Hypnotherapy news - hair loss

Hypnotherapy may help restore
stress-linked hair loss

Posted August 2006

Research in Belgium suggests hypnotherapy may help people suffering from alopecia areata - an autoimmune disease which causes sudden smooth, circular patches of hair loss.

The study has been conducted at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (Free University) with the preliminary findings published in the August 2006 edition of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

It was headed by Dr Ria Willemsen whose team provided hypnotherapy over a period of at least three months to 21 patients with extensive hair loss on 30 per cent or more of their scalp.

Alopecia areata can affect any part of the body which has hair - and it affects an estimated one million people in the United Kngdom. It is an auto-immune hair loss disease which means the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the hair follicles, preventing them from growing.

Psychological factors - such as stressful events or psycho trauma - have been reported as playing a role in its onset. However there have been relatively few studies examining the efficacy of psychological interventions.

The 21 patients selected by Dr Willemsen’s team had previously all failed to respond to treatment with steroids. Most of those taking part in the trial received hypnosis together with other form of medical treatment.

Dr Ria Willemsen

During the hypnotherapy sessions the patients were given suggestions such as being asked to imagine the healing effects of the sun's warmth on their scalps.
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After treatment with a minimum of just three to four sessions of hypnotherapy, 12 patients experienced hair growth on at least 75 percent of their scalp, and nine of these 12 experienced total hair growth.

Dr Willemsen explained: "Hypnotherapy may enhance the mental well-being of patients with alopecia areata and it may improve clinical outcome,"

None of the patients reported negative side effects from the hypnotherapy though during the follow-up period, five patients experienced significant relapses - with four returning to their pre-treatment status.

Measures of patients’ psychological symptoms after hypnotherapy showed that all those for whom data was analysed had reductions in phobias, hostility and interpersonal sensitivity. They also scored lower on items that specifically looked at symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Example of alopecia areata

The way in which hypnotherapy may succeed in stimulating hair growth remains unclear but earlier research indicated hypnotic suggestions can improve blood flow in the scalp, linked to an actual increase in blood flow and skin temperature.

Dr Willemsen and her team have speculated that hypnosis may also indirectly lead to certain immune system changes.

However the report added the cautionary note that because most of the patients who underwent hypnotherapy received it as an add-on treatment "it is not possible to evaluate how much of the changes and improvement in the hair growth was caused by the hypnotic interventions."

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