Hugs for the holiday
As children, we all remember the healing power in our mother's touch. The pain of a skinned knee or a bruised elbow was soon set right by her loving caress. Childhood colds and diseases were soothed away by the touch of our mother's hands on our brow or the rubbing of our chest with old-fashioned vapor rub.
The medical profession can't explain how this phenomenon works or why it works, but they acknowledge that a caring touch from a loved one can help healing. With this in mind, many of today's medical students are taking their premedical training in osteopathic medicine, a unique form of American medical care that was developed in 1874 by frontier doctor Andrew Taylor Still. He founded a philosophy of medicine based on ideas that date back to Hippocrates, the father of medicine.
In this practice, the doctor is taught to use a palpatory method or hands on diagnosis to recognize the somatic components of the patient's problem and to utilize osteopathic manipulation treatment in the total care of the patient. The osteopathic medical student receives, in addition to the standard medical curriculum, some 300-500 hours of training in manipulation treatment of the musculoskeletal system, including joints, muscles and connective tissues. What does all this mean, exactly? Well, it means that the medical profession realizes that there is great healing power in the human touch.
The rise in chiropractic practices, massage therapy and holistic medicine, suggests patients are searching for something other than a pill to cure their ills, perhaps something they found in their mother's touch.
For too long now, people have been withdrawing from the old- fashioned custom of touching one another when they greet. Fear of catching someone's cold or the latest virus going around is partly to blame.
Also, we've had to deal with a new taboo: sexual harassment which put the damper on the most natural of human greetings, the warm and friendly hug. Consequently, touching between co-workers, friends and relatives was put on the shelf, brought out only in times of grief or consolation.
With the new interest in osteopathic medicine across the country, health practitioners are coming to respect the benefits of the human touch when used in treatment and therapy, and with it comes a new appreciation for the old fashioned custom of hugs and handshakes.
I've seen it in the shopping malls, at the coffee houses and in the tea rooms of town. I've witnessed it in the doorways and on the front porch stoops of my neighborhood and the homes of my friends and family.
Since Aristotle first listed the five human senses, scientific understanding of these senses has come a long way - but we still don't know precisely how some of the senses work, especially the sense of touch. We know that our skin contains several senses that are called the sense track.
These cells and fibers are scattered throughout our skin, with our fingertips and our lips containing an especially large col- lection of these cells. That would account for the general popularity of kissing and touching.
True, we live in a world where a measure of conformity is required, where conventions are respected and precedents must be observed, and where rules were made to be followed. But, occasionally, the benefits received from a hardy hug or a warm embrace are worth breaking the rules. It's time to do something reckless... hug a loved one in public.
This is not to suggest people go around willy-nilly, indiscriminately hugging complete strangers, especially in the workplace where a sexual harassment suit can be filed more quickly than yesterday's news.
For years, research has taught us the importance of touching and hugging to our health. Touch therapist Helen
Colton taught us how touching is necessary to our well-being and can enhance our lives.
Author and lecturer Dr. Leo Buscaglia dedicated his life to the better understanding of human love. He is known worldwide as "The hug Doctor." Buscaglia valued the hug and believed it was essential to leading a long and healthy life. And, so far, no one has ever proven the contrary, or that a caring hug can be detrimental to our health.
Dr. Buscaglia said: "A hug is a human affirmation of how much we value and cherish one another, an outlet that's good for the hugger as well as the hugged." The art of the healing touch and message goes back to Cleopatra (30 b.C.) who utilized the benefits of this ancient therapy by instructing her slaves to bath and rub her nightly in a potent blend of rare oils.
Touching and manipulation of the body has become therapeutic. Witness the yellow pages, where you'll find hundreds of listings for touch therapy centers and training schools. They include training and treatment in acupuncture, homeopathy, and chiropractic therapy that promise to cure everything from headache to chronic fatigue and pre-men- strual syndrome.
Retirement communities have discovered the benefits of the human touch, offering their resi- dents daily classes in relaxation and therapeutic massage. The elderly residents who attend these classes are found to be among the centers most healthy and well adjusted.
My Italian Grandfather used to say: "You get from this life what you put into it." I believe it's true, and that it also applies to physical well being and affection. So, if you want to be on the receiving end of an affectionate, healing hug, a warm embrace or a loving touch, begin by distributing them freely among your friends and family.
