With uncomfortable and embarrassing symptoms ranging from diarrhoea and constipation to bloating and abdominal pain, many people are too embarrassed to seek help.

Although the disorder of IBS is not a serious one, the symptoms and pain can be very severe.

For more than 25 years hypnotherapy was thought to help the presenting symptoms of IBS.

Now researchers at the University of Manchester believe it may be a cure for the condition after trials showed a 70 per cent success rate.

The research by Peter Whorwell, Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology in the university's medical school and director of the South Manchester Functional Bowel Service, showed that seven out of ten of the 60 IBS patients tested benefited from hypnosis sessions.

"IBS is ideal for treatment with hypnosis, as there is no structural damage to the body," explains Professor Whorwell.

"During the hypnotherapy treatment, sufferers learn how to influence and gain control of their gut function and then seem to be able to change the way the brain modulates their gut activity."

With a success-rate of about 70 per cent, Professor Whorwell believes that, although labour-intensive, hypnotherapy could be an extremely effective treatment for the condition; and a less expensive alternative to new, costly drugs coming onto the market.

Pam Jackson, member of the National Council of Hypnotherapists and a member of the Register of IBS Hypnotherapists, based in Leeds says one theory as to why hypnotherapy works so effectively for IBS is that by making people less anxious, it in some way makes the bowel less sensitive thereby reducing symptoms.

She has been using hypnotherapy on IBS patients for six years and says she has helped many people overcome their IBS and return to leading a normal life.

"I have been amazed by the results. People come to see me who have been suffering from IBS for years, many had been taking drugs for years and still had the symptoms," says Pam who became a hypnotherapist 10 years ago at the age of 50.

"They have five sessions over three months and at the end of the three months every single one has seen an improvement and most have been cleared completely and they are all off drugs."

Each session, which costs £50, lasts for about an hour after which the client is sent home with a CD of Pam's voice which they have to listen to every day. After a week, they have the second session and a new CD and that continues for five sessions.

She says it is all about relaxation, imagery and positive suggestion; they are told to imagine their body being healed.

Pam also asks them about their diet.

She says she also sees a pattern in the type of person who comes to her for help with IBS.

"They tend to be kind and sensitive people," she says.

n For more information on IBS and hypnotherapy contact Pam Jackson on 0113 216 5258 / 07811 029520 .

IBS: The Facts

IBS is a chronic disorder, featuring recurrent abdominal pain and intermittent diarrhoea and constipation.

It most commonly affects people between the ages of 20 and 30 and is twice as common in women as in men.

The syndrome can be divided into four types depending on which is the main symptom – abdominal pain, diarrhoea, constipation or diarrhoea alternating with constipation.

The incidence of the condition in the general population is estimated to lie somewhere between 10 per cent and 20 per cent.