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Therapeutic Touch

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What is it?

Therapeutic touch is a practice intended to treat medical conditions, especially pain, anxiety, and stress, by manipulating the “human energy field.”

Practitioners of therapeutic touch believe that the world is an energy system. They believe they can heal medical conditions by unblocking areas of congested energy that hovers just above a person’s skin.

People use therapeutic touch for anxiety and stress. It is also used for asthma, cancer-related pain, insomnia, chronic pain, quality of life, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

It is effective?
Natural Medicines rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate.

Possibly Effective for …

  • Anxiety. Therapeutic touch seems to help reduce anxiety in people with different types of medical conditions.
  • Stress. Therapeutic touch might help reduce stress in some people.

There is interest in using therapeutic touch for a number of other purposes, but there isn’t enough reliable information to say whether it might be helpful.

How does it work?

Is there concern for the safety of its use?
Therapeutic touch is likely safe for most people. There are no known safety concerns.

Special Precautions & Warnings:

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Therapeutic touch is possibly safe when used during pregnancy and breast-feeding. There’s no reason to expect safety concerns.

Children: Therapeutic touch is possibly safe when used in children. There’s no reason to expect safety concerns.

Are there any drug interactions?
It is not known if this treatment interacts with any medicines. Before using this treatment, talk with your health professional if you take any medications.

Are there any interactions with herbs and supplements?
There are no known interactions with herbs and supplements.

Are there any interactions with food?
There are no known interactions with foods.

What dose is used?
Therapeutic touch is an alternative practice that was developed by Dolores Krieger, PhD, RN, in the 1970s. There is no standard training or licensing requirement for practitioners, but it’s most commonly used by nurses.

Therapeutic touch involves three steps. The first step is called “centering,’ in which the practitioner focuses or meditates on the intent to treat the person. The second step is called “assessment,” in which the practitioner moves their hands over the person’s body. The hands never touch the body. The third and final step is “intervention.” During this phase the practitioner moves their hands over the person’s body, without touching it, to unblock areas of congested energy or restore the proper energy balance.

By what other names is the product known?
Energy Healing, Energy Medicine, Energy Work, Médecine Énergétique, Toque Terapéutico, Touch Therapy, Toucher Thérapeutique, Toucher Guérisseur, TT.

Information on this website is for informational use only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. While evidence-based, it is not guaranteed to be error-free and is not intended to meet any particular user’s needs or requirements or to cover all possible uses, safety concerns, interactions, outcomes, or adverse effects. Always check with your doctor or other medical professional before making healthcare decisions (including taking any medication) and do not delay or disregard seeking medical advice or treatment based on any information displayed on this website.

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