Hypnosis as a treatment for alopecia areata

As I mentioned before, every day I venture out onto the world wide web to find and discuss relevant articles and research on hair loss and hair restoration. It's come as a surprise to me how much information and buzz there is about alopecia areata. I always thought that it only affected a sliver of the population, which is definitely not true. Alopecia areata affects more than 5 million people in the US alone, and 1.7 percent of the world-wide population. The cause of alopecia areatea is when a person's hair follicles are mistakenly attacked by a one's own immune system, resulting in the arrest of hair growth.  Alopecia areata usually starts with one or more small, round, smooth bald patches on the scalp and can progress to total scalp hair loss (alopecia totalis) or complete body hair loss (alopecia universalis).

A preliminary study by the American Academy of Dermatology suggest that alopecia areata might be helped with hypnosis.

"Hypnotherapy may enhance the mental well-being of patients with alopecia areata and it may improve clinical outcome," Dr Ria Willemsen, of Free University in Brussels, and colleagues write in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Psychological factors, such as stressful events and psychotrauma, have also been reported to play a role in the onset of the condition, but few studies have looked at the efficacy of psychological treatments.

Willemsen's team explored hypnosis as a treatment for 21 individuals with extensive hair loss on 30 per cent or more of their scalp that had lasted for at least three months. These patients, all of whom previously failed to respond to treatment with steroids, were followed for anywhere from six months to six years.

In most cases, the study participants received hypnosis along with some other medical treatment. During the hypnotherapy sessions, which took place once every three weeks, study participants were given various suggestions, such as to imagine the healing effects of the sun's warmth on their scalp.

After treatment with a minimum of just three to four sessions of hypnotherapy, 12 patients experienced hair growth on at least 75 per cent of their scalp, and nine of these 12 experienced total hair growth, Willemsen and colleagues report.

None of the patients reported any negative side effects due to the hypnotherapy. Yet, five study participants experienced a significant relapse during the follow-up period, four of whom experienced enough hair loss to return them to their pretreatment status, the researchers note.

This sounds like an interesting option to combat alopecia areata. I'll keep you posted on future developments in this new form of alopecia areata treatment.  Read more at:
Hypnosis may improve type of hair loss

You can find more information about about this illness is my alopecia areata category.