Children can be taught to use their imagination to tackle frequent bouts of stomach pain, research shows.

A relaxation-type CD, asking children to imagine themselves in scenarios like floating on a cloud led to dramatic improvements in abdominal pain.

The US researchers said the technique worked particularly well in children as they have such fertile imaginations.

It has been estimated that frequent stomach pain with no identifiable cause effects up to one in five children.

The research, published in Pediatrics, follows on from studies showing hypnosis is an effective treatment for a range of conditions known as functional abdominal pain, which includes things like irritable bowel syndrome. – (BBC)

Hypnotherapists have known this for years – science is finally ‘catching up’. I’ve used these same hypnosis techniques on adults as well. The hypnosis bit helps to remove the ‘layers of adult conditioning’ and they can re-access their imagination to help them with pain control.