Current Practices, Experiences, and Views in Clinical Hypnosis: Findings of an International Survey.

An online survey of 691 clinicians who use hypnosis was conducted in 31 countries to gain a broad real-world picture of current practices, views, and experiences in clinical hypnosis. Among 36 common clinical uses, stress reduction, wellbeing and self-esteem-enhancement, surgery preparations, anxiety interventions, mindfulness facilitation, and labor and childbirth applications were the most frequently rated as highly effective (each by ≥70% of raters) in the clinicians' own experience. Adverse hypnosis-associated effects had been encountered by 55% of clinicians but were generally short-lived and very rarely judged as serious.

Guidelines for the Assessment of Efficacy of Clinical Hypnosis Applications.

Research on the efficacy of hypnosis applications continues to grow, but there remain major gaps between the science and clinical practice. One challenge has been a lack of consensus on which applications of hypnosis are efficacious based on research evidence. In 2018, 6 major hypnosis organizations collaborated to form the Task Force for Establishing Efficacy Standards for Clinical Hypnosis.

Psychodermatology: An Association of Primary Psychiatric Disorders With Skin.

The association of nervous system with skin is well documented. Many common psychiatric disorders can involve skin either directly or indirectly. We found an association of 13 primary psychiatric disorders leading to dermatological diseases, with association of 2 of 13 considered to be idiopathic.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Hypnotherapy and Skin Disorders.

Mindfulness-based cognitive hypnotherapy integrates mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and hypnotherapy to improve physical, emotional, mental, and/or spiritual aspects of skin disorders. Meditation, including mindfulness meditation, and hypnosis both utilize trance phenomena to help produce focalization and specific improvements in skin disorders through psycho-neuro-endocrine-immunologic mechanisms. Hypnosis, cognitive hypnotherapy, focused meditation, and mindfulness meditation are discussed with respect to improving various skin disorders including acne, acne excoriée, alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis, congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma, dyshidrotic dermatitis, erythema nodosum, erythromelalgia, furuncles, glossodynia, herpes simplex, hyperhidrosis, ichthyosis vulgaris, lichen planus, neurodermatitis, nummular dermatitis, postherpetic neuralgia, prurigo nodularis, pruritus, psoriasis, rosacea, trichotillomania, urticaria, verruca vulgaris, and vitiligo.

Chronic Tender Ulcers on the Calf and Both Forearms.

An elderly woman presented with a 3-month history of nonhealing, tender ulcers involving the right calf and both forearms. She denied any history of similar lesions or trauma. Two trials of oral antibiotics had led to no improvement.

Use of hypnosis, meditation, and biofeedback in dermatology.

Hypnosis utilizes trance to access otherwise inaccessible repressed or unconscious memories and features of the psyche and control of physiology not attainable in the ordinary conscious waking state. Medical uses of hypnosis in dermatology include reducing discomfort from itching or skin pain, altering ingrained dysfunctional habits such as scratching, promoting healing of skin disorders, searching for psychosomatic aspects of skin disorders and alleviating them, and reframing cognitive and emotional dysfunctional patterns related to skin disorders. Meditation uses trance to center and balance.

Spiritual and religious aspects of skin and skin disorders.

Skin and skin disorders have had spiritual aspects since ancient times. Skin, hair, and nails are visible to self and others, and touchable by self and others. The skin is a major sensory organ.

Disseminated histoplasmosis in a renal transplant patient.

Histoplasma capsulatum is a common endemic mycosis. Infection typically goes unnoticed by an individual, but in immunosuppressed patients, it may become disseminated. We report a case of disseminated histoplasmosis occurring 6 weeks after a kidney transplant.

Anxiety reduction using hypnotic induction and self-guided imagery for relaxation during dermatologic procedures.

Many patients experience some degree of anxiety during dermatologic procedures. A prospective, randomized-control trial of hypnotic induction followed by self-guided imagery was conducted with patients in 3 groups: live induction, recorded induction, or control. By 20 minutes into the procedure, there was significantly reduced anxiety reported in the live-induction group compared with the control, whereas reported anxiety in the recorded-induction group was similar to that of the control group.

An unusually large eccrine poroma: a case report and review of the literature.

The eccrine poroma is an uncommon benign neoplasm previously thought to originate solely from the eccrine sweat gland. Initially believed to present on hairless acral surfaces, a more extensive distribution has been described. We report a case of a 55-year-old man with a slowly growing, 6-cm eccrine poroma on the medial aspect of his right foot of 40 years' duration.

Psychodermatological disorders: recognition and treatment.

Many dermatological disorders have a psychosomatic or behavioral aspect. Skin and brain continually interact through psychoneuroimmunoendocrine mechanisms and through behaviors that can strongly affect the initiation or flaring of skin disorders. It is important to consider these mind-body interactions when planning treatments for specific skin disorders in individual patients.

Ideomotor signaling: from divining spiritual messages to discerning subconscious answers during hypnosis and hypnoanalysis, a historical perspective.

Ideomotor movements account for non-conscious motions of the hand held pendulum and Ouija board planchette that once were attributed to external spirits. Chevreul and Carpenter in the mid-1800s pioneered our scientific understanding of ideomotor movements. The intention or thought is transmitted to the motor cortex at a subconscious level, coordinated by the cerebellum, and sent down spinal nerves to the appropriate muscles, inducing micromovements not visible to the naked eye but amplified by the hand held pendulum or by the slow ratchet-like cumulative movements of a finger or other body part.

Relaxation strategies for patients during dermatologic surgery.

Patient stress and anxiety are common preoperatively and during dermatologic procedures and surgeries. Stress and anxiety can occasionally interfere with performance of procedures or surgery and can induce hemodynamic instability, such as elevated blood pressure or syncope, as well as producing considerable discomfort for some patients. Detection of excess stress and anxiety in patients can allow the opportunity for corrective or palliative measures.

Controversies in skin surgery: electrodessication and curettage versus excision for low-risk, small, well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas.

Background: Electrodesiccation and curettage (ED&C) of low-risk, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) generally consumes less time and resources than excision. Review of the literature reveals few recent studies examining cure rates for ED&C in the treatment of low risk cutaneous SCC.

Objective: To evaluate via two retrospective studies the efficacy of ED&C in the treatment of low risk cutaneous SCC.

Psychological interventions in the management of common skin conditions.

The nervous system and the skin develop next to each other in the embryo and remain intimately interconnected and interactive throughout life. The nervous system can influence skin conditions through psychoneuroimmunoendocrine mechanisms and through behaviors. Understanding the pathophysiology aids in selection of treatment plans for correcting the negative effects of the psyche on specific skin conditions.

Topical corticosteroids in dermatology.

Topical corticosteroids are the most commonly prescribed agents in the treatment of dermatologic conditions. They are used primarily as monotherapy or in combination with other agents for enhanced efficacy. Several stronger preparations are now available since their first introduction.

A correlation of allergic contact dermatitis with allergen type and patient categorical variables.

Allergic contact dermatitis is a very treatable disease once it is diagnosed. In this study, statistical analysis was done on 105 patients with allergic contact dermatitis and the data were correlated with allergen type and patient categorical variables. Once allergens were identified, patients were advised to practice avoidance of the identified allergens.

Therapeutic management of psychodermatological disorders.

Background: The skin and the brain interact through psychoneuroimmunoendocrine mechanisms and through behaviors that can strongly influence the initiation or flaring of skin disorders.

Objective: To obtain knowledge of these factors to assist in designing treatment plans for specific skin disorders.

Methods: Psychocutaneous disease literature for the past 80 years was reviewed.