A Critical Assessment of the Cure of Warts by Suggestion

Abstract

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that warts are treatable by hypnotherapy. Seventeen experimental patients with bilateral common or flat warts were hypnotized weekly for five sessions and were told that the warts would disappear on one side only. They were reexamined three months from the time of the first hypnotic session. Seven patients who were untreated were also reexamined at the end of three months. Fifty-three percent of the experimental group improved. No improvement was observed among untreated controls. These findings support the hypothesis that warts respond to hypnotherapy. Whereas specific lesions could not be influenced selectively, the findings suggest that hypnosis has a general effect on host response to the causative virus.

Case Details

Clinical Characteristics

Unilateral disappearance of common warts

Remission Characteristics

Spontaneous resolution

Treatment & Mechanisms

Proposed Remission Mechanisms

Suggestion under controlled conditions

Non-Clinical Treatment

Two forms of suggestion

Additional Notes

Twenty-four of the original 91 patients defaulted without trace after three months; 22 of the remaining 67 lost their warts, but all did so on both sides. No case of unilateral disappearance was seen. It is suggested that these results show that this attempt to charm warts failed and that the cures depended upon spontaneous resolution. With the possible exception of Sinclair-Gieben and Charmers (1959) who used hypnosis (not simple charming) I know of no convincing evidence that charming works.