I began to understand the importance of touch after my first child was born and I studied to become an Infant Massage Instructor. I am an educator, a mother, a friend and a healing therapist.
I believe everyone should have access to comforting physical touch in order to thrive.
The Science
According to an article in the Independent Newspaper ‘research has demonstrated that patients who receive healing touch experience accelerated wound healing and relaxation, pain relief as well as general comfort." In a recent Stanford University report, several studies are showing significant benefits in wound healing, pain and anxiety. The healing power of physical touch can be measured.
Doctors have found, through laboratory tests such as MRIs, that there are evident changes in the patterns of brain activity during touch. Certain types of endorphins are released. These endorphins combat stress hormones, resulting in a sense of relaxation and peace.
Tiffany M. Field, Ph.D., director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami is insistent that when touch moves the skin its more effective. “When you do that, you’re stimulating pressure receptors and those receptors send neurons that go to the vagus nerve,” she explains. One of twelve cranial nerves (those that start in the brain), the vagus nerve helps slow down the central nervous system, putting your body in more of a resting state, which helps lower the stress hormone cortisol, says Field. It can also increase natural “killer cells,” which can strengthen the immune system.
Something else happens when another person touches you: Your levels of serotonin — a neurotransmitter that basically acts as the body’s natural antidepressant and pain reliever — increase, says Field, who has studied this touch response and published her findings. The cortisol-lowering effect that a hug, massage or other form of touch can have on someone who is sick can also offer healing effects. “Cortisol, when up, increases blood pressure, heart rate, and inflammation — it can make healing harder, physically Dr. Lee (Stanford) says. “But when you decrease cortisol, heart rate can go down, blood pressure can go down, and the immune system is more able to do its function. Oxytocin can also aid healing in the sense that it can help you feel like you’re not alone, like you’re socially connected, which helps to improve psychological healing, explains Dr Lee. “When you’re psychologically healthy and anchored, that’s really important in dealing with a major illness.”
It is interesting that the benefits of touch are likely to come from a mix of both a mental reaction (that feeling of inclusion and support) and a physical one (the increase in oxytocin and pain-relieving substances, both of which downregulate the stress response). Another study found that healing touch therapy and massage helped relieve pain in cancer patients. During my own research I came across two main types of touch to heal: therapeutic touch and healing touch. Therapeutic Touch is a specific energy technique developed by Delores Krieger. Healing Touch is a collection of techniques developed and compiled by Janet Mentgen in the early 1980s.
I like the theories that underpin therapeutic touch; that a human being is an open energy system composed of layers of energy that are in constant interaction with self, others, and the environment. That Illness is an imbalance in an individual's energy field. That clearing or balancing the energy field promotes health and particularly, that all humans have natural abilities to heal and enhance the healing in others.
The goal of Therapeutic Touch is to assist the recipient in tapping into their own healing process and to restore wholeness and wellbeing at the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels of the person. Therapeutic Touch does not attempt to cure disease, but rather to stimulate the body's natural healing process. According to Therapeutic Touch texts, the major effects of Therapeutic Touch are a deep relaxation response, reduction of pain and anxiety, and faster wound healing.
I find it really fascinating that touch can actually help people to heal quicker and experience less pain.
Top 10 benefits of comforting physical touch
1.Overall wellbeing- people require human touch to thrive.
2. Connection - feeling connected to another human.
3. Feel good hormones are produced -When we cuddle, hug, or touch hands – our bodies release “feel good” hormones. These hormones include oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin.
4. Mental wellness -fortitude and resilience to continue with our stressful lives.
5. Emotional strength is increased by releasing trauma's/ sadness held in the body.
6. Incredible relaxation - which can extend into the day and also that night's sleep.
7.Promotion of a stronger immune system -physical touch may also decrease disease. According to research conducted at the University of North Carolina, women who receive more hugs from their partners have lower heart rates and blood pressure.
8. Just joy -the joy of being with someone you trust who can hold space for you to talk or just be silent in the moment.
9. Self care -taking time for yourself, to make sure you are the best you can be.
10. Soothing -lots of the touch techniques can be adapted to help you self-soothe away from the sessions