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Preterm newborns who receive therapeutic touch from their caregivers appear to fare better than those who do not, according to results of two recently published studies.
Spanish therapeutic touch study
One study was conducted at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Virgen Macarena University Hospital in Seville, Spain. The investigators randomly divided 78 premature infants into two groups: 39 controls and 39 for treatment. Infants in the treatment group received sessions of therapeutic touch from the nursing staff.
When comparing the two groups of infants, those who received therapeutic touch stayed in the hospital for 16.82 days while those in the control group stayed 20.30 days. Complications developed in 5.3 percent of the premature infants in the treatment group and in 20 percent of those in the control group.
Canadian therapeutic touch study
At McMaster’s Children’s Hospital in Ontario, researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind, controlledtrial in two groups of ten premature infants to explore the impact of therapeutic touch on stress. Infants in the treatment group received therapeutic touch for five minutes for three consecutive days; control infants did not receive any treatment.
The investigators measured heart period variability in the infants five minutes before, during, and after each treatment session. Heart period variability is a measure of balance between the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).
Because the PNS develops late in gestation, premature infants have a dominant SNS. An increase in heart period variability is a positive sign in premature infants. The researchers found that infants treated with therapeutic touch had an increase in heart period variability compared with the controls.
About therapeutic touch
Therapeutic touch was developed in the early 1970s by Delores Krieger, RN, PhD, and Dora Kunz, a natural healer. Since then it has been increasingly integrated into nursing practices for people of all ages who are experiencing a wide range of health conditions, including pain, stress, and depression. The practice involves practitioners holding their hands a short distance from a client, without physical contact. Practitioners are believed to detect a patient’s energy field and to be able to move the energy and restore balance to the body.
To find practitioners of therapeutic touch in the Phoenix area, contact the Therapeutic Touch Arizona Network.
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