Several studies have demonstrated that therapist-guided hypnosis can lessen the frequency and intensity of hot flashes, while self-administered hypnosis has shown promise in managing conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and chronic pain. To examine this further, researchers reviewed 16 studies involving 250 postmenopausal women to assess the effects of self-administered hypnosis using audio recordings. After six weeks, women practicing self-administered hypnosis showed a greater reduction in hot flash scores compared to those using sham white noise (53.4% vs. 40.9%).
They also reported a larger decrease in daily interference caused by hot flashes (49.3% vs. 37.4%) and higher perceived benefits (90.3% vs. 64.3%) than the sham group. Overall, the findings suggest that self-administered hypnosis can provide meaningful and effective relief from hot flashes in postmenopausal women.…
