Self-hypnosis training is an effective treatment for chronic recurrent headaches in children and adolescents, new research suggests.

Dr. Daniel P. Kohen, from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and Dr. Robert Zajac, from Glencoe Regional Health Services, also in Minnesota, assessed the outcomes of 178 consecutive young people, average age 11 years, who were taught self-hypnosis to deal with their headaches.

The participants were trained in self-hypnosis within three or four visits, according to the report in The Journal of Pediatrics. In addition to being taught how to induce and intensify the hypnotic state, the youngsters were given a choice of therapeutic hypnotic suggestions, such as “when you have a headache, let yourself imagine you are somewhere where you never have a headache, and go there.” The kids were instructed to practice self-hypnosis at home 2 to 3 times per day.

Headache severity, frequency, and duration were assessed before, during, and after learning self-hypnosis, the report indicates. Data from 81 girls and 63 boys were available for analysis.

Self-hypnosis training led to a drop in average headache frequency from 4.5 to 1.4 per week, a fall in average intensity from 10.3 to 4.7 on a 12-point scale, and reduction in average duration from 23.6 hours to 3.0 hours.

“Many families today are increasingly interested in complementary or alternative therapies not only for adults but also for their children,” Kohen and Zajac point out. “With appropriate scientific inquiry we are beginning to add validity to the mind-body connection in mainstream pediatric healthcare.”

Still, the researchers acknowledge that “long-term follow-up of patients learning self-hypnosis for headaches or other ailments is clearly needed.”

SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, June 2007.