Massage and Reiki for Symptom Relief in Hospital Patients

Massage and Reiki for Symptom Relief in Hospitalized Patients 

Massage and reiki are two widely used complementary therapies. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of massage and reiki for symptom relief in patients, primarily within the hospital setting. But, first, let’s take a closer look at what massage therapy and reiki are and the premise behind these practices.  

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), massage therapy involves manipulating the body's soft tissues to promote wellness, alleviate pain, or help manage specific health conditions. This is not a new practice. In fact, massage therapy has been used for centuries as a modality to ease pain. There are many different forms of massage, including Swedish, sports, Shiatsu, and Tuina. 

Massage therapy is generally safe. According to the NCCIH, rare harmful effects have been seen, however these primarily involved individuals who were already at increased risk of injury prior to their massage session and individuals who received vigorous massage techniques. It’s important and always advised that you consult with an experienced massage therapist and your personal physician to assess your specific needs and risk profile. 

Reiki is a biofield therapy rooted in Eastern beliefs about energy flow within the body. Practitioners use light touch or hover their hands above a person’s body to direct their energy and facilitate the body's natural healing response.  Initial studies suggest that reiki demonstrates a greater benefit over placebo for addressing clinically relevant levels of anxiety, stress, and depression in the outpatient setting, with no significant side effects noted. 

Now that you have a basic understanding of massage therapy and reiki, let’s look at a study that explored the effects of these modalities on hospitalized patients. 

This study, which was published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (2018), examined symptom relief in hospitalized patients following a single session of either massage or reiki. The impetus of this study was that various publications already exist demonstrating the benefits of massage and reiki, primarily in post-operative surgical and cancer patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of these therapies on hospitalized patients, regardless of their diagnosis.  

In this study, hospitalized patients in a 396-bed rural medical center in the United States were referred to the healing arts team, either by their clinical team or self-referred. The healing arts team then offered either massage therapy or reiki sessions based on individual needs and preferences. On average, sessions were 20-minutes in duration. A slow and gentle massage technique was used with a scented aromatherapy lotion (lavender and orange). Reiki was performed with a “hands-on” technique.  

Patients completed pre- and post-therapy surveys rating symptoms on a 0-10 scale. This study was completed over a 5-year period and included 1585 patient encounters. The age of patients ranged from 3-92 years, with an average age of 53.  

Results showed that both massage and reiki led to improvements in pain, nausea, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and overall well-being, with reiki demonstrating greater improvements than massage in relieving fatigue and anxiety. 

This study expands on another one that was published in 2004 that examined similar symptoms in oncology patients who received massage therapy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This study involved 1,290 oncology patients over a three-year period who received either inpatient or outpatient massage therapy for symptom control. Patients were either referred by their healthcare team or self-referred. They completed pre- and post-treatment surveys scoring their symptoms of pain, fatigue, anxiety, nausea, or depression on a 0-10 scale. Inpatient sessions were 20-minutes in duration, and outpatient sessions were 60 minutes. Results demonstrated an improvement in all symptoms surveyed, with more significant improvements noted in outpatients. 

These studies show promising results on the use of massage and reiki as complementary therapies for symptom relief in hospitalized patients, specifically with regards to symptoms of pain, fatigue, nausea, anxiety, and depression.  

These studies, like many others evaluating complementary therapies, are limited with regards to the challenges in controlling for therapist experience, duration and style of treatments (patient-directed), and patient bias (since patient’s were able to self-refer, they may have self-selected already perceiving a benefit in these modalities). Further research with controlled trials is needed to gain better understanding and more data on these modalities of healing.  

Resources: 

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/reiki 

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/providers/digest/massage-therapy-for-health-science 

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/massage-therapy-what-you-need-to-know 

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Vergo MT, Pinkson BM, Broglio K, Li Z, Tosteson TD. Immediate Symptom Relief After a First Session of Massage Therapy or Reiki in Hospitalized Patients: A 5-Year Clinical Experience from a Rural Academic Medical Center. J Altern Complement Med. 2018 Aug;24(8):801-808. doi: 10.1089/acm.2017.0409. Epub 2018 Apr 5. PMID: 29620922; PMCID: PMC6422004. 

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