Mind Over Medicine

Hypnosis has come a long way from the old image
of a mysterious man swinging a pocket watch. Hypnotherapy practiced by trained physicians is now widely used in health care, ranging from pain management to dentistry to weight loss. At Packard Children’s, a new twist on hypnosis is being explored with funding from an Innovations in Patient Care grant supported by the Children’s Fund. David Spiegel, MD, the Jack, Lulu and Sam Willson Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, is developing a training DVD on self-hypnosis to help children with urinary tract problems prepare for a procedure called voiding cystourethrography (VCUG).

During VCUG, doctors inject a dye into the bladder, and then ask the patient to urinate while being
X-rayed. The annual test can be painful, embarrassing, and traumatic. Even doctors wish it could be avoided. Because the child must be alert to urinate, sedation is not an option.

In previous studies, hypnosis eased the experience of undergoing VCUG as well as other treatments such as chemotherapy. Kristina Shepherd, 21, tried hypnosis when medication and other techniques failed to cure the extreme back pain brought on by her cancer treatment.

''The idea of hypnosis was weird at first,'' she says, ''but it helped me feel relaxed, like nothing could get to me. On a scale of one to ten, my pain went from a nine down to a two.''

Similarly, when patients underwent physician-led hypnosis during VCUG, they cried less and the average length of time needed to complete the test shortened. Thanks to support from the Children’s Fund, Packard patients who need to undergo VCUG will soon be able to try self-hypnosis. ''We’re excited about the possibility,'' Spiegel says. ''The training DVD will not only eliminate the need for a hypnosis professional at the procedure, but also equip patients and their parents to play an active role in improving their care.''