The Healing Power of Music: A Low-Cost Solution for Post-Surgery Recovery
Recent findings suggest that listening to music post-surgery can significantly alleviate patient pain and anxiety, presenting an economical method to reduce reliance on painkillers.
“Many patients can feel disoriented or anxious upon awakening from anesthesia,” explains a medical expert. “They may also experience discomfort related to their surgery.”
This observation led researchers to delve deeper into the calming effects of music on post-operative patients.
The research team conducted a comprehensive analysis of 35 studies that evaluated the impact of music on pain levels, anxiety, heart rate, and pain medication usage following surgical procedures.
Each study included approximately 100 participants, with half instructed to listen to various music genres after undergoing abdominal or orthopedic surgeries. The duration of music exposure varied from thirty minutes to discharge.
The control group, matched for demographics and surgical type, did not engage in music listening after their operations.
This analysis, presented at a prominent medical conference in San Francisco, revealed that music reduced self-reported pain levels by an average of 20%. Patients who listened to music required less than half the morphine compared to those who did not partake in music therapy.
Additionally, music listening was found to lower anxiety levels, with heart rates decreasing by about 4.5 beats per minute and self-reported anxiety scores decreasing by an average of 2.5 points.
“While a 2.5-point reduction may seem modest, it indicates a positive trend,” noted a researcher from a UK university.
Music diversifies the brain’s focus away from pain by enhancing serotonin levels, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of well-being, while also helping to distract from anxious thoughts. This method could offer hospitals a cost-effective approach to improve patient recovery following surgery.
Looking ahead, future studies should encompass larger samples of patients undergoing similar surgical procedures to rigorously evaluate the benefits of music therapy compared to non-musical recovery methods, providing more definitive conclusions.
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