Energy Medicine

Energy Medicine is a term that refers to any modality that works on manipulating the energetics of a biological system in order to bring it back to homeostasis (Srinivasan 2010).

There are two types including Veritable Energy Medicine which uses mechanical vibration (sound) and electromagnetic radiation (light) to treat and diagnose patients. The other is Putative Energy Medicine which influences the body’s energy field through the use of hands, needles, acupoints, intentions or meditation (Amino Science).

Examples include UV light therapy, pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF), acupuncture, acupressure, reiki, craniosacral therapy, yoga, qi gong and pranic healing (Amino Science).

This blog post will focus on one of the most common of all which is Reiki.

What is Reiki?

Reiki is defined as “a vibrational, or subtle energy, therapy most commonly facilitated by light touch, which is believed to balance the biofield and strengthen the body’s ability to heal itself” (Miles and True 2003).

Reiki is delivered through light touch on a recipient who is fully clothed and either seated or supine. Typically, the hands of the practitioner are placed on or just above 12 different points on the head, front and back of the body (Miles and True 2003).

Reiki is thought to be mutually beneficial to both the recipient and practitioner. Training is thought to be through direct transmission from a Reiki Master. There are three levels of discipline including level 1 which covers light touch, level 2 which involves symbols for treatment to be delivered at a distance and a master level for those who wish to teach the discipline (Miles and True 2003).

The Benefits of Reiki

The documented benefits range from improvements in pain, anxiety, depression, nausea, energy levels and many can be measured through objective scales or physiological outcomes.

Pain: a systematic review published by Avci et al in 2023 included 7 studies and a total of 572 patients. The cohort investigated included those with cancer-related pain. 5 studies showed a statistically significant improvement in pain whilst 2 did not. A meta-analysis published by Dogan in 2018 concluded the same magnitude of benefit when evaluating 4 randomised controlled trials involving over 200 patients.

Depression and Anxiety: The Cochrane Group conducted a review of three studies in three different populations with anxiety and/or depression and were inconclusive as to its benefits or harms (Joyce et al 2015). However, a large-scale single arm effectiveness trial across the USA including over 1000 recipients describes significant improvements in affect, pain, drowsiness, energy, nausea, appetite, shortness of breath, anxiety, depression and overall well-being. (Dyer et al 2019). This was similarly shown in a review by Billot et al published in 2019, Thrane et al published in 2014 and McManus in 2017.

Physiological Changes: Furthermore, when physiological measures are assessed before and after a session of Reiki, significant improvements are seen in haemoglobin and haematocrit (Wetzel et al) and in the markers for stress including salivary cortisol suggesting improvements in autonomic nervous system function.

Conclusions

Reiki appears to be safe to use with most studies indicating a benefit to measurable levels of pain, anxiety, depression and physiological markers that all contribute to reduced stress levels and inflammation.

References

1. Srinivasan T. Energy medicine. Int J Yoga. 2010 Jan;3(1):1. doi: 10.4103/0973-6131.66770. PMID: 20948893; PMCID: PMC2952118.

2. https://aminoco.com/blogs/health/types-of-energy-medicine

3. Miles P, True G. Reiki--review of a biofield therapy history, theory, practice, and research. Altern Ther Health Med. 2003 Mar-Apr;9(2):62-72. PMID: 12652885.

4. Avci A, Gün M. The Effect of Reiki on Pain Applied to Patients With Cancer: A Systematic Review. Holist Nurs Pract. 2023 Sep-Oct 01;37(5):268-276. doi: 10.1097/HNP.0000000000000601. PMID: 37595119.

5. Demir Doğan M. The effect of reiki on pain: A meta-analysis. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2018 May;31:384-387. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.02.020. Epub 2018 Mar 10. Erratum in: Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2021 Aug;44:101423. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2021.101423. PMID: 29551623.

6. Joyce J, Herbison GP. Reiki for depression and anxiety. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Apr 3;2015(4):CD006833. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006833.pub2. PMID: 25835541; PMCID: PMC11088458.

7. Dyer NL, Baldwin AL, Rand WL. A Large-Scale Effectiveness Trial of Reiki for Physical and Psychological Health. J Altern Complement Med. 2019 Dec;25(12):1156-1162. doi: 10.1089/acm.2019.0022. Epub 2019 Oct 22. PMID: 31638407.

8. Billot M, Daycard M, Wood C, Tchalla A. Reiki therapy for pain, anxiety and quality of life. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2019 Dec;9(4):434-438. doi: 10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001775. Epub 2019 Apr 4. PMID: 30948444.

9. Thrane S, Cohen SM. Effect of Reiki therapy on pain and anxiety in adults: an in-depth literature review of randomized trials with effect size calculations. Pain Manag Nurs. 2014 Dec;15(4):897-908. doi: 10.1016/j.pmn.2013.07.008. Epub 2014 Feb 28. PMID: 24582620; PMCID: PMC4147026.

10. McManus DE. Reiki Is Better Than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2017 Oct;22(4):1051-1057. doi: 10.1177/2156587217728644. Epub 2017 Sep 5. PMID: 28874060; PMCID: PMC5871310.

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