Really? The Claim: Listening to Music Can Relieve Pain
Can the right sonata soothe the pain of a medical operation?
A growing number of doctors have been using music in clinical settings, believing that it might have analgesic effects on patients - or at least take their minds off an otherwise painful procedure.
Scientists only now are seeking to determine whether the notion is more romance than reality.
In the most recent study, published in December in The Journal of Pain, 153 people were subjected to increasingly painful shocks on their hands as they listened to music. All the while, they were encouraged to engage in the songs and to identify certain notes and tones. By measuring pupil dilation and brain activity, scientists at the University of Utah found that as the subjects became focused on the melodies, they experienced more and more relief from the pain. The biggest effect was seen on the participants who were initially most anxious.
A Swedish study published in 2009 reported similarly encouraging findings: Children who were given “music therapy” after minor surgery required smaller amounts of morphine than those who were not.
But a meta-analysis of data on more than 3,600 patients in 51 studies, published in the Cochrane Database, found that the magnitude of the effect was not very large, so the potential usefulness in clinical practice - for now, at least - was “unclear.”
Listening To Music Can Reduce Chronic Pain And Depression By Up To A Quarter
Listening to music can reduce chronic pain by up to 21 per cent and depression by up to 25 per cent, according to a paper in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.
It can also make people feel more in control of their pain and less disabled by their condition.
Researchers carried out a controlled clinical trial with sixty people, dividing them into two music groups and a control group.
They found that people who listened to music for an hour every day for a week reported improved physical and psychological symptoms compared to the control group.
The participants, who had an average age of 50, were recruited from pain and chiropractic clinics in Ohio, USA. They had been suffering from a range of painful conditions, including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis, for an average of six and a half years.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Listening to music during or after a medical procedure may relieve pain, but more research is needed to determine whether the effect is significant.
A study published in the June 2006 issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing found that listening to music daily reduced chronic pain, made people feel more in control of their pain, reduced depression, and made people feel less disabled by their condition.
How the Study Worked
Researchers conducted a controlled clinical trial with 60 people who were recruited from pain and chiropractic clinics in Ohio. Participants had been suffering from a range of painful conditions (including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis) for an average of six and a half years.
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By ANAHAD O’CONNOR