Incredible but supposedly true... its appears that people who suffer from a type of hair loss known as alopecia areata might actually benefit from hypnosis according to the results of a study. According to Dr Willemsen from the Free University of Brussels in Belgium Hypnotherapy could improve the mental wellbeing of hair loss suffers with alopecia areata and this in turn could improve the clinical outcome. The research was published by the American Academy of Dermatology's Journal.

Alopecia areata is not like male pattern balding that affects millions of men worldwide but is in fact an auto-immune disease that causes very sudden hair loss in patches on the scalp or on any section of the human body. It is thought to be brought on sometimes by psychological reason such as extreme stress. Most treatments for the condition do not look at the mental aspect but tend to concentrate on the physical aspect of getting the hair loss to stop.

The difference with this research is that it looked at hypnosis as a way of keeping the hair on the head in 21 patients with hair loss of  30% or more on their scalps that had been present for at minimum 3 months. The usual treatment for this condition is the use of steriods had been unsuccessful with all these patients.

The hypnotherapy was often done alongside other treatments and the hypnotherapy sessions were done roughly every 3 weeks. The hypnosis would suggest such effects as the imaginary warmth of the sun healing the scalp and it was noted that after just 3 or 4 sessions 3 participants had hair growing on 75% percent of their heads and scalp 9 had complete hair growth. There were no bad side effects reported but 5 of the patients did note a significant worsening after the follow up period.

The researchers say that more study is needed and admit that they do not know exactly how hypnosis is responsible for hair growth.