Music May Help Patients Recover From Surgery More Quickly By Easing Pain And Reducing Anxiety, According To A New Study
A new study has suggested that listening to your favorite tunes could actually help you recover from surgery more quickly.
Whether it’s calming classical melodies or catchy pop hits, music has been shown to reduce stress and ease pain. So, why not add a bit of rhythm to your post-surgery recovery and let the music work its magic?
Researchers from California Northstate University College of Medicine started by analyzing 3,736 studies and worked their way down to 35. They found that patients who listened to music after surgery saw some major benefits.
For example, patients who put on a playlist reported feeling much less pain the day after surgery. The results showed a 19 percent reduction on one pain scale and a seven percent reduction on another.
Additionally, patients who turned on some tunes felt a three percent reduction in anxiety overall. That may not seem like much, but when you’re trying to heal in a place as anxiety-inducing as a hospital, every bit helps.
Compared to non-listeners, patients who listened to music used less than half the amount of morphine on the first day after surgery. Music listeners also experienced about 4.5 fewer heartbeats per minute than those who didn’t listen to music.
This matters because a steady heart rate helps oxygen and nutrients flow through the body more efficiently, which is essential for healing.
“When patients wake up after surgery, sometimes they feel really scared and don’t know where they are,” said Dr. Eldo Frezza, the senior author of the study and a professor of surgery.
“Music can help ease the transition from the waking up stage to a return to normalcy and may help reduce stress around that transition.”
Kostiantyn – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual people – pictured above a man in a wheelchair listens to music while a nurse pushes him
Music is also super easy to implement into a post-surgery recovery routine. It doesn’t require any concentration, movement, or special equipment. All you need to do is sit down with a pair of headphones or turn on a speaker.
It is unclear exactly how the science behind the positive effects of listening to music works, but the researchers suspect that it has something to do with cortisol.
Cortisol is commonly referred to as the “stress hormone.” Music can help regulate your cortisol levels, tone down your body’s response to stress, and help you heal faster.
The study had its limitations; for instance, it could not control for all variables, such as how long patients listened to music. Still, it couldn’t hurt to give it a try.
There is not one type of music that is necessarily better than others. Music can be personally geared toward a specific individual to make them feel comforted and like they’re in a familiar place.
So, the next time you or anyone you know is facing surgery, make sure to have headphones handy. It could lead to a smoother healing process.
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