Investigating Pain Perception During Focused Hypnotic Analgesia: Local and Remote Effects.

Focused hypnotic analgesia (FHA) can selectively reduce pain in a targeted body part without affecting other areas. In 40 healthy participants, brief heat stimuli were applied to both arms before, during, and after a hypnotic suggestion targeting one arm. During FHA, pain intensity and unpleasantness decreased significantly for the protected arm compared to before and after, while the unprotected arm showed no change. Ratings differed between arms only during the suggestion. These effects occurred regardless of participants' hypnotizability. The findings indicate FHA modulates both sensory and emotional pain components and can spatially restrict its analgesic effects.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Hypnosis is increasingly used in clinical contexts to improve pain management and is supported by experimental research, showing reduced pain perception to controlled nociceptive stimuli. This study investigated spatial selectivity of focused hypnotic analgesia (FHA), a technique used to reduce pain in one restricted body part. Series of brief contact heat stimuli were applied randomly to the right and left arm in 40 healthy participants, before, during and after suggestion of FHA targeting one arm. Pain intensity and unpleasantness were assessed after each stimulus using numerical ratings scales. Results showed a significant decrease in pain intensity and unpleasantness for the protected arm during FHA as compared to before and after, whereas no modulation was evidenced for the unprotected arm. Ratings were significantly different between the two arms only during FHA. These results were observed regardless of the level of hypnotizability. This confirms that FHA can selectively modulate pain perception, both its sensory-discriminative and emotional-cognitive components, and restrict its effects on a targeted area without affecting perception on other body parts.