Healing Touch

We did not find any published evidence that healing touch has been studied for improving treatment outcomes.

What is your body terrain? ›

• Preliminary evidencesignificant effects in small or poorly designed clinical studies OR conflicting results in adequate studies but a preponderance of evidence of an effect (this is the CancerChoices definition; other researchers and studies may define this differently) of less decline in immune system function during chemotherapy among people with cervical cancer receiving healing touch

See How can healing touch help you? What the research says ›

Evidence of benefit

• Preliminary evidencesignificant effects in small or poorly designed clinical studies OR conflicting results in adequate studies but a preponderance of evidence of an effect (this is the CancerChoices definition; other researchers and studies may define this differently) of less depression or mood disturbance among people with cancer receiving healing touch
• Preliminary evidence of less fatigue and pain among children with cancer and their parents and caregivers receiving healing touch
• Preliminary evidence of less pain during radiotherapy or chemotherapy among people with cancer receiving healing touch
• Preliminary evidence of less stress among people with cancer, including children, and also parents and caregivers of children with cancer receiving healing touch
• Preliminary evidence of better psychosocial measures and a shorter hospital length of stay among people undergoing stem cell transplant treated with either healing touch or relaxation therapy

No evidence of an effect

• No evidence of an effectoverall, one or more studies did not demonstrate that a treatment or intervention led to an expected outcome; this does not always mean that there is no effect in clinical practice, but that the studies may have been underpowered (too few participants) or poorly designed. Larger, well-designed studies provide more confidence in making assessments. on quality of life during chemotherapy or radiotherapy among people receiving healing touch in a small study
• No evidence of an effect on quality of life among people with cancer in hospice receiving healing touch in a preliminary study

See How can healing touch help you? What the research says ›

We did not find any published evidence that healing touch has been studied for cancer risk.

• Recommendations for use in some clinical practice guidelines

See How do experts use healing touch? ›

• Generally safe, with only preliminary evidencesignificant effects in small or poorly designed clinical studies OR conflicting results in adequate studies but a preponderance of evidence of an effect (this is the CancerChoices definition; other researchers and studies may define this differently) of more fatigue during radiotherapy among people receiving healing touch

See Safety and precautions ›

• Widely available without restriction and inexpensive (less than $500 US/year, depending on frequency of use)

See Affordability and access ›