is given within one hour before surgery.

Two hundred women were randomly assigned to either 15 minutes of hypnosis by a psychologist or a control session in which they spoke with a psychologist. The researchers then compared the use of pain medications and sedatives during surgery, as well as the levels of pain and other side effects reported afterwards.

The hypnosis session began with suggestions for relaxation and pleasant visual imagery. The patients were also given suggestions on how to reduce pain, nausea, and fatigue, and instructions on how to use hypnosis on their own.

Patients in the hypnosis group required less anesthesia than patients in the control group. They also reported less pain, nausea, fatigue, discomfort, and emotional upset after surgery. They spent less time in surgery (almost 11 minutes less), and their surgical costs were reduced by about $773 per patient, mainly due to the time savings.

“Together, the combination of potential improvements in symptom burden for the hundreds of thousands of women facing breast cancer surgery each year and the economic benefit for institutions argues persuasively for the more widespread application of brief presurgical hypnosis,” the authors write.

In an accompanying editorial, David Spiegel, M.D., of the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif., describes the history of hypnosis in medicine and the evidence for why hypnosis could reduce pain.

“It has taken us a century and a half to rediscover the fact that the mind has something to do with pain and can be a powerful tool in controlling it … It is now abundantly clear that we can retrain the brain to reduce pain: ‘float rather than fight,’” Spiegel writes.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.