[Pain and hypnosis].

Even though hypnosis is a very old form of therapy, a number of points still need to be made clear. We do know, however, that endorphins are not involved in the pain control process and that hypnosis effects and placebos are quite different. Under the proper conditions, hypnosis is very easy to use, without any risk and without any side effects. The use is more limited in the case of acute pain, because the developments in modern anaesthesia preclude the use of hypnosis in the fields of surgery and dentistry. On the other hand, hypnosis can be helpful for patients suffering from burns, cancer pain, or other chronic pain.