Nurse Rod Salaisay works in the hospital with all kinds of instruments: a thermometer, a stethoscope, and sometimes a guitar and ukulele.
In the rehabilitation department at the University of California, San Diego, Salaisay helps patients cope with pain after surgery. Along with medications, he offers ringtones on request and sometimes sings. His repertoire ranges from folk songs in English and Spanish to the minuet in G major and film favorites such as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
Patients often smile or nod. Salaysay even notices changes in their vital signs, such as a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure, and some may ask for less pain medication.
“There is often a vicious cycle of worry, pain and worry in the hospital,” he said, “but you can help break that cycle through music.”
Salaisay is a one-man band, but he is not alone. Over the past two decades, live performances and recorded music have become available in hospitals and doctors' offices as research into how songs can help relieve pain has grown.
healing power The song may seem intuitive given the deep roots of music in human culture. But the science of whether and how music dulls acute and chronic pain (technically called music analgesia) is only gaining momentum.
No one claims that a catchy song can completely relieve serious pain. But several recent studies, including in journals Pain And Scientific reportssuggested that listening to music could either reduce the perception of pain or increase a person's ability to tolerate pain.
The most important thing is that patients or their families choose the music themselves and listen to it carefully, and not just as background noise.
“Pain is a really complex experience,” said Adam Hanley, a psychologist at Florida State University. “It is created by a physical sensation, our thoughts about that sensation, and our emotional response to it.”
Two people with the same illness or injury may experience completely different levels of acute or chronic pain. Or the same person may experience pain differently on different days.
Acute pain is felt when pain receptors in a specific part of the body—such as a hand touching a hot stove—send signals to the brain, which processes short-term pain. Chronic pain is usually associated with long-term structural or other changes in the brain that increase overall sensitivity to pain signals. Researchers are still figuring out how this happens.
“Pain is interpreted and translated by the brain,” which can increase or decrease the signal, says Dr. Gilbert Chandler, a chronic spine pain specialist at Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic.
Researchers know that music can distract attention from pain, reducing the sensation. But research also shows that listening to your favorite music helps relieve pain better than listening to podcasts.
“Music is a distraction. It takes your attention away from the pain. But it does more than that,” said Caroline Palmer, a psychologist at McGill University who studies music and pain.
Palmer says scientists are still tracking the different neural pathways.
“We know that almost the entire brain is activated when we practice music,” said Kate Richards Geller, a registered music therapist in Los Angeles. “It changes the perception and experience of pain, as well as the isolation and anxiety associated with pain.”
The idea of using recorded music to reduce pain associated with dental surgery dates back to the late 19th century, before local anesthetics became available. Today, researchers are studying under what conditions music is most effective.
Researchers from Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands conducted a study of 548 participants to find out how five people listen. genres of music – classical, rock, pop, urban and electronica – have expanded their ability to withstand acute pain, measured by exposure to very low temperatures.
All music helped, but there was no one winning genre.
“The more people listened to their favorite genre, the more they were able to tolerate pain,” said co-author Dr. Amy van der Valk Bauman. “Many people thought that classical music would help them more. In fact, we are finding more and more evidence that the best music is the music you like.”
The exact reasons are still unclear, but it may be because familiar songs activate more memories and emotions, she said.
The simple act of making a choice is powerful in itself, says Claire Howlin, director of the Psychology of Music and Health Laboratory at Trinity College Dublin, who co-authored a study showing that allowing patients to choose songs their pain tolerance improved.
“This is one thing people can control if they have a chronic illness—it gives them flexibility,” she said.
Active, focused listening also matters.
Hanley, a Florida State psychologist, co-authored a preliminary study suggesting that daily listening may reduce chronic pain.
“Music has the ability to awaken different parts of the brain,” he said, “so you give people this positive emotional boost that takes their mind off the pain.”
Now some doctors say that this is a simple recipe with no side effects.
Cecily Gardner, a jazz singer from Culver City, California, said she used music to cope with a serious illness and sang to friends struggling with pain.
“Music reduces stress, promotes community,” she said, “and just takes you to a better place.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
