Acupuncture Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Acupuncture, including details on alternative medicine, uses, benefits, treatment, chinese medicine.

Potential Synergism between Hypnosis and Acupuncture-Is the Whole More Than the Sum of Its Parts?

Schiff E, Gurgevich S, Caspi O

Bnai Zion Medical Center, Internal Medicine Division Haifa, Israel, University of Arizona, Program in Integrative Medicine Arizona, USA and The Recanati Center for Medicine and Research and the Section for Integrative Medicine, Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson Campus) and the Tel-Aviv University Sackler Faculty of Medicine Israel.

Both hypnosis and acupuncture have gained credibility over the years in their effectiveness for treating various health conditions. Currently, each of these treatments is administered in distinct settings and separate times. That is, even if patients receive both treatments as part of a multidimensional therapeutic program, they would typically receive them separately rather than simultaneously at the same session. This separation however might be undesirable since, at least theoretically, hypnosis and acupuncture could potentially augment each other if administered concomitantly. In this article we outline the rationale for this hypothesis and discuss the potential ramifications of its implementation.

Published 5 June 2007 in Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 4(2): 233-240.
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