UpClose & Personal - Lynda Solien-Wolfe

In January, my Field was the cold desert air of Tucson, Arizona where Dr. Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute, was the Keynote speaker at the AMTA Council of Schools meeting at the Outlook Resort. Dr. Field and I took some time out to catch up on the future of massage research and the profession, while we both took time out of our schedule to get massages at the Wellness center at the Outlook resort.

Every time I hear Dr. Field speak I am in awe of the power of touch and it’s many benefits. Dr. Field reviewed all the past data the Institute has studied and the current projects they are working on that show the positive effects of touch.

For this edition of From the Field, I wanted to share the history of the work TRI is doing, some of their Frequently Asked Questions and ways to learn more about the work at the Touch Research Institute.

For a complete list of all ongoing, in review and published studies please visit the TRI website at http://www.miami.edu/touch-research

See you in the Field!
Lynda

"At the Council of Schools meeting... Iris Burman- Educating Hands, Dr. Tiffany Field- RTI, Peggy Smith- President AMTA Council of Schools, Liz Lucas- AMTA executive Director, Carolyn Talley- AMTA President, Lynda Solien-Wolfe- Grw-PR, Barb Richmond- Upledger Inst. Community Relations"

Frequently Asked Questions

Who funds TRI research?
TRI has been funded through grants and corporate sponsors

Are volunteer opportunities available?
TRI often has a need for licensed massage therapists to volunteer their time by participating in our research studies. If you live in the Miami area and are interested in donating your time to TRI, please contact them at 305-243-6781.

Does TRI provide educational programs, seminars, etc.?
TRI offers a two-day workshop, once a month (except August and December) that focuses on the methods TRI uses to conduct its research studies by "shadowing" TRI research associates. This workshop, currently held at the UM TRI, also gives attendees hands-on experience to various ongoing programs. Each spring, TRI also holds the annual Touch Research Symposium. This provides a forum for the leaders in the use of touch to share their ideas and discuss relevant topics and current issues.

Can I earn CEU's through TRI.
Yes. 18 CEU's are available for both the TRI Workshops and the annual Touch Research Symposium. Registration is requested one month in advance. Please do not make your flight reservations until you have been confirmed for the workshop.
Can I receive copies of the Newsletter & TRI studies. The complete packet of published TRI research papers and their newsletter, Touchpoints are available for a fee of $20 each.
How do I contact TRI?

You may reach TRI by phone, fax or e-mail. However, all of the information you need can be found on their web-site.

Touch Research Institutes
Department of Pediatrics
University of Miami School of Medicine
P.O. Box 016820
Miami, FL 33101
(Located at Mailman Center for Child Development
1601 NW 12th Ave., 7th Floor, Suite 7037)

Phone: 305-243-6781
Fax: 305-243-6488
e-mail Dr Field: tfield@mednet.med.miami.edu"

Books by Dr Tiffany Field

Touch Therapy
Tiffany Field, Ph.D.
Director, Touch Research Institutes
Paperback · 272 Pages · 14 Illustrations · ISBN 0443057915
Churchill Livingstone · Harcourt Brace-2000
Touch Therapy focuses on recent research on touch therapy in promoting wellness and healing. Research is reviewed on the effects of massage therapy on stress reduction, pain relief, growth an d development, immune function and auto-immune disorders.

Features
A thorough and highly readable review of recent research relating to the importance of touch. Of practical help and interest to healthcare professionals. Author is a leading authority internationally, and the work of the Touch Research Institutes is high profile.
Focuses on key and common conditions - pain, stress, immune disorders - through key life stages.

Contents
· Introduction.
· Enhancing growth.
· Pain reduction during painful procedures and chronic pain syndromes.
· Enhancing attentiveness.
· Alleviating depression and anxiety.
· Auto-immune disorders.
· Immune disorders.
· Summary.
· Further reading.
· Appendices.
"http://www.harcourt-international.com/catalogue/title.cfm?ISBN=0443057915"

Soon to come, is another book by Tiffany Field entitled Touch.

This book starts where Ashley Montagu in Touching left off. Montagu, the renowned anthropologist, raised many questions regarding age, gender and cultural differences in touching as well as underlying mechanisms for the therapeutic value of touch.

Based on research from the Touch Research Institutes, Field, a colleague and friend of the recently deceased Montagu, has tried to address and answer some of these questions. The volume, published by MIT Press, is a much broader treatment of touch than the Touch Therapy volume.

To pre-order the forthcoming Touch book by Tiffany Field please
click here.

TRI STUDIES
The Touch Research Institutes have conducted some 83 studies on the positive effects of massage therapy on many functions and medical conditions in varied age groups. Among the significant research findings are enhanced growth (e.g. infants), diminished pain (e.g. fibromyalgia), decreased autoimmune problems (e.g., increased pulmonary function in asthma and decreased glucose levels in diabetes), enhanced immune function (e.g., increased natural killer cells in HIV and cancer), and enhanced alertness and performance (e.g., EEG pattern of alertness and better performance on math computations). Many of these effects appear to be mediated by decreased stress hormones. Several of these findings have been briefly reviewed in the TRI newsletter, Touchpoints, and several studies are ongoing.

Published Studies
1. Aromatherapy: Adults exposed to rosemary showed decreased alpha and beta power, suggesting increased alertness. They also had lower anxiety levels and performed math computations faster. In contrast, those exposed to lavender showed increased beta power, suggesting increased relaxation. They also performed math computations faster but also with fewer errors.
Diego, M.A., Jones, N.A., Field, T., & Hernandez-Reif, M. (1998). Aromatherapy reduces anxiety and enhances EEG patterns associated with positive mood and alertness. International Journal of Neuroscience. 96, 217-224.

2. Asthma: This study showed positive effects of parents massaging their asthmatic children including increased peak air flow, improved pulmonary functions, less anxiety and reduced stress hormone (cortisol) in the children. Parental anxiety also decreased.
Field, T., Henteleff, T., Hernandez-Reif M., Martinez, E., Mavunda, K., Kuhn C., & Schanberg S. (1998). Children with asthma have improved pulmonary functions after massage therapy. Journal of Pediatrics, 132, 854-858.

3. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Adolescents with ADHD rated themselves as happier and were observed to fidget less after massage sessions. Also, teachers rated children receiving massage as less hyperactive and as spending more time on-task.
Field, T., Quintino, O. & Hernandez-Reif, M., & Koslovsky, G. (1998). Adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder benefit from massage therapy. Adolescence, 33, 103-108.

4. Autistic Children: Touch sensitivity, attention to sounds and off-task classroom behavior decreased and relatedness to teachers increased after massage therapy.
Field, T., Lasko, D, Mundy, P., Henteleff, T., Talpins, S., & Dowling, M. (1997). Autistic children's attentiveness and responsivity improved after touch therapy. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 27, 333-338.

5. Bottle Feeding on Breast-Like Nipples: Infants showed fewer stress behaviors and had greater vagal activity and more organized feeding patterns during bottle feedings using nipples that are similar to breast nipples.
Field, T, Schanberg, S., Davalos, M. & Malphurs, J. (1997). Bottlefeeding with a breast-like nipple. Early Child Development and Care, 132, 57-63.

6. Bulimia: Bulimic adolescent girls received massage therapy 2 times a week for 5 weeks. Effects included an improved body image, decreased depression and anxiety symptoms, decreased cortisol levels and increased dopamine and serotonin levels.
Field, T., Shanberg, S., Kuhn, C., Fierro, K., Henteleff, T., Mueller, C., Yando, R. & Burman, I. (1997). Bulimic adolescents benefit from massage therapy. Adolescence, 33, 131.

7. Burn in Adults: Massage therapy sessions given prior to debridement (skin brushing) decreased depression and anger, and the subjects appeared less anxious during behavior observations and reported less pain. Lower pulse and cortisol suggested lower stress levels.
Field, T., Peck, M., Krugman, S., Tuchel, T., Schanberg, S., Kuhn, C., & Burman, I.(1997). Burn injuries benefit from massage therapy .Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, 19, 241-244.

8. Carrying Position: Infants were carried by their mothers in soft infant carriers in facing inward and facing outward positions. In the facing inward position they slept more and in the facing outward position they were more active and interactive.
Field, T., Malphurs, J., Carraway, K. & Pelaez-Nogueras, M. (1996). Carrying position influences infant behavior. Early Child Development and Care, 121, 49-54.

9. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Immediately following massage therapy depressed mood, anxiety and cortisol stress hormone levels were reduced. Following 10 days of massage therapy, fatigue related symptoms, particularly anxiety and somatic symptoms, were reduced, as were depression, difficulty sleeping and pain. Stress hormone (cortisol) also decreased and dopamine increased.
Field, T, Sunshine, W., Hernandez-Reif, M., Quintino, O., Schanberg, S., Kuhn, C., & Burman, I. (1997). Chronic fatigue syndrome: Massage therapy effects on depression and somatic symptoms in chronic fatigue syndrome. Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, 3, 43-51.

10. Cocaine Exposed Newborns: The massaged newborns had fewer postnatal complications and showed increased weight gain, and better performance on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale (particularly on the motor scale), and less stress behaviors following 10 days of massage.
Scafidi, F., Field, T., Wheeden, A., Schanberg, S., Kuhn, C., Symanski, R., Zimmerman, E., & Bandstra, E. S. (1996). Cocaine exposed preterm neonates show behavioral and hormonal differences. Pediatrics, 97, 851-855.

11. Cross-Cultural Studies of Preschool Children's Touching: Studies compared a high touch culture (France) and a low touch culture (U.S.) on preschool playgrounds and at McDonald's Restaurants in Paris and Miami. The preschool children in Paris were touched more by their mothers and touched each other more and were less aggressive toward their peers.
Field, T. (1999) Preschoolers in America are touched less and are more aggressive than preschoolers in France. Early Child Development and Care, 151, 11-17.

12. Cystic Fibrosis: Children receiving daily bedtime massages from their parents reported being less anxious, and their mood and peak air flow readings improved.
Hernandez-Reif, M., Field, T., Krasnegor, J., & Martinez, E. (1999). Cystic fibrosis symptoms are reduced with massage therapy intervention. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 24, 183-189.

13. Dancers: Massage therapy improved range of motion, mood, and performance (including balance and posture) and decreased stress hormone (cortisol) after one month of twice weekly massage therapy.
Leivadi, S., Hernandez-Reif, M., Field, T., O'Rourke, M., D'Arienzo, S., Lewis, D., Del Pino, N., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. (1999). Massage therapy and relaxation effects on university dance students. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, 3, 108-112.

14. Depressed Teenage Mothers: Teenage mothers who received massage therapy versus those who received relaxation therapy were less depressed and less anxious both by their own report and based on behavior observations. In addition, their urinary cortisol levels were lower and their serotonin levels were higher, indicating they were less stressed and less depressed.
Field, T., Grizzle, N., Scafidi, F., & Schanberg, S. (1996). Massage and relaxation therapies' effects on depressed adolescent mothers. Adolescence, 31, 903-911.

15. Depressed Mothers Touching Newborns: Mothers with depressed symptoms were compared to mothers with non-depressed symptoms one day after delivery on how they touched their newborns following an initial feeding. Depressed mothers touched their newborns less frequently.
Lundy, B.L., Field, T., Cuadra, A., Nearing, G., Cigales, M. & Hashimoto, M. (1996). Mothers with depressive symptoms touching their newborns. Early Development and Parenting, 5, 124-130.

16. Depressed Mothers Touching Infants: Mothers with depressive symptoms who were more likely to touch their infants in a negative way were more likely to be classified as intrusive.
Malphurs, J., Raag, T., Field, T., Pickens, J., & Pelaez-Nogueras, M. (1996). Touch by intrusive & withdrawn mothers with depressive symptoms. Early Development and Parenting, 5, 111-115.

17. Depressed Mothers Infants' Prefer Touch: Infants showed more eye contact when adults, who were smiling and cooing, also touched them as compared to infants who received smiling and cooing without touch.
Pelaez-Nogueras, M., Gewirtz, J.L., Field, T., Cigales, M., Malphurs, J., Clasky, S., & Sanchez, A. (1996). Infant preference for touch stimulation in face-to-face interactions. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17, 199-213.

18. Depressed Mothers' Touching Increases Infants' Positive Affect and Attention: Depressed mothers increased positive affect and attention of their infants by providing touch stimulation.
Pelaez-Nogueras, M., Field, T., Hossain, Z., & Pickens, J. (1996). Depressed mothers' touching increases infants' positive affect and attention in still-face interactions. Child Development, 67, 1780-1792.

19. Dermatitis in Children: Children's affect and activity levels improved as did all measures of skin condition including less redness, lichenification, excoriation, and pruritis after massage therapy. Parents' anxiety levels also decreased.
Schachner, L., Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Duarte, A., & Krasnegor, J. (1998). Atopic Dermatitis Symptoms Decrease in Children Following Massage Therapy. Pediatric Dermatology, 15, 390-395.

20. Diabetes: Following one month of parents massaging their children with diabetes, the children's glucose levels decreased to the normal range and their dietary compliance increased. Also the parents' and children's anxiety and depression levels decreased.
Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., LaGreca A., Shaw, K., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. (1997). Massage therapy lowers blood glucose levels in children with Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Spectrum 10, 237-239.

21. Elderly Retired Volunteers Providing Versus Receiving Massage: Elderly Retired volunteers were assessed after giving infants massage for a month versus receiving massage for a month themselves. Results were: 1) they reported less anxiety and fewer depressive symptoms and an improved mood after giving infants massage; 2) their pulse decreased; 3) their cortisol levels decreased; and 4) they reported improved self esteem and a better lifestyle (e.g. fewer doctor visits and more social contacts) after the one month period. These effects were stronger for giving infants the massages than receiving massages themselves, suggesting that the massager can benefit from simply giving massages.
Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Quintino, 0., Schanberg, S. & Kuhn, C. (1998). Elder retired volunteers benefit from giving massage therapy to infants. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 17, 229-239.

22. Fibromyalgia Syndrome: Massage therapy (as compared to transcutaneous electrical stimulation) improved sleep patterns and decreased pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression and cortisol levels.
Sunshine, W., Field, T., Schanberg, S., Quintino, O., Fierro, K., Kuhn, C., Burman, I., & Schanberg, S. (1996). Fibromyalgia benefits from massage therapy and transcutaneous electrical stimulation. Journal of Clinical Rheumatology ,2, 18-22.

23. Food Texture: Infants preferred pureed textures while toddlers and preschoolers preferred chunky textures. However, when infants were given experience with more complex textures, they too preferred the chunky textures.
Lundy, B.C., Field, T., Carraway, K., Hart, S., Malphurs, J., Rosenstein, M., Pelaez-Nogueras, M., Coletta, F., Ott, D. & Hernandez-Reif, M. (1998). Food texture preferences in infants versus toddlers. Early Child Development and Care, 146, 69-85.

24. HIV Exposed Newborns: Increased weight gain and improved performance on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale (motor and state scales) were experienced by the massaged newborns.
Scafidi, F. & Field, T. (1997). Massage therapy improves behavior in neonates born to HIV positive mothers. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 21, 889-897.

25. HIV Positive Adults: This study examined massage therapy effects on anxiety and depression levels and on immune function. The subjects received a 45-minute massage five times weekly for a 1-month period. The findings were that: 1) anxiety, stress and cortisol levels were significantly reduced; and 2) natural killer cells and natural killer cell activity increased, suggesting positive effects on the immune system.
Ironson, G., Field, T., Scafidi, F., Hashimoto, M., Kumar, M., Kumar, A., Price, A., Goncalves, A., Burman, I., Tetenman, C., Patarca, R., & Fletcher, M. A. (1996). Massage therapy is associated with enhancement of the immune system's cytotoxic capacity. International Journal of Neuroscience 84, 205-218.

26. Hospital Job Stress: Hospital nursing and physician staff members were provided massage therapy, relaxation therapy and music therapy. These therapies significantly reduced anxiety, depression and fatigue as well as increased vigor.
Field, T., Quintino, O., Henteleff, T., Wells-Keife, L., & Delvecchio-Feinberg, G. (1997). Job stress reduction therapies. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 3, 54-56.

27. Infants of Depressed Mothers: The infants who received massage therapy versus those who were rocked experienced 1) greater daily weight gain; 2) more organized sleep/wake behaviors; 3) less fussiness; 4) improved sociability and soothability, 5) improved interaction behaviors; and 6) lower cortisol and norepinephrine and increased serotonin (suggesting less depression).
Field, T., Grizzle, N., Scafidi, F., Abrams, S., & Richardson, S. (1996). Massage therapy for infants of depressed mothers. Infant Behavior and Development, 19, 109-114.

28. Job Performance/Stress: Massaged subjects showed 1) decreased EEG alpha and beta power and increased delta power consistent with enhanced alertness; 2) math problems were completed in significantly less time with significantly fewer errors after the massage; and 3) anxiety and job stress levels were lower at the end of the 1-month period.
Field, T., Ironson, G., Scafidi, F., Nawrocki, T., Goncalves, A., Burman, I., Pickens, J., Fox, N., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. (1996). Massage therapy reduces anxiety and enhances EEG pattern of alertness and math computations. International Journal of Neuroscience, 86, 197-205.

29. Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis: Positive effects of parents massaging their arthritic children included less pain (particularly at night) and morning stiffness as assessed by the Parent, Child and Physician's Assessment and lower anxiety and cortisol levels.
Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Seligman, S., Krasnegor, J., Sunshine, W., Rivas-Chacon, R., & Schanberg, S. (1997). Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis benefits from massage therapy. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 22, 607-617.

30. Labor Pain: Massage therapy during the first fifteen minutes of each hour of childbirth decreased anxiety and pain, as well as decreased the need for medication and the length of labor.
Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Taylor, S., & Quintino, 0., & Burman, I. (1997). Labor pain is reduced by massage therapy. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 18, 286-291.

31. Learning by Infants: Touch stimulation enhanced habituation or simple learning by infants.
Cigales, M., Field, T., Lundy, B., Cuadra, A. & Hart, S. (1997). Massage enhances recovery from habituation in normal infants. Infant Behavior & Development, 20, 29-34.

32. Learning in Preschoolers: Preschoolers who received a 15-minute massage showed better performance on the block design and greater accuracy on the animal pegs subsets of the WPPSI.
Hart, S., Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., & Lundy, B. (1998). Preschoolers' cognitive performance improved following massage. Early Child Development & Care, 143, 59-64.

33. Migraine Headaches: Massage therapy decreased the occurrence of headaches, sleep disturbances and distress symptoms.
Hernandez-Reif, M., Field, T., Dieter, J., Swerdlow. & Diego, M., (1998). Migraine headaches are reduced by massage therapy. International Journal of Neuroscience, 96, 1-11.

34. Multiple Sclerosis: Massage therapy decreased anxiety and depressed mood, and improved self-esteem, body image and social functioning.
Hernandez-Reif, M., Field, T., Field, T., & Theakston, H. (1998). Multiple Sclerosis patients benefit from massage therapy. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 2, 168-174.

35. Newborns: Women who had extended and early contact with their newborns looked at, talked to, and touched their infants more, watched less television, and talked less on the telephone than mothers with minimal contact with their infants. These findings suggest that increased postpartum contact with infants leads not only to more interaction, but also to more touching as well as touching in more intimate places (face and head), thus highlighting the value of rooming-in arrangements for mothers and infants.
Prodromidis, M., Field, T., Arendt, R., Singer, L., Yando, R. & Bendell, D. (1995). Mothers touching newborns: A comparison of rooming-in versus minimal contact. Birth, 22, 196-200.

36. Oil Versus No Oil Massage: Infants showed fewer stress behaviors (e.g. grimacing and clenched fists) and lower cortisol levels (stress hormones) following massage with oil versus massage without oil.
Field, T., T., Schanberg, S., Davalos, M. & Malphurs, J. (1996). Massage with oil has more positive effects on newborn infants. Pre and Perinatal Psychology Journal, 11, 73-78.

37. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Massage therapy decreased the anxiety, depression and stress hormone levels (cortisol) of children following Hurricane Andrew. In addition, their drawings became less depressed.
Field, T., Seligman, S., Scafidi, F., & Schanberg, S. (1996). Alleviating posttraumatic stress in children following Hurricane Andrew. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17, 37-50.

38. Pregnancy: This study showed decreased anxiety and stress hormones (norepinephrine) during pregnancy and fewer obstetric and postnatal complications including lower prematurity rates following pregnancy massage.
Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Hart, S., Theakston, H., Schanberg, S., Kuhn, C., & Burman, I. (1999). Pregnant women benefit from massage therapy. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 19, 31-38.

39. Preterm Infants Develop Better: Preterm infants who received massage therapy as newborns showed greater weight gain and more optimal cognitive and motor development eight months later.
Field, T., Scafidi, & Schanberg, S. (1987). Massage of preterm newborns to improve growth and development. Pediatric Nursing, 13, 385-387.

40. Preterm Infants Who Benefit the Most From Massage: Preterm infants received three daily 15-minute massages for 10 days. The massage therapy infants gained significantly more weight per day than did the control infants. For the massage therapy group, the pattern of greater caloric intake and more days in Intermediate care before the study period along with more obstetric complications differentiated the high from the low weight gainers, suggesting that the infants who had experienced more complications before the study benefited more from the massage therapy.
Scafidi, F., Field, T., & Schanberg, S. (1993). Factors that predict which preterm infants benefit most from massage therapy. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 14, 176-180.

41. Preterm Neonates' Responses to Massage and Heelsticks: Routine heelsticks and massage therapy were performed on preterm neonates to examine their differential effects on Transcutaneous Oxygen Tension (TcPO2). TcPO2 levels during the heelstick were significantly lower than during the massage stimulation. The findings indicate that massage therapy did not appear to have a medically compromising effect on TcPO2.
Morrow, C., Field, T., Scafidi, F.A., Roberts, J., Eisen, L., Larson, S.K., Hogan, A.E., & Bandstra, E.S. (1991). Differential effects of massage and heelstick procedures on Transcutaneous Oxygen Tension in preterm neonates. Infant Behavior and Development, 14, 397-414.

42. Preterm Newborns Have a Better Clinical Course: Preterm Infants received massage therapy over a 10-day period. The infants averaged 21% greater weight gain per day and spent more time awake and active during sleep/wake behavior observations.
Scafidi, F., Field, T., Schanberg, S., Bauer, C, Tucci, K., Roberts, J., Morrow, C., & Kuhn, C.M. (1990). Massage stimulates growth in Preterm infants: A replication. Infant Behavior and Development ,13,167-188.

Contact Lynda at GoldenRatioPR@aol.com