Touch therapies for pain relief in adults

So, Pui Shan; Jiang, Jianfa; Qin, Ying

doi:10.1002/14651858.cd006535.pub2

Cited by 77 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The changes found by Olson et al [15] were similar, as they were significant for 2 out of 5 days only and the most significant change was a 1.2 reduction on a 10-point VAS. These results were in line with the conclusion of a Cochrane-review about the effects of energy healing on pain [20], where the mean effects of energy healing on pain were found to be 0.83 on a 10 point VAS. The results of the trials included by So et al [20] were consistent but marginal; however, So et al did not discuss possible publication bias.…”

Section: Potential Effect Parameters For Energy Healingsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…These results were in line with the conclusion of a Cochrane-review about the effects of energy healing on pain [20], where the mean effects of energy healing on pain were found to be 0.83 on a 10 point VAS. The results of the trials included by So et al [20] were consistent but marginal; however, So et al did not discuss possible publication bias. Publication bias should be discussed, in particular when findings are marginal, as it is more likely that studies with significant findings are published than those with non-significant findings [21].…”

Section: Potential Effect Parameters For Energy Healingsupporting

confidence: 89%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Energy Healing for Cancer: A Critical Review

Agdal¹,

Hjelmborg²,

Johannessen³

2011

Forsch Komplementmed

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: This article explores the evidence base of efficacy and effectiveness of ‘energy healing’ for cancer patients. The term ‘energy healing’ refers to a wide variety of therapies which are based on the premise that the healer transfers energy to the patient. Among the most researched forms of energy healing are reiki, therapeutic touch and healing touch. Material and Methods: PubMed, AMED, JStor, Social Science Citation Index and PsycInfo databases were searched, and articles were rated according to the SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) quality scale. Six quantitative and two qualitative studies on the efficacy and effectiveness of energy healing for cancer patients met the inclusion criteria. Results: None of the studies are of a size or quality that allows to draw reliable conclusions. The results of the studies are, however, interesting and should be considered when developing new studies and hypotheses on working mechanisms. Conclusion: The existing research does not allow conclusions regarding the efficacy or effectiveness of energy healing. Future studies should adhere to existing standards of research on the efficacy and effectiveness of a treatment, and given the complex character of potential outcomes, cross-disciplinary methodologies may be relevant. To extend the scope of clinical trials, psychosocial processes should be taken into account and explored, rather than dismissed as placebo.

show abstract

Section: Potential Effect Parameters For Energy Healingsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Potential Effect Parameters For Energy Healingsupporting

confidence: 89%

Energy Healing for Cancer: A Critical Review

Agdal¹,

Hjelmborg²,

Johannessen³

2011

Forsch Komplementmed

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The overlap between the physical and social pain systems means that we may be able to use touch, a physical intervention, to alleviate the pain of exclusion. A recent meta-analysis finds that touch can indeed relieve physical pain (So, Jiang, & Qin, 2008). Therefore, we propose that touch may mitigate the pain of exclusion thereby increasing prosocial behavior.…”

mentioning

confidence: 81%

Touching a Teddy Bear Mitigates Negative Effects of Social Exclusion to Increase Prosocial Behavior

Tai

Zheng

Narayanan

2011

Social Psychological and Personality Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is little empirical research to date that looks at how the deleterious effects of social exclusion can be mitigated. We examined how touching an inanimate object—a teddy bear—might impact the effect of social exclusion on prosocial behavior. Across two studies, we found that socially excluded individuals who touched a teddy bear acted more prosocially as compared to socially excluded individuals who just viewed the teddy bear from a distance. This effect was only observed for socially excluded participants and not for socially included (or control) participants. Overall, the findings suggest that touching a teddy bear mitigates the negative effects of social exclusion to increase prosocial behavior. In Study 2, positive emotion was found to mediate the relationship between touch and prosocial behavior. These results suggest a possible means to attenuate the unpleasant effects of social exclusion.

show abstract

“…Touch therapy is more or less codified (healing touch, therapeutic touch, Reiki) and is consistently associated with a special surrounding that can be considered as having a ''non-specific'' psychological influence. A meta-analysis of studies conducted on touch therapy for pain [63] includes only one inconclusive study [64] on tension type headache. Therefore, no conclusion about the specific effect of touch on headache can be drawn.…”

Section: Prophylactic Treatment and Placebo Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Placebo and other psychological interactions in headache treatment

Autret

Valade

Debiais

et al. 2012

Deutsche Zeitschrift für Akupunktur

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present a theory according which a headache treatment acts through a specific biological effect (when it exists), a placebo effect linked to both expectancy and repetition of its administration (conditioning), and a nonspecific psychological effect. The respective part of these components varies with the treatments and the clinical situations. During antiquity, suggestions and beliefs were the mainstays of headache treatment. The word placebo appeared at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Controversies about its effect came from an excessive interpretation due to methodological bias, inadequate consideration of the variation of the measure (regression to the mean) and of the natural course of the disease. Several powerful studies on placebo effect showed that the nature of the treatment, the associated announce, the patients' expectancy, and the repetition of the procedures are of paramount importance. The placebo expectancy is associated with an activation of pre-frontal, anterior cingular, accumbens, and periacqueducal grey opioidergic neurons possibly triggered by the dopaminergic meso-limbic system. In randomized control trials, several arms design could theoretically give information concerning the respective part of the different component of the outcome and control the natural course of the disease. However, for migraine and tension type headache attacks treatment, no three arm (verum, placebo, and natural course) trial is available in the literature. Indirect evidence of a placebo effect in migraine attack treatment, comes from the high amplitude of the improvement observed in the placebo arms (28% of the patients). This figure is lower (6%) when using the harder criterium of pain free at 2 h. But these data disregard the effect of the natural course. For prophylactic treatment with oral medication, the trials performed in the last decades report an improvement in 21% of the patients in the placebo arms. However, in these studies the duration of administration was limited, the control of attacks uncertain as well as the evolution of the co-morbid psychopathology. Considering the reviews and meta-analysis of complex prophylactic procedures, it must be concluded that their effect is mostly linked to a placebo and non-specific psychological effects. Acupuncture may have a slight specific effect on tension type headache, but not on migraine. Manual therapy studies do not exhibit difference between manipulation, mobilization, and controls; touch has no proven specific effect. A comprehensive efficacy review of biofeedback studies concludes to a small specific effect on tension type headache but not on migraine. A review of behavioral treatment conclude to an interesting mean improvement but did not demonstrated a specific effect with the exception of a four arm study including a pseudo meditation control group. Expectation-linked placebo, conditioning, and non-specific psychological effects vary according clinical situations and psychological context; likely low in RCT, high after anempathic...

show abstract

Touch therapies for pain relief in adults

Abstract: Touch therapies may have a modest effect in pain relief. More studies on HT and Reiki in relieving pain are needed. More studies including children are also required to evaluate the effect of touch on children.

Cited by 77 publications

References 47 publications

Energy Healing for Cancer: A Critical Review

Energy Healing for Cancer: A Critical Review

Touching a Teddy Bear Mitigates Negative Effects of Social Exclusion to Increase Prosocial Behavior

Placebo and other psychological interactions in headache treatment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About