Hypnotic Relaxation Therapy may help reduce 'hot flashes' in men

Men who experience hot flashes won't reveal much about it, but they may find relief from their silent suffering if they are willing to try an unusual treatment, Hypnotic Relaxation Therapy, according to findings from a Baylor University study.

Gary Elkins, Ph.D. and a professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor's College of Arts and Sciences said that men were more reluctant to report hot flashes, and it was not as prevalent.

The new research followed previous published studies by Elkins that found a marked decrease in hot flashes among postmenopausal women and also among breast cancer survivors who had undergone hypnotic relaxation therapy.

Previous research had shown that people vary when it came to being "hypnotizable" i.e. responsive to hypnosis but the consensus was that most people were at least moderately so.

Elkins said that there was no 'One size fits all,' noting that for women, hormone replacement therapy improved bone health and lowered the risk of some types of colon cancer , but hypnotic relaxation therapy had been shown to be the most effective drug-free option as well as having few or no side effects.