The Daily Telegraph

Holding the hand of a loved one really does ease the pain

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 Holding hands with a partner can help to reduce physical pain, a study has shown.

Dr Pavel Goldstein, a postdoctor­al researcher in the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscien­ce Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder in Colorado, US, undertook the research after witnessing the birth of his daughter four years ago.

He said: “My wife was in pain, and all I could think was, ‘What can I do to help her?’ I reached for her hand and it seemed to help. I wanted to test it in the lab: Can one really decrease pain with touch, and if so, how?”

His team, which examined 22 couples in tests mimicking a delivery-room scenario, found that when an empathetic partner holds the hand of a woman in pain, their heart and respirator­y rates sync and her pain dissipates. Dr Goldstein said: “The more empathetic the partner, the stronger the analgesic effect and the higher the synchronis­ation when they are touching.”

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