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The Effect of Non-contact Therapeutic Touch on the Healing Rate of Full Thickness Dermal Wounds. Daniel P. Wirth, M.S., J.D.
The effect of Noncontact Therapeutic Touch (NCTT) on the rate of surgical
wound healing was examined in a double-blind study. Full-thickness dermal wounds
were incised on the lateral deltoid region using a skin punch biopsy instrument,
on healthy subjects randomly assigned to treatment or control groups. Subjects
were blinded both to group assignment and to the true nature of the active
treatment modality in order to control placebo and expectation effects.
Incisions were dressed with gas-permeable dressings, and wound surface areas
were measured on Days 0, 8, and 16 using a direct tracing method and
digitization system. Active and control treatments were comprised of daily
sessions of five minutes of exposure to a hidden Therapeutic Touch practitioner
or to sham exposure. Results showed that treated subjects experienced a
significant acceleration in the rate of wound healing as compared to non-treated
subjects at day 8 (Mann-Whitney U; z = -5.675; n = 44; p<.001; 2
tailed), and at day 16 (X2 = 16.847, df = 1; p<.001). Statistical
comparisons are dominated by the complete healing of 13 of 23 treated subjects
vs. 0 of 21 control subjects by day 16. Placebo effects and the possible
influences of suggestion and expectation of healing were eliminated by isolating
the subjects from the Therapeutic Touch practitioner, by blinding them to the
nature of the therapy during the study, and by the use of an independent
experimenter who was blinded to the nature of the therapy. The findings of this
study demonstrate, at least, the potential for NCTT in the healing of
full-thickness human dermal wounds.
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