Therapeutic Touch in Patients with Migraine Headaches: A Content Analysis Study

Headache is a common problem in patients with migraine. Therapeutic touch is a new strategy in nursing care by complementary medicine and alternative therapies to decrease pain in patients with migraine headaches. The present study aimed to examine the experiences of patients with migraine headaches from therapeutic touch by nurses.
In this qualitative study with content analysis, patients with migraine headaches were selected by the purposeful sampling method during 2015-2016. Sample size was dependent on data saturation with a total of 7 participants at the end. Data were collected using in-depth and open-ended interviews, and then were analyzed by the content analysis method.
Results showed that experiences of the patients were extracted in 5 main themes including physical empowerment, a good experience, pain overcome, psychological empowerment, interaction with a nurse practitioner.
Due to the good experiences of the patients and increased interaction between patients and nurses, therapeutic touch therapy can be suggested for headache relief in patients with migraine.