• Direct awareness to the area around your heart, bringing to mind something or someone that evokes your love and compassion.

Thornton, L. 2008. Holistic Nursing:A Way of Being, a Way of Living, a Way of Practice.

NSNA IMPRINT

Westerlund, S., Gonzalez Medina, M., & Perez Gonzalez, O. (2012). Integrative Medicine. 11(1).

The Creek Indians have used the Native American Method (NAM) for centuries to relieve pain. Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, redeveloped the method in the 1990s when Bear Heart, a Creek Indian Shaman, did voluntary work there.

NAM healing involves a helper moving his or her hands for 30 to 45 seconds about 5 cm above the painful part of a sufferer's body. The helper places both hands parallel to each other, with one hand in front of the affected part of the body and the other hand to the back side of the body.

The research team assigned participants sequentially to one of two experimental groups: the NAM group, treated with NAM, or the control group, treated with a simulation. The team conducted the intervention under blinded conditions combined with light conversation between caregiver and participant. Prior to the study, the team held an interview with each participant to determine demographic characteristics and medical history. The team obtained informed consents from all participants. The hospital's ethics committee cleared the study.

Settings:

The research team invited women with dysmenorrhea attending the Nursing School of the Diputación deMálaga in Málaga, Spain, and female staff from Hospital Universitario Regional Carlos Haya in Málaga to participate in the current study.

The research team initially enrolled 75 women in the study, and 49 completed it. Of these women, the research team assigned 20 to the NAM group and 29 to the control group.

Both groups were treated under blinded conditions and with light conversation. The total time for the procedure was 4 to 5 minutes. In the experimental group, the team performed the NAM. For the control group, the team carried out a simulation procedure that did not involve the use of their hands in proximity to the source of the patients' pain.

Outcome Measures:

Each participant rated her intensity of pain before and after the application of the intervention (whether treatment or simulation) using: (1) a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain valuation (from 1-10), (2) a Goldberg-type scale rating anxiety as facial expressions in 3 steps: discomfort manifested as (a) anxiety/depression, (b) bearable pain, and (c) a smile. Afterwards the participants gave an answer to a question about her need (yes or no) for a complementary analgesic at the end of the experiment or the simulation.

NAM produced a significant drop in the level of menstrual pain. On average, the value changed from 7 to 2 on the VAS for the NAM group compared to no significant change for the control group. Participants in the NAM group had a positive experience. They were without pain during the first 12 hours after treatment, with no administration of pain killer. The intervention diminished their expectation of a normally high intensity of pain at the next menstruation to half or 0. Of the control group, 15 out of 29 participants wanted analgesics after the simulation.

Despite its small sample size, this study of human magnetic fields showed statistically significant efficacy of NAM for minor pain relief in dysmenorrhea. The intervention had a lingering positive effect on the women. Hence, it appears that this intervention can help reduce minor pain in young women with dysmenorrhea and can reduce the need for analgesics.

The Guided Meditation Site is a place for lovers of meditation, relaxation, personal development and spiritual growth. It's also a great resource for people who are new to meditation and who are looking for ways to rid themselves of stress and live happier, healthier, more peaceful lives.

 www.the-guided-meditation-site.com

NCCAM Resources Health Care Providers on CAM
 

The evidence-based resources on this page, such as research results and clinical practice guidelines, will help prepare you to discuss CAM approaches with your patients.