A while back, I saw online a number of items about kissing boo-boos. I was unable to find even an abstract for the study that prompted the flurry of reporting. All the reporting agencies presented the story with almost the exact same wording, so the parent study is out there somewhere. Even so, I am undeterred in my desire to make many and all aware of this wonderful therapy.

Bernd and I had a morning ritual. We did this every day without fail. First we started with a really nice hug. After all, we hadn’t “seen” each other all night. Then he would kiss all my “owies.” Sometimes I had an actual boo-boo, as in being batted into a fence by a horse that weighed ten times what I do. But mostly, my owies related more to chemical sensitivities (constant headaches) and advancing age. Then I would kiss all of his “boo-boos.” Unfortunately, this ritual just got longer and longer as got older and so we don’t do it anymore. But … and it’s a big but … we always felt better afterwards and could go about our day with smiles on our faces. We have a stand-in for all the owies kisses these days. Requires very little time, but still involves kisses.

The actual study reported had more to do with the differences between children who received a lot of physical attention when very young and those who did not. It examined markers for inflammation in the older children of both groups and determined that those who received more care had less inflammation. While what made the news was the kissing aspect of it, it really was more about general levels of care.

I did find a study, published in 1995, that was reported by G. L. Hansen of the Department of Parapathology at Minnesota State University. For a period of 18 months, researchers monitored areas where pediatric injuries were likely to occur (playgrounds, under tree houses, the bottoms of steep hills, etc.). If a child was observed suffering an injury, a researcher followed that child home and attempted to secure permission to observe and record the treatment procedure (omg, that would so not happen these days). Of the 24,617 candidates, consent was obtained in 23 cases (no surprise there). About half of the wounded received osculatory pressure and the other half did not. Follow up interviews were conducted until the healing was deemed complete. The results were eye opening.

The data showed unambiguously that kissing wounds does indeed make them better. For all types of wounds, applying osculatory treatment at the time of other treatment showed a 5.2 day reduction in the average time of healing of minor pediatric wounds. Furthermore, it was determined that it did not matter who did the kissing. It could be the mother, father or other caregiver. In one case it was even an older brother who applied the osculatory pressure.

As a side issue to the osculatory research, notes were also made of types of dressings applied to the wounds and subsequent healing times were noted. Smurf bandages performed the most poorly, requiring nearly twice the time of other brand name bandages. A recommendation was made that parents avoid the use of Smurf bandages.

In conclusion, it is clearly obvious that kissing owies helps them to heal faster. And because it does not seem to matter who does the kissing, I suggest you get as many people to kiss your boo-boos as often as you can. It might just spark a whole new movement of alternative care with positive ramifications for all areas of society. And besides, it surely couldn’t hurt.

Images courtesy of AnnTheGran.com and QuoteFancy, respectively. Please note, I’m fairly certain there is not actually a department of Parapathology to be found anywhere. But I couldn’t resist writing this.