The pain-relieving effects of nitrous oxide - laughing gas - may be enhanced by suggestion or
hypnosis, according to a new study by UCL (University College London). The study's findings - that people are more suggestible under the gas - mean that dental patients may benefit from being coached to relax while undergoing sedation.Nitrous oxide (
laughing gas) is commonly used by dentists to sedate their patients before treatment, but some dentists believe their patients also become more suggestible while under the influence of the gas. A number of dentists have been trained in hypnosis and find that their patients respond well to being spoken to in a quiet, hypnotic manner - the new findings suggest that these effects could be further enhanced with laughing gas.The UCL study set out to establish whether laughing gas does indeed boost imaginative suggestibility - a trait closely related to hypnotic suggestibility - and imagery vividness. Thirty participants took part in two sessions where they were given a mask from which they breathed in air or 25 per cent nitrous oxide. The volunteers were not told which type of gas they were being given, and the mask was scented to disguise the sweet smell of the laughing gas.
The study, published online in the journal Psychopharmacology, found that the nitrous oxide boosted imaginative suggestibility by approximately 10 per cent. This effect was unrelated to participants' expectations regarding the effects of the drug.
Dr Matthew Whalley, Honorary Research Fellow at UCL, says: "Many dentists use laughing gas to relieve discomfort in their patients, but our study suggests that combining the gas with instructions and suggestions to help them to relax and become absorbed in imagery, for example, might enhance the pain-relieving effect. Our findings are preliminary, however, so it would be helpful to do a larger scale study to confirm our results and explore the best ways in which to use and combine nitrous oxide and suggestion.
"Our study fixed the concentration of nitrous oxide at a relatively low 25 per cent, so it would be good to explore whether there is a dose-response relationship between drug administration and suggestibility. We already know that hypnosis enhances the effects of suggestion, so it would be helpful for clinicians to know whether combining laughing gas with hypnosis would increase suggestibility and enhance the analgesic (pain-killing) effects.
"A growing number of health professionals are trained in hypnosis but it is nothing to be alarmed about - people often think that hypnosis is about the hypnotist 'taking control' of the hypnotised person, but in reality the person undergoing hypnosis is an active participant and has to want to participate in order to experience a benefit. There is good evidence that although people can respond to suggestions under hypnosis, they can also choose to refuse any suggestion, and cannot be made to do things that they do not want to do."
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