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it's recommended that hypnosis is done alongside other methods

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However, hypnotherapy should be viewed as an adjunctive treatment rather than as a replacement for conventional approaches, such as the appropriate use of antispasmodics, laxatives, antidiarrhoeals, or dietary manipulation. For instance, the consumption of large amounts of insoluble fibre such as bran can significantly exacerbate the symptoms of IBS [33], and consequently, it would be inappropriate to use hypnotherapy before trying an exclusion of insoluble fibre.

In conclusion, we feel that hypnotherapy is best provided as part of an integrated approach to treating IBS rather than being regarded as a 'stand-alone' treatment. It also has to be remembered that it only helps a finite number of individuals (approximately 70%), and those who do not respond to it become very despondent as they often view hypnotherapy as their last chance to gain some improvement in the quality of their lives. Consequently, it is essential to have a system for supporting those who do not respond and this is much easier to provide if the hypnotherapy forms part of a comprehensive service for looking after these patients.

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However, hypnosis should not be regarded as a panacea as up to 25% of patients fail to respond. Even when patients do improve, conventional approaches to treatment should not necessarily be ignored. Therefore it is still important that lifestyle factors such as diet are also taken into account. In addition, some patients may find that an occasional loperamide or laxative, depending on the bowel habit abnormality, maybe required.

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