A 28-year-old male physician, who had done well in medical school in Japan, began working on a doctoral thesis at the surgery department of a national university that was not his alma mater. He also was working at the hospital where his father was a staff physician.

Could hypnosis relieve pain? The largest meta-analysis to date concludes that it could be a viable, safe, cost-effective option.

Researchers estimate that chronic pain affects more than 1.5 billion individuals globally.

Doctors often prescribe opioid medications to treat this type of pain. However, these drugs are expensive and, of course, highly addictive.

As the opioid crisis unfolds, scientists are increasingly focused on finding alternative ways to tackle pain.

Recently, researchers from the University of Greenwich in London, United Kingdom, assessed whether hypnosis might be useful against certain types of pain. To do this, they collated and analyzed 85 existing studies.

They said their findings suggest that hypnotic intervention could deliver “meaningful pain relief for most people” and, therefore, may be an “effective and safe alternative” to drug intervention.