title: Effect of hypnosis on pain and blink reflexes in patients with painful temporomandibular disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study contrasted the effect of hypnosis on self-reported pain and changes in a nociceptive brainstem reflex, the blink reflex (BR), in 39 women with temporomandibular disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients were randomized to hypnosis or control (nonhypnotic relaxation). Pain intensity was assessed 3 times daily on a 0 to 10 numerical rating scale. BRs were elicited by electrical stimulation with a nociceptive-specific electrode and recorded before and after treatment at pain threshold (Ip) and supra threshold (2×Ip).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant reduction of pain intensity was observed in the hypnosis group from 4.5±2.1 at baseline to 2.9±2.4 after treatment (P<0.001). The pain reduction was generally unrelated to changes in the BR, with the exception being a lowered ipsilateral R2 BR component at the right side supra threshold (P=0.034).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hypnosis thus seems to reduce complex temporomandibular disorder pain, most likely because of cortical changes with little, if any, involvement of brainstem reflex pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oral Physiology, School of Dentistry, Aarhus University Hospital, Vennelyst Boulevard 9, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Randi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abrahamsen
authors.forename: Lene
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baad-Hansen
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zachariae
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Svensson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001703:Biophysics; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012064:Relaxation Therapy / Q000379:methods; D057566:Self Report; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000150:complications*