Researchers at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, in Chicago evaluated the effectiveness of an inpatient integrative medicine consult service for pain management. Continue reading Results of nonpharmacological approaches to treating pain
Category Archives: Therapeutic Touch
Biofield Therapies: Helpful or Full of Hype?
Researchers from the UCLA Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Los Angeles, California think Reiki, therapeutic touch, and healing touch warrant further research. Continue reading Biofield Therapies: Helpful or Full of Hype?
Non-drug treatments for dementia
Researchers from the University of Leeds, in the UK reviewed the options for caregivers of patients with dementia. Continue reading Non-drug treatments for dementia
Supportive care for chronic fatigue syndrome
Medscape has published a review written by clinicians from around the US.
Let’s focus on 6 supportive care options for chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome, aka chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis. Continue reading Supportive care for chronic fatigue syndrome
Distinguishing between reiki and therapeutic touch
Actually, it’s not that easy to do.
Several years ago, Dr. Pamela Potter was supervising Reiki volunteers at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut as a doctoral candidate in the School of Nursing.
She’s qualified, if anyone is, to distinguish between these two disciplines.
Continue reading Distinguishing between reiki and therapeutic touch
More US hospitals offering CAM
A survey of more than 6000 US hospitals by the American Hospital Association reveals that among 1400 responders, the percentage of hospitals offering at least one CAM service increased from 8% in 1998 to 27% in 2005. Continue reading More US hospitals offering CAM
Healing touch: 31 unsuccessful studies and counting
A few years ago, a review of 30 studies of healing touch concluded, “no generalizable results were found.” In plain English that means there was no disease nor any group of patients with a disease where healing touch was a reliable treatment alternative.
A new study of healing touch in 12 veterans with neuropathic pain and the associated psychological distress from post spinal cord injury comes to the same conclusion.
Continue reading Healing touch: 31 unsuccessful studies and counting
The value of CAM for pain relief during labor
Professor Michel Tournaire and Dr. Anne Theau-Yonneau have reviewed the literature.
Few publications report a statistically significant reduction in labor pain? Here’s what we know about pain relief and other outcomes. I’ll summarize the more familiar options. Continue reading The value of CAM for pain relief during labor