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Hypnosis in Dermatology
Hypnosis in Dermatology
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Hypnosis in Dermatology
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Hypnosis in Dermatology
Philip D. Shenefelt, MD, MS
T
HE HYPNOTIC phenom- of suggestion to treat verrucae include
enon has been used since those by Bloch1 and Sulzberger and Wolf.2
ancient times in the form of The precise definition of hypnosis has
trance induction to assist proven to be slippery. Marmer3 defined hyp-
healing. Each of us goes nosis as a psychophysiological tetrad of al-
into spontaneous mild trances daily while tered consciousness consisting of nar-
engrossed in watching television or a rowed awareness, restricted and focused
movie, reading a book or magazine, or oth- attentiveness, selective wakefulness, and
erwise being absorbed in some activity or heightened suggestibility. For more de-
meditation. With proper training, an in- tailed discussion of the definitions of hyp-
dividual can intensify this trance state in nosis, see Crasilneck and Hall4 or Wat-
himself or herself or in another indi- kins. 5 Many myths exist regarding
vidual, and use this heightened focus to hypnosis—too numerous to enumerate and
induce mind-body interactions that help refute here—that overrate, underrate, and
alleviate suffering or promote healing. The distort the true capabilities of hypnosis.
state of altered consciousness known as a
“trance state” may be induced using guided PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGIC
imagery, relaxation, deep breathing, medi- EFFECTS OF HYPNOSIS
tation techniques, self-hypnosis, or hyp-
nosis-induction techniques. Some indi- To what degree hypnosis can affect physi-
viduals are more highly hypnotizable than ological factors such as blood flow and re-
others, but most can obtain some benefit lease of chemical mediators, as opposed
from hypnosis. In dermatologic practice, to a purely psychological response, is of-
hypnosis may help reduce skin pain and ten difficult to measure reliably. Nonethe-
From the Division of
pruritus, ameliorate psychosomatic as- less, many patients note subjective im-
Dermatology and Cutaneous pects of skin diseases, and hasten the reso- provement of symptoms and, in some
Surgery, Department of lution of some skin diseases, including ver- cases, objective reductions in the size,
Internal Medicine, College of ruca vulgaris. Even suggestion, without number, or intensity of skin lesions. The
Medicine, University of South formal trance induction, can be effective exact psychophysiologic mechanisms by
Florida, Tampa. in some patients. Early articles on the use which hypnosis induces improvement are
Time Interval
A MEDLINE search was conducted from January 1966 Diagnoses Between Stress
through December 1998 on key words related to hyp- Emotionally Occurrence and
nosis and skin disorders. Hypnosis was searched as Diagnosis Triggered, % Clinical Change
a MeSH category, and “hypnosis” and “hypnotic” as Hyperhidrosis 100.0 Seconds
title and abstract words. Names of specific skin dis- Neurotic excoriations 97.5 Seconds
eases were searched as MeSH categories, and as title Lichen simplex chronicus 98.4 Days to 2 wk
and abstract words. Boolean “and” combinations of Alopecia areata 96.4 2 wk
hypnosis and hypnotic with names of specific skin Warts, multiple and spreading 94.9 Days
diseases produced relevant references. References ear- Rosacea 94.1 2d
lier than 1966 and book references were obtained from Pruritus 85.7 Seconds
the reference lists that were included in articles. Pref- Lichen planus 81.8 Days to 2 wk
erence was given to articles based on controlled tri- Dyshidrotic hand dermatitis 75.8 2 d for vesicles
als when available. Case reports were included to cover Atopic dermatitis 70.2 Seconds for itching
the use of hypnosis in treating skin diseases when con- Factitial dermatosis 69.2 Seconds
trolled trials had not yet been reported. Urticaria 68.1 Minutes
Psoriasis 62.3 Days to 2 wk
Traumatic dermatitis 55.6 Seconds
Dermatitis not otherwise specified 55.6 Days
Acne vulgaris 55.3 2 d for papules
not fully elucidated. Hypnosis is known to be able to regu- Telogen effluvium 54.7 2-3 wk
late blood flow and other autonomic functions not usu- Nummular dermatitis 51.8 Days
ally under conscious control. The relaxation response that Seborrheic dermatitis 40.6 Days to 2 wk
Herpes simplex and zoster 35.7 Days
occurs with hypnosis also affects the neurohormonal sys-
Vitiligo 33.3 2-3 wk
tems that in turn, regulate many body functions (see the Nail dystrophy 28.5 2-3 wk
discussion and references in the remainder of this sec- Pyoderma and bacterial infections 29.1 Days
tion). Cysts 27.0 2-3 wk
Results of studies6-8 of the effect of hypnosis on im- Warts, single and multiple 17.4 Days
mediate immune responses show the ability of hypno- Contact dermatitis 15.3 2d
Fungal infections 8.7 Days to 2 wk
tized volunteers to significantly decrease the flare reac-
Basal cell carcinoma 0 ...
tion to the histamine prick test (P,.02). The effect of Keratoses 0 ...
hypnotic suggestion on delayed cellular immune re- Nevi 0 ...
sponses was significant on erythema size (P,.02) and
palpable induration (P,.01) in one study,6 but not in oth- *Modified from Griesemer.14 Ellipses indicate no relationship.
ers.9,10 However, even simple suggestion has been shown11
to induce contact dermatitis in an area not touched by
lacquer tree allergen but believed by sensitized individu- vide immediate and long-term analgesia, reduce symp-
als to have been so touched; the same individuals did not toms related to disease such as pruritus, improve
react when actually touched by lacquer tree allergen but recovery from surgery, and facilitate the mind-body
believed that they had not been so touched (P,.01). Simi- connection to promote healing. Hypnosis can be an
larly, using hypnosis, volunteers in a double-masked pro- especially useful tool for treating skin diseases that
tocol12 who were told to increase their sensitization to 1 have a psychosomatic aspect. Griesemer14 and Griese-
of 2 experimental allergens—dinitrochlorobenzene and mer and Nadelson15 recorded the incidence of emo-
diphenylcyclopropenone—while decreasing it to the other tional triggering of dermatoses in 4576 patients during
showed a significant difference in reactions between al- 1 year (Table 1).
lergens they were told under hypnosis to enhance and Good reference sources for skin disease response to
those they were told to diminish (P,.01). hypnosis are found in the somewhat outdated book by
Results of a study13 of persons with multiple per- Scott,16 and in a chapter on the use of hypnosis in der-
sonality disorder (now called dissociative identity dis- matologic problems in the book by Crasilneck and Hall.4
order) and different allergic responses; dermatologic re- Koblenzer17 also mentions the use of hypnosis in com-
actions; and effects on seizure disorders, pain control, and mon dermatologic problems. An excellent book for pa-
healing in the same individual, depending on the per- tients by Grossbart and Sherman18 discusses mind-body
sonality present, show how much influence the mind can interactions in skin diseases, and includes hypnosis as
have on physiological reactions and disease processes. recommended therapy for a variety of skin conditions.
This study cited similar related differences in physiologi- Some dermatoses that have responded to hypnotherapy
cal responses and disease conditions for some individu- are discussed in the following subsections.
als under hypnosis vs in their normal waking state.
Treatment strategies that include hypnosis may METHODS OF MEDICAL HYPNOTHERAPY
be used to improve healthful behaviors, diminish situ-
ational stress, alleviate phobias (eg, to needles or Hypnosis is a tool, analogous to a scalpel, that is used to
bugs), control harmful habits such as scratching, pro- cut through psychological and behavioral roadblocks to