Hypnotherapy In Dermatology – Can Hypnosis Be Used To Combat Dermatologic Disorders?

Never has there been a time in which so many people young and old are constantly accessed with the way their skin looks. While it is important to have healthy skin, the two billion-dollar industry used to treat and prevent their ecology issues continues to boom with varying results. Can perfect skin ever be achieved? The issue is exacerbated is by a person who has dermatologic disorders. This article will highlight how hypnosis can be used as a complementary therapy for dermatologists to combat disorders of the skin.

In the January 2014 issue of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, researchers studied how hypnosis could effectively be used to treat a candidate dealing with Morgellons disease. This disease can be quite debilitating as an individual has to deal with skin lesions that can be very painful. These growths bolt out of the skin and can make the skin feel like it is burning and stinging atthe same time. In addition to the physical discomfort, anxiety and depression are at the high-end of the emotional scale.

For three months involving weekly sessions in 2009, a female candidate was given six clinical hypnotherapy sessions that lasted for sixty minutes. Since there is limited research with regards to the treatment of this disease, she was open to alternative methods to get over her condition. She was also given self-hypnosis audio to listen to while she was not under supervision.   Remarkably, this candidate had a significant change in emotional well-being at the three month follow-up. She noticed up to a 75% reduction in her levels of anxiety when dealing with this disease. Equally as important was the fact that the physical symptoms with regards to her infections were also lessened during this period. Researchers concluded that more research is needed to confirm that clinical hypnosis is a viable complement to dealing with dermatological disorders, but they are making great strides in the right direction.

Hansen’s disease is the clinical term for leprosy which is an infection in the body that is brought on by bacteria. Symptoms of this disease would include a lessened ability to feel the outer extremities of the human body. Poor eyesight as well as an overall weakened immune system is prevalent in the person that has this disease. In the Indian Journal of Dermatology 2014 issue, researchers explored how hypnotherapy could be used as an alternative treatment to help individuals diagnosed with this disorder.

While there is limited research that exists with regards to using hypnotherapy to deal with Hansen’s disease, researchers implemented three hypnotherapy sessions with two hospital patients that had extreme levels of anxiety and depression. Prior to hypnosis sessions, these candidates had extensive treatments using multiple drug therapy methods and vaccinations, but they were not being treated for the mental anguish that they were experiencing.

The first patient that was diagnosed with Hansen’s disease had extreme pain in his lower extremities. He also experiencing incremental pain throughout the week which contributed to his depression for he felt that there was no viable solution in sight. After his third hypnotherapy session, this patient subjectively mentioned that he felt the pain in his body decrease over 70%. Additional hypnotherapy sessions were given every third day and as a result the drugs that the patient was given had also decreased.

The second patient in the study was a female in her mid-30s who was on traditional medicine for at least eight months before considering hypnotherapy sessions. Prior to the sessions, she had experienced deep depression. Her fear levels also elevated since it appeared on the surface that nothing was working. She also mentioned a deep-seated fear that she would spread this disease to her beloved family. This patient also had hypnosis sessions every three days until her psychological levels of depression and anxiety were lowered. As a result, the medical treatment was also lessened after undergoing hypnosis treatment. This patient was also followed for up to two years were she had zero recurrences of symptoms of Hansen’s disease.

Can hypnotherapy be used to also treat patients that are dealing with psoriasis? In this pilot study, researchers sought answers to this question because of the high levels of emotional stress that is associated with this dermatological disorder.

Researchers conducted a trial that lasted for three months working with adults that had chronic levels of psoriasis. Ten random psoriasis patients were chosen and split into two groups. The first group had undergone hypnotherapy sessions with suggestions for improvements to treat their disease while the other group did not receive any hypnotic suggestions at all. After the three-month trial period, all of the patients were given an additional three months of clinical hypnotherapy sessions with major emphasis on improving their bouts with psoriasis.

Not surprisingly, the patients that had a high level of hypnotizability benefited far greater than the candidates who were not as open to being hypnotized. The results were congruent with the initial group that received the hypnotic suggestions as well as the second group. The researchers concluded that hypnosis could be used as a viable alternative treatment to complement candidates that are dealing with psoriasis. While the pilot study only consisted of ten individuals, researchers would like to explore this topic further.

While it is common to want to have perfect skin, it is even more important to those that are experiencing dermatological disorders. Previous research has shown that identifying hypnotherapy as a viable complement to existing traditional treatment should be an ongoing subject that has already showed signs of great promise with measurable results.