Touch is ubiquitous throughout our lives. As newborns, it’s the first sense to develop, and it provides much of our initial knowledge of the world. As we grow, we experience touch in a myriad of forms: cuddling, hugging, kissing, massage, and even petting a stuffed animal.
A group of researchers from Germany and the Netherlands set out to better understand the effects of touch on our physical and mental well-being. Earlier this month, they published a systematic review in the journal Nature Human Behavior.
Their review includes 212 studies in which scientists compared the benefits of touch versus not having touch on a wide variety of physical and mental health outcomes. For part of the paper, the researchers combined results from 137 studies with more than 13,000 participants into a meta-analysis, a statistical analysis that amalgamates the data from separate studies. The other 75 studies in the paper were included in a systematic review, which summarizes all of the available evidence.
Not surprisingly, researchers found that physical touch benefits our mental and physical health, particularly around sleep, heart rate, mood, blood pressure, mobility, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and pain for adults. Touch interventions were most helpful in reducing pain, depression, and anxiety.
For adults who were sick, touch improved their mental health outcomes to a greater degree than their physical health outcomes. It made no difference whether the person doing the touching was known, such as a friend or family member, or a professional, such as a medical provider or massage therapist. Repeated touch sessions led to more improvements for anxiety and pain.
Among newborns, touch led to improvements in cortisol levels, liver enzymes, respiration, temperature regulation, and weight gain. Touch by the newborn’s parents provided significantly more benefits than touch from someone unfamiliar. For newborns, skin-to-skin touch—sometimes called kangaroo care—was more effective, plus touch was most beneficial in stimulating weight gain.
Beyond the combined data, conclusions from individual studies paint a fascinating picture of the power of touch. In one study, women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer experienced significantly less nausea when they received regular, 20-minute massages. For spinal cord injury patients, regular massages led to lower anxiety and depression and increased muscle strength compared to a group that did range-of-motion exercises. Another study found pediatric asthma patients who received regular massages scored better on breathing tests.
The take-home message: Interventions that involve touch are a proven way to boost both physical and mental health.
