Tapping Research: Tapping Eases Chronic Pain

Researchers know that more than 80% of people with chronic pain report experiencing stigma from health professionals, and only 4% report getting any relief from conventional psychological treatments.[1]

Clearly, there are some issues with the current models of care around chronic pain. There’s room for improvement in helping people feel more cared for and supported – and actually helping them find relief!

That’s where Tapping comes in.

Tapping has been proven in the research to help people reduce their pain AND feel less affected by it in their daily lives.

What does Tapping have to do with pain?

Tapping is an amazing tool to help us better cope with pain – and heal from it. That’s because so often, chronic pain is tied to our emotional wellness in some way or another.

When we address our stress and emotions with the help of Tapping, it helps us feel calmer and more empowered as we navigate life with pain. And on top of that, it actually helps the body to move into a state of healing where we can ultimately break free from the pain.

You can read all about the links between pain, stress, and emotions here.

Tapping is one of my all-time favorite pain-relief tools. In fact, I believe so much in the power of Tapping for pain relief that I even wrote a whole book about it!

But it’s not just my own personal belief that Tapping can work wonders for people with chronic pain; there’s research out there proving that Tapping actually eases chronic pain and lessens the impact chronic pain makes on people’s lives! 

Let’s take a closer look one of the studies done on this subject, published in the journal Energy Psychology in 2016.[1]

Study investigates the effects of Tapping on chronic pain

In 2016, a group of researchers led by Dr. Peta Stapleton conducted a study to see how Tapping could benefit a group of people suffering from chronic pain.[1]

They began by giving the group of participants a survey. The questionnaire asked the people about their pain, the challenges they live with, their experiences with healthcare providers, and so on.

Next, all of the participants completed an hour-long group session of EFT Tapping.

Before the Tapping session, immediately after the session, and again six months later, the researchers gathered data on things like pain severity, impact of pain, stress levels, and more.

Finally, the researchers compared the data from before to after Tapping to see if participants experienced any significant changes after the Tapping session.

And guess what? The study findings confirmed that Tapping can offer a huge benefit to chronic pain sufferers.

Results reveal amazing improvements for chronic pain sufferers

The first thing to note is that the survey findings showed a significant link between psychological distress and pain. The more distressed a person was, the worse their pain was. This isn’t surprising, given what we know about how stress can cause pain, and vice versa.[2,3]

The findings also confirmed that Tapping was a very effective intervention that actually helped people feel better; it significantly decreased participants’ pain, improved their stress levels, and boosted their mental health!

Here are some of the highlights from the results when comparing data from before to after the Tapping session:

• Pain severity went down by 12%

• The impact of pain went down by 18%

• Depression decreased by 30%

• Anxiety decreased by 42%
• Stress went down by 38%

Pretty amazing, don’t you think? To me, those are some really impressive numbers.

After just one Tapping session, not only did pain levels improve, but people were also less affected by their pain.

And on top of that, they saw a significant boost in mental health, with lower levels of things like depression, anxiety, and stress. 

This study is an exciting addition to the scientific literature out there, helping to illustrate how powerful Tapping can be for pain relief and how much it can help people improve their overall health and wellbeing.

Additional research on the benefits of Tapping for pain

This study is just one of many that explores the impact of Tapping on chronic health challenges like pain.

In other studies, Tapping has been documented to help with pain from specific conditions like fibromyalgia and tension headaches.[4-6] It’s also been shown to reduce pain in populations like burned out healthcare workers and veterans with PTSD.[7-8]

You can check out more of the science on Tapping here, and access our Science, Research, and Data kit here.

Tapping resources to support you if you are living with chronic pain

If you are living with chronic pain, you deserve support. You deserve tools that can actually help you feel better and see noticeable results – like Tapping!

We’ve got so many different resources to help those living with chronic pain find relief and break free from pain with the help of Tapping. And it’s simple and easy to get started!

Here are some places you can start:

1. If you are new to Tapping, check out our Tapping 101 page to learn all about how Tapping works and how to do it.
2. Download The Tapping Solution App, where you can find a whole collection of guided Tapping meditations specifically designed for pain relief. We have meditations for a variety of conditions ranging from back pain and sinus pain to endometriosis pain and stomach pain.
3. Try our “5-Day Pain Relief Challenge” in the app, which can help you dive deep into the process and see incredible results fast.
4. Check out my book, The Tapping Solution for Pain Relief, which can be found in our store.
5. And if you want to try out Tapping right away, right now? Go here to try our Tapping meditation titled “Releasing Overwhelm and Frustration of Chronic Pain.”

Until next time…

Keep Tapping!

Nick Ortner

References

1. Stapleton P, Chatwin H, Sheppard L, McSawn J. The Lived Experience Of Chronic Pain And The Impact Of Brief Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Group Therapy On Coping. Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment 2016;8(2):18-28.
2. “Emotional Stress: Warning Signs, Management, When to Get Help.” Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/6406-emotional-stress-warning-signs-management-when-to-get-help
3. “The pain-anxiety-depression connection.” Harvard Medical School. 2010. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/the-pain-anxiety-depression-connection
4. Connais C. The effectiveness of emotional freedom technique on the somatic symptoms of fibromyalgia. University of the Rockies, Denver, CO. 2009. Doctoral dissertation, 3372777.
5. Brattberg G. Self-administered EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) in individuals with fibromyalgia: A randomized trial. Integr Med. 2008;7:30–35
6. Bougea AM, Spandideas N, Alexopoulos EC, Thomaides T, Chrousos GP, Darviri C. Effect of the emotional freedom technique on perceived stress, quality of life, and cortisol salivary levels in tension-type headache sufferers: a randomized controlled trial. Explore (NY). 2013;9(2):91-99.
7. Church D, Brooks AJ. (2010). The effect of a brief Emotional Freedom Techniques self-intervention on anxiety, depression, pain, and cravings in health care workers. Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal 9(5):40-43.
8. Geronilla L. et al. EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) remediates PTSD and psychological symptoms in veterans: A randomized controlled replication trial. Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment 2016;8(2): 29-41.

Related posts:

The Links Between Pain, Stress, and Emotions – And How You Can Help Yourself Break Free How Does Tapping Work? All About EFT Tapping EFT Tapping for Pain Relief It’s Measurable: Tapping Reduces the Body’s Stress Hormones

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