Touch medicine: Researchers recommend new medical discipline

Neuruppin, 23 May 2024

A hug, a massage or other social or professional forms of physical touches have a positive effect on well-being and health. Researchers of international renown have published a paper where they suggest the establishment of a new medical specialty: touch medicine. Prof. Dr. Bruno Müller-Oerlinghausen, one of the authors, holds a senior professorship of clinical pharmacology at the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB). He says that this innovative approach aims to close the gap between recent findings in touch research and clinical medicine, and to tap the potential of human contact through touch as a therapeutic tool for various medical specialties.

Expanded research in touch medicine

Interpersonal contact through touch, i.e. skin to skin, has long been recognized as a basic sensory experience of decisive significance for enhancing social bonds and general well-being. The discovery of specific thin nerve fibers in the skin of mammals that are crucial in perceiving emotional touches like caresses have resulted in increased research on affective touch in recent decades. Touches of emotional significance trigger a chemical reaction via specific receptors in the skin and have a positive impact on health and well-being. Numerous research findings document the effectiveness of the professional touch (e.g. in the form of psychoactive massage); but the integration of touch-based therapies in clinical practice remains limited so far.  

The authors – all of them experts in touch research, two of them active at the MHB – underline the profound effect of touch on psychosocial and physical health. Studies have associated a lack of affectionate touch in childhood with negative effects on later phases in life, while professional techniques of physical contact have been shown to be effective in the prevention and treatment of various disorders.

One research focus of Prof. Müller-Oerlinghausen and Michael Eggart (both MHB) is on the application of such treatments to depressive patients. Controlled trials and analyses of earlier studies have highlighted the antidepressant, anxiolytic and analgesic effects of specific massage techniques. Current international research is exploring the action mechanisms of such touches which have a positive influence on the sum of continuous signals from inside the human body, stimulate hormonal response (e.g. release of oxytocin), harmonize stress regulation and have a positive impact on other psychological factors.

Fields of application in numerous areas

Prof. Müller-Oerlinghausen underlines that touch medicine is not limited to a single discipline but is an interdisciplinary undertaking with a wide range of other possible applications, such as in nursing. Numerous specialties, like neonatology (preterm infants, ill newborns), pain medicine, anesthesiology, psychiatry and geriatric medicine, might profit from an integration of touch-based interventions into clinical practice. This is a matter of particular concern to the national association of touch medicine (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Berührungsmedizin e.V.). Clinical psychology and psychosomatic medicine are further disciplines where these findings may be used to improve patient care.

Prof. Müller-Oerlinghausen calls the establishment of touch medicine “a paradigm shift in healthcare that acknowledges the enormous significance of human touch for the promotion of a holistic health concept. Research is making advances in this emerging field, whereas the potential to transform clinical practice at this point in time and thus to improve treatment outcomes is enormous.”

Scientific contact:
Prof. Dr. Bruno Müller-Oerlinghausen
Senior professor (MHB), clinical pharmacology
First chairman, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Berührungsmedizin e.V.
Phone: 030 23362940
E-Mail: Bruno.Mueller-Oerlinghausen@mhb-fontane.de

This article is based on the recently published paper: McGlone, F., Uvnäs Moberg, K., Norholt, H., Eggart, M., & Müller-Oerlinghausen, B. (2024). Touch medicine: Bridging the gap between recent insights from touch research and clinical medicine and its special significance for the treatment of affective disorders. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1390673. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1390673