The Power of Touch
Do you remember being a kid and having to get a shot at the doctor’s office? What did you want to do in that moment?
I remember instinctively reaching for my mom or dad’s hand. Why is that?
Even now, as an adult, I notice the same reaction. When I’m on an airplane and we hit turbulence, I almost automatically reach for my husband’s hand (or he reaches for mine). Somehow, that simple act has an immediate calming effect.
There’s actually science behind this.
In a study conducted at the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab at the University of Colorado, researchers examined 22 long-term couples who described themselves as “in love.” The couples participated in a series of experiments involving mild heat pain. During the tests, researchers recorded the participants’ pain ratings as well as their heart and breathing rates.
The couples experienced three different conditions:
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holding hands
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sitting side-by-side without touching
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sitting in separate rooms
The results were striking:
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Participants reported the lowest pain levels when holding hands and the highest pain levels when separated in different rooms.
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Before the pain stimulus was introduced, each couple’s heart rate and breathing patterns were naturally synchronized.
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That synchronization remained only when the couples were touching during the painful stimulus.
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Without touch, their physiological rhythms fell out of sync, but when they were instructed to hold hands again, their heart and breathing rates re-synchronized.
The Takeaway
Pain is produced by the brain as a protective mechanism, helping us respond to potential harm. Our skin’s sensory nerves constantly send information to the brain, telling us whether something is hot or cold, sharp or dull, safe or dangerous.
But in moments of discomfort or threat, something as simple as the touch of a loved one, or even their presence nearby, can send positive signals to the nervous system. Those signals can actually influence how we experience pain.
Pretty amazing what a simple human connection can do.
Link to study below:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-03627-7
Omaha Physical Therapy Institute (OPTI) is an outpatient orthopedic and sports physical therapy clinic with it’s main location at 144th & Dodge and it’s Athlete’s In Motion (A.I.M.) Clinic located at 144th & Giles. The physical therapists at OPTI have a passion for learning and stay up to date on the most current pain neuroscience. This has allowed for more efficient and effective care as our treatments always include educating our patients about their pain with strategies to address it at the time of treatment as well as in the future.
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