Warts Begone!

Of all the things that hypnosis is sometimes useful for, I have long considered it to be most effective in the treatment of warts. This has seemed strange to me since warts are caused by a virus and it is difficult to imagine how hypnotic suggestion can be helpful.

But in my experience it has been successful. Without exception so far as I know. Which admittedly is not very far since I have not kept records and in most cases have had no contact with people I have hypnotized for warts. I recently queried several people whose addresses I happened to have and have received the following response from Dr. Donald McPherson at Indiana University of Pennsylvania:


From: Don McPherson
Date: Feb 10, 2007 10:59 PM
To: Ramelle MaCoy

Ramelle MaCoy wrote:
> I would be grateful if you would give me the history of your plantar warts. In as much detail as you can recall. What you remember...what happened...what you thought and felt at the time...and what you think now.

> Best, Ramelle

Well now, that's outa the blue......

Let's see.... I have no ability to put a firm date on your intervention; it was a LONG time ago. If I had to place a bet, I'd be betting this is post 1974-5 or so, when I first met you personally during the arbitration of my Unit II merit pay grievance in Harrisburg (Lew Gill) and probably pre-1980. I believe it was well before you came to IUP. It may have been some occasion when you performed at IUP.

I know I had already done self-remedies without success.

And I had already had them cut out or frozen by a podiatrist and they'd come back.

Plantar warts had been an early thing with me. I had them on both feet, bad, as a child. I can't put an age on it, but I'd say at 6 or 7. I can remember going with my dad to his podiatrist (whom he saw regularly for foot treatments on war wounds) and having them burned and/or frozen, and being embarrassed at having to wear white socks all the time.


I don't remember if when you intervened I had them on one foot or two; I think one, I think right, and I think outside of the foot.


I don't remember how the notion of your hypnotizing me for them came up. Marty may have been an intermediary but I'm not sure of that. I have the feeling it was relatively impromptu. I think you hypnotized at least one other person for something on the occasion. It was private, though -- not a public performance.


You hypnotized me. I don't remember where. It might have been here in Indiana though I can't recall an event or a place. It might have been 'on the road' at one of those seminars.


I remember nothing of the experience itself. I don't remember what you did or said or what I did other than that you gave me a number which I was to remember. I think I was instructed that if you said that number again I was to do what you told me, or something like that. You gave me instructions on what do do with the warts but I can't recall if I remember your actually giving them to me, as if I were fully conscious while hypnotized when you did, or if I simply remembered them after. I think afterward you had me repeat my number and the instructions to you.

I remember being and reporting after the session being extremely skeptical that I had ever been "under," although I believed you that I had been.

I remember that you instructed me to do something regularly regarding the warts and I don't remember precisely what it was or how often -- it may have been to look at or to touch the warts and may have been daily or every time I looked at my feet.

I remember that I was instructed to think of something when I did that but I don't remember exactly what it was -- I think it may have been to visualize them going away or getting smaller or being gone.

I don't remember if I was to think of my number when doing this.

I remember feeling very confident that it would work. It did work. I can't remember how long it took for them to disappear. But I do recall that there was no doubt they were going away and that it didn't take a lot of time. I remember feeling that it was quite remarkable and showing Linda that they were undoubtedly and amazingly disappearing. I remember that the relatively quick results reinforced my doing whatever you instructed me to do and I did it faithfully.

I know I reported the results or progress to you, but don't remember if that was regularly or only after they'd disappeared and don't remember if you instructed me to report in any particular way or time.

I've done nothing since and they have never come back.

I later told the podiatrist the story of the hypnotism and he said
something like "Hmmm. I've read this can work sometimes. Glad it worked."

I was very grateful to you then. I'm sure I said thanks. I should havedone more. I continue to be very grateful to you and even though I remember so little about the experience, which I will now chalk up to the passage of quite a number of years. Whenever prompted by some discussion of either warts or hypnotism over the years, though, I've always told my story.

Please feel free to correct or complete my recollections; I'd find that very interesting.

My number is 7.

Egad, how'd I do?