Introduction
This study deals with the study of Reiki and how it can be effectively used to reduce pain and anxiety in women with abdominal hysterectomies. Reiki is gaining its importance due to its healing effect on patients with anxiety and pain.
Reiki is a relaxation and healing method using hands usually with or without touching the patient’s body. It is the energy transferring method to the patient’s body and helps to correct the imbalances in the body. Reiki is an ancient healing practice believed to have originated 2500 years ago in Tibetan Sutras and now gained much importance in the medical field. It is believed that practitioners have the power to channel a life force through their hands into the patient’s body. It is influenced by the use of hands to strengthen the body which involves mind and body connection. There are many benefits attributed to Reiki.
Some of them include pain management and reduction, relaxation, lowering anxiety, and increasing a feeling of well-being. “Reiki is a hands-on healing and relaxation method that uses ‘universal energy’ (or chi) to both correct energetic imbalances in the body and recharge energetically depleted areas.” (Om reiki center: The energy mechanics, 2008).
Reiki is performed by Reiki practitioners who channel life force energy to their patients. Specific hand movements and positions are used as a part of treatment. They set a stage for Reiki healing and are continued at the appropriate levels.
Significance
Reiki is using widely in the medical field to reduce the pain and anxiety of the women associated with their major surgery or major diseases. Reiki helps to treat health problems and helps to enable patients to feel relaxed and with improved mental and physical well-being. It has been proved that Reiki helps to reduce heart rate, blood pressure and helps boost the immune system. Reiki is proved to be very efficient in the treatment of depression, treating anxiety, and reducing physical pain.
This technique helps to know the practitioner to know the areas of imbalance or energy disruption and thus helps them to reduce the patient’s negative feelings or emotions or physical pain. During treatment, the hands of the practitioners are moved in different directions just two or five inches above the patient’s body. Research indicates that the human body adapts to relaxation techniques and is very helpful in curing and healing the problems connected to health. Now a day’s importance of healing touch practice is recognized by medical practitioners. It is proved that this conventional therapy improves the overall health of the patients.
According to the study, the thirty-minute session group reported significant pain reduction. There is strong evidence from the investigation that Reiki can be used as a therapy for pain management. One of the possibilities of this treatment is management and reduction of pain. In the study of comparison of the experimental group, it is reported that patients who took Reiki treatment have less pain compared to the traditional nursing care without three 30 minute sessions of Reiki Treatment.
Weakness
Generally, patients will feel relaxed and energized after the Reiki treatment. But sometimes patients may get a headache or stomach ache or tired due to the healing crisis. According to the paper, Reiki sessions will bring about certain vibrations in the body. This will help release toxins in the body which will eventually be flushed out by the liver and kidney. However this is a good sign that body is cleaning as a part of the healing process and this discomfort can be overcome by drinking a lot of water, having light meals, and taking appropriate rest.
It is really hard to tell how many hours of treatment are required for the patients before the actual treatment. But the main problem is that Reiki treatment is mostly available outside mainstream healthcare. There is no proper research and finding of the treatment and are not recognized its advantages properly. There is no appropriate test and experiments conducts to know its advantages mainly due to the lack of research and development programs in Reiki treatment.
Hysterectomy
During hysterectomy operations, the procedure is the removal of the ovary and uterus due to fibroids, cancer, or other disorders. Usually, it is the last treatment procedure in women’s having a dysfunctional reproductive system and is better to be done only after 50 – 55 years of age. Due to hysterectomy, women may feel that they lost their feminine nature and become so much depressed.
Even before hysterectomy women will experience depression and anxiety and are prone to a bad situation. Depression will get increased after a hysterectomy. To cure their physical and mental agony Reiki can be considered as an effective treatment method for reducing their tensions as it is an important part of the treatment procedure. After hysterectomy there might be physical changes and other emotional changes will occur frequently.
Again the changes will automatically appear in patients when ovaries are removed. Ovaries produce estrogen as well as other important hormones such as androgens, anandamide, opiates, and other chemicals which are part of the female reproductive organ and is having a major role in a woman’s overall health and well-being. But hysterectomy damages the entire system thus involves a nervous disorder, hormone imbalances, and other emotional disorders creating their life a burden. It can be done only in unavoidable cases and proper care must be taken care to avoid depression-related problems.
Reiki is here advisable for overcoming their emotional problems and helps to adjust their body imbalances to a great extent. Reiki treatment can be taken before and after the hysterectomy, operations to control the mood swings of female patients. Otherwise, it may worsen the situation with all side effects of hysterectomy. There will be physical changes and emotional disturbances but emotional disturbances can be better controlled by traditional healing techniques like Reiki. It is proved that it is very helpful in reducing anxieties and associated problems.
Implications and Recommendations
Reiki is proved to have many therapeutic benefits and can be used as a stress reduction program for healthcare practitioners. Nurses can be appointed specially for using Reiki on their patients to decrease pain, depression, and negative feelings. Reiki is an effective way to improve depressed women patients and evidence is there in recovering from depression. So it can be used in managing depressed patients.
Reiki must be part of the mainstream healthcare hospital so that there can be applied and research can be done to make it more useful.
Conclusion
The purpose of the study has been clearly defined in the paper. The purpose was to find if Reiki is considered an effective way to reduce the pain and anxiety of women with abdominal hysterectomies. It is not using widely but is proved as an effective method in reducing pain and tensions. However, it is not gained much importance in major health care hospitals. Empirical evidence is available on the benefits of Reiki is limited due to the lack of proper research and study in the hospitals. In the experimental study report, it is shown that women who have undergone Reiki treatment have experienced less pain compared to women without it.
It can be said that more research is needed to further understand and prove the effects of this treatment. Research can be conducted further for the optimum utilization of healing treatment among the patients. Apart from clearly stating the purpose of the study, the authors do not seem to have designed specific research questions. For example, they could have stated that there is no evidence (till this study) that Reiki is effective for pain management in the specific instance of hysterectomy.
They could have then argued that this study is to prove the effectiveness of Reiki in this specific instance. Literature from the previous study has been used extensively regarding the topics of energy fields and body energy. But no mention of any literature regarding the presence of an energy field coming from the hand of a Reiki practitioner has been provided.
The writer of this paper understands that there is still no specific instrument invented that can measure something like energy fields (the life energy of Reiki) coming from the hands of a practitioner. There is the possibility that energy might be generated from Reiki practitioners, but scientific proof is still needed to establish this. On the whole, the literature used to validate other points (apart from the above point regarding scientific measuring of energy) has been from reputed journals and books and is peer-reviewed. The authors of such literature are also well qualified to write about their expertise.
The design, sapling, data collection, etc done in the paper have been done scientifically and according to established practices. It can be said that the main and perhaps the only drawback of the paper is to establish a connection between the Reiki practitioners and the energy from his hands. In such a case, the relief even though genuine will not stand up to scrutiny in a scientific setting. The scientific community will most probably say that it is a mere coincidence. As suggested by the authors, more extensive studies will be required. If a device for measuring energy is available, then acceptance of this form of treatment by the medical community will be much greater.
Reference
Om reiki center: The energy mechanics. (2008). Om-reiki.com. Web.