“Greater use of hypnotherapy to ease the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome would help sufferers”, says a gastroenterologist.

Dr Roland Valori, editor of Frontline Gastroenterology, said of the first 100 of his patients treated "symptoms improved significantly for nine in 10.” He said that although previous research has shown hypnotherapy is effective for IBS sufferers, it is not widely used.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common gut problem which can cause abdominal pain, bloating, and sometimes diarrhoea or constipation.

Throughout the majority of relaxation therapies available, hypnotherapy is the most powerful.  IBS patients often face difficult situations in their lives, and hypnotherapy along with other credible techniques such as NLP can help them respond to these stresses in a less harmful way.

NHS guidelines allow doctors to refer IBS patients for hypnotherapy or other psychological therapies if medication is unsuccessful and the problem persists.