Hypnosis for Digestion and Constipation
The meal ended two hours ago and you still feel it sitting there, high up, not moving. You loosen your belt. You eat less in the evening so as not to go through it again.
Or it is lower down that does not keep up. Three days, four. A tight stomach, a slightly heavy head, and the thought that keeps coming back in the background of the day. You have tried fibre, water, prunes, and a laxative that was meant to be occasional and that you have been taking for eight months.
It is not serious, you have been told. That is true. But it takes up a great deal of room, and it is hard to talk about without feeling you are complaining over nothing.
This page is a specialised guide. How the gut-brain axis works, visceral hypersensitivity and the full list of warning signs are on our page Hypnosis and the digestive system. If you have abdominal pain linked to your bowel movements and relieved by passing stool, you are more likely looking for our page on irritable bowel syndrome, where the scientific data are strongest. This page covers the rest: slow digestion, heaviness after meals, bloating and constipation that settles in.
What exactly are we talking about
These disorders are called functional: the organ is healthy, tests show neither damage nor inflammation, and yet the symptoms are very real. It is the dialogue between the gut and the brain that is out of tune. An inflammatory disease such as Crohn's disease is a different situation, with its own page.
Functional constipation. Infrequent stools that are hard to pass, with a lot of straining or a feeling of incomplete emptying. Stress, a sedentary life, travel, changes of routine and holding it in all play a part.
Functional dyspepsia. This is the upper digestive tract: heaviness after meals, feeling full too quickly, discomfort or burning in the pit of the stomach. Many people call it "poor digestion" without knowing it has a name.
Bloating and abdominal distension, which often come with both.
The medical check-up comes first, without exception. See a doctor before anything else if you have blood in your stools or black stools, unexplained weight loss, anaemia, fever, symptoms that wake you at night, difficulty swallowing, repeated vomiting, new symptoms appearing after 50, or a family history of digestive cancer. New and persistent constipation in an adult always deserves a medical opinion, even with no other sign. An underactive thyroid, a deficiency, diabetes, a medication side effect and several other causes can be treated and produce exactly these symptoms. Our hypnotherapists make no diagnosis and replace no examination.
What this page does not cover. Gastro-oesophageal reflux and gastritis are medical conditions that call for a diagnosis and, often, treatment: they can in particular be linked to a bacterium that is tested for and treated. Hypnosis can support the discomfort and the anxious side, never replace that care. Talk to your doctor. A difficult relationship with food, meals eaten too fast or bingeing, can also be worked on, but on our page Eating and weight, and with a medical opinion if meals have become a source of suffering.
What it changes day to day
Meals. You eat less, you eat differently, you turn down an invitation because you know how you will feel afterwards. What you eat shrinks little by little, often far beyond what a professional would have advised. Rhythm. People with constipation often organise their morning around a window of time, and leave for work with the matter unresolved. Travel and trips, where everything gets thrown off, and which you end up dreading.
Laxatives. Used regularly for months, they create a habit of dependence: you no longer dare go without them, and worry takes over. It is a common situation to discuss with a doctor, not to handle on your own.
And anticipation, which is the real driver. Dreading the discomfort tenses the stomach and slows transit, which confirms the fear.
What exists besides hypnosis
- A medical check-up, first, always.
- Dietary support. Fibre, hydration, adjustments: that is the role of a dietitian or nutritionist, not ours. We give no dietary advice.
- Physical activity, which has a real effect on transit.
- Prescribed treatments and their proper use, including to come off a dependence on laxatives.
- Pelvic floor rehabilitation, when the emptying mechanism is involved. Little known, sometimes decisive, and prescribed by a doctor.
Hypnosis is added to this list, for the part linked to tension and anticipation.
What Hypnosis can support
Let us be precise about the level of evidence. It is for irritable bowel syndrome that the data are solid, to the point of appearing in international gastroenterology guidelines. For functional constipation and dyspepsia on their own, the data are much thinner, and we will not claim otherwise. We review it area by area on our page what science says about hypnosis. What the work aims at, once the check-up is done:
- Releasing abdominal tension. A stomach that is permanently tight digests and empties less well. Relaxation is not a comfort, it is a mechanism.
- Breaking the loop of anticipation, the one that makes you dread the meal or the day.
- Regulating rhythm, with gut-directed imagery, including the metaphor of a river whose flow is adjusted, taken from the reference protocols.
- Regaining confidence in your body, often worn down after months of monitoring.
- Becoming self-reliant, through self-hypnosis practised between sessions.
What hypnosis does not do: it replaces neither a check-up, nor a treatment, nor dietary support, and it is never a reason to stop a prescribed treatment, laxatives included.
The particular case of children
It is common, little known to parents, and it has to be handled precisely.
The mechanism. A child hurts once, or finds the school toilets dirty, or does not dare ask. They hold it in. The stools stay put and harden, the next one hurts more, they hold it in even more. The cycle sets in quickly.
At an advanced stage, liquid stool can leak around a blockage and soil the underwear. It is not a lack of control or a provocation: it is a sign of severe constipation, and it is often what finally brings the family to see a doctor.
Here, the doctor comes before us, without exception. Established constipation in a child calls for medical care, often a long treatment to empty the bowel and then keep it regular. Working on anxiety is not enough and must not delay that treatment. Waiting makes the cycle worse and the way out longer. Start with your paediatrician or family doctor.
What hypnosis can bring, as a complement: the fear of pain, the apprehension about school toilets, abdominal relaxation, and some restored confidence in a child who is often ashamed. This works well at that age, and children take to it easily.
*Illustrative example, built from situations we frequently encounter.*
Lucas found the school toilets dirty and had learned to hold it in all day. His doctor had put the necessary treatment in place, and his parents wanted to act on what remained: the fear of pain, and his flat refusal to go at school.
The work focused on relaxing the stomach, on the apprehension itself, and on solutions Lucas found for himself for the school day. He also learned a short exercise to practise in the evening.
This example describes one possible accompaniment. It does not predict your child's. No result can be guaranteed.
How an accompaniment unfolds
First, where you are with your check-up. What has been done, what has been ruled out, current treatments, the professionals following you. Without that, we go no further.
A concrete goal. Not "digesting better", which cannot be measured. Rather: being able to have lunch at a restaurant, going on a trip without dread, my child agreeing to use the toilet at school.
The induction, then the work itself: abdominal relaxation, gut-directed imagery, work on anticipation.
Self-hypnosis, taught from the start and practised between sessions.
Duration. The digestive protocols that have been studied generally run over six to eight sessions. Your situation is discussed at the first appointment.
Book an appointment
Tell us where you are with your check-up. If yours has not been done, we will tell you to start there. Ask us your question, or book an appointment if it has: we go over it at the preliminary conversation, before any session. Wherever you are in the world, video consultation offers the same conversation and the same session as in the consulting room, with no travel. We see people this way from France, Quebec, Morocco and well beyond. Here is how it works.
Where would you like to consult?
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Réjeanne LeBlanc
La Prairie
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Frequently asked questions about Hypnosis for Digestion and Constipation
A simple rule: if you have abdominal pain linked to bowel movements and relieved by passing stool, it is more likely irritable bowel syndrome, which has its own page. If it is heaviness after meals or slow transit without that link, it is this page. Your doctor will decide.
The solid data concern irritable bowel syndrome. For functional constipation on its own, they are much thinner. What we offer works on tension and anticipation, not on a proven mechanism of bowel transit.
Talk to your doctor about it: it is a common situation that gets sorted out with them. We give no advice on the use of any treatment.
Probably, but that is not our field. A dietitian or nutritionist will guide you: badly managed elimination diets impoverish what you eat. The two approaches combine very well.
Start with the paediatrician. Established constipation in a child calls for medical treatment, often a long one, and hypnosis comes as a complement for the fear and apprehension, not instead of it.
The digestive protocols that have been studied generally run over six to eight sessions. This is discussed at the first appointment.
Yes, and it saves you a trip.
Sources and references
In English
- Healthy bowel habits for children — Caring for Kids, Canadian Paediatric Society
In French
- Constipation de l'adulte : que faire et quand consulter ? — Ameli, French national health insurance
- Constipation de l'enfant : que faire et quand consulter ? — Ameli, French national health insurance
- Gueguen, J., Barry, C., Hassler, C., & Falissard, B. (2015). *Évaluation de l'efficacité de la pratique de l'hypnose*. Inserm. inserm.fr
Study cited on Hypnosis
- Vasant, D. H., & Whorwell, P. J. (2019). Gut-focused hypnotherapy for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: Evidence-base, practical aspects, and the Manchester Protocol. Neurogastroenterology & Motility, e13573. doi.org/10.1111/nmo.13573
Hypnosis as practised by the members of Solutions Hypnose is a complementary support approach. It is neither a medical act, nor a diagnosis, nor psychotherapy in the regulatory sense, and it in no way replaces a consultation, follow-up or treatment prescribed by a health professional.
Our practitioners do not assess and do not treat mental disorders or illnesses. They never ask for an ongoing treatment to be stopped or changed: that decision rests exclusively with your doctor.
No result can be guaranteed. The testimonials and examples presented on this page describe individual experiences and do not predict what you will experience.
In case of significant distress, unexplained physical symptoms or suicidal thoughts, contact a doctor, emergency services or a helpline without delay.
Page written by Sabine Chapuis
hypnotherapist
partner at Solutions Hypnose.
English version reviewed by David Veilleux