A study published in the November/December 2016 issue of Holistic Nursing Practice was conducted to determine the effects of reiki on pain and vital signs when reiki was applied for 15 minutes to the incision area of the body after cesarean section surgery.
In the single-blinded, randomized, double-controlled study, 45 patients were randomly assigned to reiki, sham reiki (placebo), and control groups. The treatment was applied for 15 minutes to the incision area of the body in the first 24 and 48 hours after the operation, and within 4–8 hours of the application of standard analgesics.
A reduction in pain was determined in the reiki group patients, who were also observed to use fewer analgesics throughout the study and to need them after a longer time than the sham reiki and control groups.
According to the study authors, “Reiki applied for 15 minutes to the incision area after a cesarean operation had the expected effects on pain and the need for the use of analgesics, but it had no effect on vital signs.”
Read the abstract at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27763932.