I am a doctor, and having hypnotherapy for IBS has changed my belief about pain | Monty Lyman

Science is revealing that pain is a protector, not a detector. Understanding this is the first step towards managing it

• Monty Lyman is a doctor and the author of The Painful Truth

Close your eyes and breathe normally," the therapist said. Here I was - a doctor trained in the western school of rational inquiry, empirical evidence and, dare I say it, snobbish cynicism - being hypnotised. But I'd lived with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) for as long as I could remember, with abdominal cramps bringing regular discomfort and occasional agony. Medications and dietary changes had done absolutely nothing.

I was aware of the growing evidence for hypnotherapy's effectiveness for various painful conditions, but when I sat down on the hypnotherapist's couch and closed my eyes for the first time, it felt more like a prayer of desperation than a reasoned treatment decision.

Monty Lyman is a doctor and the author of The Painful Truth