Animal Aches

Dr. Bert M. Petersen, Jr, chief of breast surgery and co-division chief of breast oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center has been using Reiki with his patients since 1998. Petersen noticed after incorporating Reiki into his practice that patients required less pain medication after surgery, and more often called to tell him how much better they were feeling and how quickly they were recovering. Postoperative visits were no longer taken up with pain concerns. One of his patients, a Reiki practitioner herself, recognized the Reiki energy being given to her shortly before surgery, and asked Petersen, "Who's giving me Reiki"? She was delighted to learn it was her surgeon.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a leading cardiovascular surgeon in the United States, was one of the first surgeons to include Reiki in his department at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. The New York Times Magazine has reported that Dr. Oz uses Reiki during all of his open heart surgeries and heart transplants. "Reiki has become a sought-after healing art among patients and mainstream medical professionals", said Dr. Oz, who has been such a popular repeat guest on Oprah that he now has his own TV show.

Dr. John Graham-Pole, pediatric oncologist and professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida in Gainesville, also incorporates Reiki into his practice. He finds it especially helpful for pain issues in children with sickle-cell anemia, and allows him to have "a very direct connection with the patient in a way this is literally a connection. It's also good for me because it slows me down and gets me to a place where I'm a better healer."

Dr. Nancy Eos of the University of Michigan Medical School has also embraced Reiki. "I can't imagine practicing medicine without Reiki," Eos says. "Things happen that don't usually happen. Pain lessens in intensity. Rashes fade. Wheezing gives way to breathing clearly. Angry people begin to joke with me."

Dr. Eos approached her experience with Reiki critically, being not just a seasoned Emergency Room physician but also having put herself through law school. She was interested in results, not taking leaps of faith. Over six years of integrating Reiki with standard emergency care, she now believes that ER patients who receive even just a few moments of Reiki fare better than those who do not. "Their situations improved unexpectedly, following a more gentle course of healing that didn't require procedures as frequently and had less serious outcomes than usual for the same condition. Patients receiving Reiki almost always improved beyond usual medical expectations."

Dr. Danna Park, MD, who practices integrative medicine and is a clinical assistant professor at the Program of Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona was asked which of her patients might be benefited by Reiki. "This is kind of a trick question because anyone could benefit from Reiki, and I can't imagine anyone not benefiting."

Similarly, Dr. Ann Berger, MD, head of the Pain and Palliative Care Service at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center recommends Reiki for anyone experiencing "pain and anxiety, and the spiritual suffering that often manifests as pain and anxiety."

Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona relates how Reiki is used to help facilitate intravenous medication being given to autistic children, tots, and teens. These patients often have nothing to do with the IV needles until nurses offer them individual Reiki treatments. Twenty minutes into the treatments, needles are inserted without children hardly noticing.

Prominent hospitals in New York, including Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, New York Queens Hospital, and Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital, have also embraced Reiki. Registered Nurse Marilyn Vega has provided Reiki sessions in these hospitals, and believes that "Reiki sessions cause patients to heal faster with less pain".

At New York Queens Hospital, R.N. Cheri Herrmann initiated a Reiki trial program for pregnant women admitted with either early labor or preeclampsia. These women also received standard medical care, including magnesium sulfate intravenous therapy (which often results in complaints of headaches, visual disturbances, and lethargy). The women receiving Reiki treatment complained much less frequently of such side-effects, including feeling less emotionally drained, less tense, fewer headaches, less exhaustion, and less visual discomfort (eye pain, eye pressure, blurred vision). A Reiki program has been since integrated into the hospital labor unit.

Since 1998, the Columbia/HCA Portsmouth Regional Hospital in Portsmouth, New Hampshire has been giving their surgical patients the option of 15 minute pre- and post- surgery Reiki treatments. As a result of this, there has been less use of pain medication, shorter length of stay in the hospital, and an increase in patient satisfaction.

In the Reiki Clinic at the Tucson Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona, teams of practitioners offer Reiki to patients. It was first offered to patients in the Cancer Care Unit but has since expanded to other units after Reiki proved itself valuable for pain, chronic conditions, and post operative surgery conditions.

One of the largest hospitals in northern California is the California Pacific Medical Center, where Dr. Mike Cantwell, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases, provides Reiki sessions that last from one to three hours. When asked how Reiki helps his patients, Cantwell said, "I have found Reiki to be useful in the treatment of acute illnesses such as musculo- skeletal injury, pain, headache, acute infections and asthma. Reiki is also useful for patients with chronic illnesses, especially those associated with chronic pain."

Reiki practitioners are also becoming mainstays in delivery rooms in hospitals where Reiki is given to mothers and babies to help alleviate the trauma of the birthing process. Tests conducted at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut show that Reiki used during pregnancy reduced anxiety by 94 percent, nausea by 80 percent, pain by 78 percent and improved sleep by 86 percent.