05/29/2026
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ธ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ณ๐๐น๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
A recent study "Complementary Therapies for Chronic Knee Pain: A Placebo-Controlled RCT of Reiki and Mindfulness" by Hanley et al investigated whether Reiki and mindfulness meditation are effective treatments for reducing symptom severity in American adults with chronic knee osteoarthritis (KOA), compared to sham and waitlist control conditions. This was a single-site, four-arm, placebo-controlled RCT in which 164 adults with physician-confirmed KOA were randomized equally into Reiki, sham Reiki (Feiki), mindfulness meditation, and waitlist control conditions. Active treatments consisted of four weekly 30-minute sessions. KOA symptom severity, assessed using the WOMAC at baseline, 1-month, and 2-month follow-ups, significantly improved in both the Reiki (p = .02) and mindfulness (p < .001) groups compared to waitlist controls. Mindfulness significantly outperformed Feiki (p = .004). Reiki demonstrated effects comparable to mindfulness (p = .22). Clinically meaningful reductions in symptoms (>30 %) were reported by 55 % of participants in the Reiki and mindfulness groups, compared to 20 % in the Feiki group and 13 % in the waitlist group. High retention (96 %) and successful blinding support the feasibility and internal validity of this approach.
CRR reviewers scored the open access paper, published in ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ, highly (Very Good/Excellent) using the CRR Touchstone evaluation process. CRR Reiki Research Summaries are available to associate and professional members.
Read the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2025.103278
