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Erythermalgia Research
Alternative
& Complementary Therapies
Hypnotherapy
& Erythermalgia
Erythermalgia is a disorder
characterised by episodic attacks of reddening of the skin, due to
vasodilation of the dermis. Raised red lesions form which create a painful
burning sensation. The precise cause of this disorder is unknown although
it is believed to be associated with an abnormal immune response.
Researchers at the
Department of Medicine, University Hospital St Radboud, Nijmegen, The
Netherlands studied the effects of hypnotherapy compared with other
conventional treatments on nine children (seven girls and two boys; mean
age 11.6 years) who had severe but transient acute secondary
erythermalgia.
The children had classical
symptoms of episodic attacks of painful burning hands and feet which felt
hot and looked red and inflamed. Each attack lasted for a average period
of 25 days (range from 6 to 56 days). Blood pressure was elevated in seven
of the children.
The results showed that
Intravenous sodium nitroprusside was effective in ameliorating the
symptoms with drop in blood pressure to normal in five patients. However,
hypnotherapy was found to be as effective as pizotifene, labetolol,
prostaglandin E1, helping 4 out of the 9 children. The episodes of acute
secondary erythermalgia were transient in all and did not recur after a
mean follow up period of 1.6 years.
The researchers
suggest that their findings indicate that acute secondary erythermalgia,
however transient, can be associated with mild to moderate hypertension
which may respond to sodium nitroprusside although hypnotherapy has a role
to play in treating this condition.
Drenth JP; Michiels JJ;
Ozsoylu S. Acute secondary erythermalgia and hypertension in children. Eur
J Pediatr (GERMANY) Nov 1995, 154 (11) p882-5
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