Power of Music

Music is a powerful force that can stimulate strong emotions within us.  Harnessing that power can benefit the seriously ill by improving their quality of life.  In a 3-year study Sandi Curtis, a music therapy professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, divided university music therapy students and musicians in to pairs working with 371 participating terminally ill patients from 18 to 101 years old.  Participants were seen for a single music therapy sessions from 15 to 60 minutes long with the goal of enhancing pain relief, relaxation, mood and quality of life.

“Our study showed how music therapy was effective in enhancing pain relief, comfort, relaxation, mood, confidence, resilience, life quality and well-being in patients,” said Curtis.  The study was published in the journal Music and Medicine.

This article was originally published in Pathways Physician & Health Professional Bulletin - Issue 24.  To download this issue in PDF format, or past issues, visit our newsletter archives online at www.pathwayshealth.org/publications.

Music Can Mean Less Pain

Focusing on music can distract people who have significant anxiety about pain enough that they feel the pain less acutely, according to a recent study done at the University of Utah Pain Research Center.  The study found that pain was reduced as the demands of focusing on the task rose.

Researchers had 153 volunteers concentrate on following a melody so they could identify the tones that stood out.  During the session small pain shocks were administered through fingertip electrodes.  The authors explained that the effects of the music resulted from competition with the participants’ pain pathways.

Interestingly, those who had registered the most anxiety about pain became more absorbed in the task and were more likely to experience reduced perception of pain.  The study authors suggested that, “Clinicians should consider patients’ personality characteristics when recommending behavioral interventions like music listening for pain relief.”

Pathways has volunteers that can provide music sessions to our hospice patients as part of our Integrative Therapies program of care for body and soul.

The results were published in the December, 2011 issue of the Journal of Pain.