Music can Help You Heal

Music therapy can calm anxiety, ease pain, and provide a pleasant diversion during chemotherapy or a hospital stay. 

Music therapy? 

Music therapy is a burgeoning field. People who become certified music therapists are usually accomplished musicians who have deep knowledge of how music can evoke emotional responses to relax or stimulate people or help them heal.

They combine this knowledge with their familiarity with a wide variety of musical styles to find the specific kind that can get you through a challenging physical rehab session or guide you into meditation. And they can find that music in your favourite genre, be it electropop or grand opera.

Using music to promote a healing environment has been woven into many cultures throughout human history. The roots of western therapeutic music can be traced back to Pythagoras of Greece who taught music as a medical science, to David’s soothing of King Saul, to the Druids and Bards of Britain and Ireland, to monastic communities of the Middle Ages, and to visionary musicians like St. Hildegard of Bingen, who embodied and passed on the knowledge of the power of therapeutic music.

Misunderstandings about therapeutic music

Assumption: There is only one type or style of music that is beneficial for all patients. 

Truth: Each patient has unique needs. The patient’s in-the-moment condition determines the type of music played/sung. 

Assumption: Therapeutic musicians are merely entertainers or performers, or have not received sufficient training to provide therapeutic effects to patients. 

Truth: Therapeutic musicians are certified through extensive programs that provide high-quality training, requiring intensive clinical practicums and holding high standards for each graduate. 

Assumption: Any decent musician can play therapeutic music.

Truth: Certified therapeutic musicians are specially trained to provide prescriptive music, chosen based on the patient’s current condition. During a music session, the therapeutic musician watches carefully to see if the patient’s condition or response is changing, and if so, the musician modifies the music being played/sung accordingly.

Assumption: Recorded relaxing music gives patients the same benefits as live acoustic music.

Truth: Live music played on an acoustic instrument generally results in greater effective patient responses over responses to recorded music. This is believed to be, at least in part, because of the increased vibrational quality of most live music relative to vibrations of recorded music, and the compassionate presence of the CMP.

Benefits of therapeutic music

According to the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Music?, benefits of therapeutic music can include, but are not limited to:

• Distracting and disassociating from the present situation
• Refocusing attention
• Altering the sense of time
• Relieving anxiety of the critically ill
• Reducing stress and stabilizing blood pressure of the chronically ill
• Augmenting pain management
• Bridging communication between loved ones
• Relieving body and mental tension of the pre-surgery patient
• Accelerating physical healing of post-surgery and injured patients
• Easing the birth delivery process
• Aiding mental focus in Alzheimer’s patients
• Easing the dying during transition
• Supporting vital signs of acute patients

Disclaimer: The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensue discussion or debate.   

Thank you … Music therapists know few boundaries. They may play music for you or with you, or even teach you how to play an instrument Technology gives us so much access to all kinds of music that you can find and play almost any kind of music you like,

A growing body of research attests that music therapy is more than a nice perk. It can improve medical outcomes and quality of life in a variety of ways. 

Want to add word or two? 

If you're facing a procedure or illness, or just want relief from the stresses of daily life or motivation to stick to an exercise program, a music therapist may be able to help you. 

Your comment ….? 

A growing body of research attests that music therapy is more than a nice perk. It can improve medical outcomes and quality of life in a variety of ways. Here's a sampling:

Easing anxiety and discomfort during procedures. In controlled clinical trials of people having colonoscopies, cardiac angiography, or knee surgery, those who listened to music before their procedure had less anxiety and less need for sedatives. People who listened to music in the operating room reported less discomfort during their procedure. And those who heard music in the recovery room used less opioid medication for pain.

Restoring lost speech. Music therapy can help people who are recovering from a stroke or traumatic brain injury that has damaged the left-brain region responsible for speech. Because singing ability originates in the right side of the brain, people can work around the injury to the left side of their brain by first singing their thoughts and then gradually dropping the melody. 

Aiding pain relief. Music therapy has been tested in a variety of patients, ranging from those with intense short-term pain to those with chronic pain from arthritis. Over all, music therapy decreases pain perception, reduces the amount of pain medication needed, helps relieve depression in pain patients, and gives them a sense of better control over their pain. 

Improving quality of life for people with dementia. Because the ability to engage with music remains intact late into the disease process, music therapy can help to evoke memories, reduce agitation, assist communication, and improve physical coordination. 

Helping with physical therapy and rehabilitation. If you exercise to a playlist, you've probably noticed that music helps you stick to your routine. In fact, a 2011 analysis of several studies suggests that music therapy enhances people's physical, psychological, cognitive, and emotional functioning during physical rehabilitation programs.