Abstract
The present study was designed to compare the effect of hypnotic analgesia with that of acupuncture analgesia. The cold pressor pain of 12 high and 12 low hypnotically susceptible subjects was assessed under three conditions: 1) no treatment baseline; 2) hypnotic analgesia; and, 3) acupuncture analgesia. Pain intensity, as measured by Hilgard’s verbal report scale (Hilgard, Cooper, Lenox, Morgan, & Voevodsky, 1967) did not differ between the groups on the no treatment baseline trial. For all subjects, hypnotic analgesia was the more effective treatment. As expected, hypnotic analgesia was significantly more effective for highs than it was for lows. Acupuncture analgesia was also more effective for highs than it was for lows, but the difference between the groups only approached statistical significance. The data suggested that for high susceptibles acupuncture analgesia may be more effective when it is preceded by an experience with hypnotic analgesia.
This study was supported by Ontario Ministry of Health Grant #AC6 to V.J. Knox.
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© 1978 Plenum Press, New York
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Knox, V.J., Shum, K., McLaughlin, D.M. (1978). Hypnotic Analgesia vs. Acupuncture Analgesia in High and Low Hypnotically Susceptible Subjects. In: Frankel, F.H., Zamansky, H.S. (eds) Hypnosis at its Bicentennial. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2859-9_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2859-9_9
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