Another alternative therapy that has come into vogue at prisons, homeless shelters and other institutions is therapeutic massage. While acupuncture addresses specific physical problems, massage helps overall emotional balance.

"Safe, healthy touch is important for everyone, but perhaps especially so for those suffering from neglect, abuse or serious illnesses like cancer," says Karen Menehan, editor of Massage magazine which is based in Santa Cruz, Calif. "For those people, massage provides the human connection that allows for feelings of comfort and relaxation to occur -- feelings that might not otherwise happen much, or ever, in their day-to-day lives."

Massage therapists can be found at the scene of emergencies, working on search-and-rescue teams, among firefighters, police and volunteers, and in more unusual cases, working on cancer patients in Louisiana; premature infants in Miami; abused and homeless kids in St. Louis; and veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome in Palm Beach, Fla.

In Cleveland, a volunteer group of licensed massage therapists called Charlie's Angels gives free massages each month at hospices, psychiatric institutions, Ronald McDonald Houses for parents of children with long-term and terminal illnesses, and battered women's shelters.

There are usually lines of people waiting for the 15-minute massages, says Charlotte Versagi, the group's spokeswoman. The volunteers reap their own rewards, she says, recalling a visit to a psychiatric institution.

"These are people who have been on medication for years and they are not normally touched," Versagi says. "One gentleman would only rock and moan, and a therapist was able to get him down from his wheelchair onto a mat. After she started massaging him, he actually uncurled his body and stopped humming and banging his head. The staff was shocked."

What accounts for the change?

"There are physiological bases for what massage does," Versagi says. "It reduces blood pressure, it takes stress out of the muscle. It increases endorphins."

In Portland, Ore., licensed massage therapist Diane Foster organizes a group of female colleagues who give massages at Rosehaven, a facility for homeless women.

"If you're on the street, you really don't get any nurturing touch at all; the only reason someone would want to touch you is to get something from you," Foster says. "The other day, I put my hands on this woman's back and it was so stiff, so I asked her, 'Where did you sleep last night?' and she said, 'I didn't, I was laying on a concrete park bench,' and that's exactly what her back felt like -- a piece of cement."

Petria Malone, Rosehaven's volunteer coordinator, says that many of the center's clients have to keep their guard up to survive. Massage gives them a safe way to relax.

"A lot of our women have been abused and touched in inappropriate ways, and the touch provided by massage therapy is very healing. Women return time and again saying they just need that touch to reduce stress in their lives," she says.

That was the case with Frances De Angelo, who dropped in at Rosehaven one recent day for a massage. "All our shoulders really ache from carrying bags and such, and I feel so good when I have a massage. I'm able to close my eyes and relax. It will last a good 1 and 1/2 to two weeks, and then it's time for another one. I've told several of the other ladies about it."