Hypnotherapy of a child with warts

Hypnosis was used to treat a 7-year-old female with 82 common warts. The lesions had been present for 12-18 months and were refractory to routine dermatologic treatment. Hypnotic suggestions were given for the facial warts to disappear before warts from the rest of the body. After 2 weeks, eight of 16 facial warts were gone, with no other changes. After three additional biweekly sessions, all 82 warts were gone. To the author's knowledge, this is the first reported case of systematic wart removal in children. Discussion focuses on the relationship between psychological mechanisms and the immune system.