FRIDAY, Nov. 14, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Self-hypnosis may help some women in menopause find relief from hot flashes.
The frequency and intensity of hot flashes were reduced by more than 50 percent among women who listened to a daily audio hypnosis session, the researchers reported in the Nov. 11 issue of JAMA Network Open.
“All sessions were self-administered hypnosis, which showed that women could learn to use hypnosis for hot flashes on their own with support and guidance,” said lead researcher Gary Elkins, director of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
“It can be practiced at home without needing to travel for doctor visits, and is relatively inexpensive compared to in-person sessions,” Elkins added in a news release. “Once a person learns how to use self-hypnosis to reduce hot flashes and improve sleep, it can be used for other purposes, such as managing anxiety, coping with pain, and managing stress.”
More than 25 million women in the U.S. have hot flashes, and up to 80 percent of women in menopause report these symptoms, the researchers said in background notes. Additionally, 96% of women with breast cancer have hot flashes after starting treatment.
“Although hormone replacement therapy is highly effective in reducing hot flashes, it is not a safe option for everyone, and therefore women need additional safe and effective alternatives,” Elkins said.
For the study, researchers recruited 250 women who had a minimum of four hot flashes daily or 28 weekly.
Half were given a 20-minute hypnosis audio file which they listened to every day for six weeks. The session focused on refreshing images and relaxation tips.
The other half received a fake audio file labeled “hypnosis” consisting only of white noise, which they listened to daily.
After six weeks, the hypnosis group reported a 53% reduction in hot flashes, compared with a 41% reduction among the white noise group, the results showed.
At three months, hot flashes had been reduced by 61 percent among the hypnosis group, compared with 44 percent among those listening to white noise, the study found.
Nearly 90 percent of women who received hypnosis reported feeling better, compared with 64 percent in the control group, the researchers said.
Women with a history of breast cancer had the greatest benefit from self-hypnosis, with a 64% reduction in their hot flashes after six weeks, the researchers said.
Next, they plan to test how self-hypnosis could improve the sleep of menopausal women and breast cancer survivors.
More information
The Cleveland Clinic offers more information on self-hypnosis.
SOURCES: JAMA Network Open, November 11, 2025; Baylor University, press release, November 11, 2025
