Forget painkillers, listening to music after surgery could be the ultimate healing you need

Listening to music can help in reducing pain and healing faster.According to a new research,it was observed that music has healing effects on the body. Especially for a person recovering after a surgery, listening to music can result in magical healing effects on the body. Music helps in reducing heart rate and the sense of pain in the body, accelerating the process of healing.

From a list of 3736 studies, researchers narrowed it down to 35 research papers to study the effect of music on patient outcomes, such as pain, anxiety, opioid use and measures of heart rate. The research papers were thoroughly analysed by the researchers, who concluded that the act of listening to music after a surgery demonstrated noticeable effects on a person. Listening to music with headphones or through a speaker helped patients after a surgery and showed significant positive signs of healing.

Music reduces the perception of pain

A day after the surgery, patients reported a significant reduction in pain and anxiety levels, when they listened to music. Shehzaib Raees, one of the authors of the new research, said in an interview with Independent that even though the patients were in pain, their perception of pain reduced when they listened to music.

It was also observed that reduced heart rate of 4.5 fewer beats per minute were recorded in patients compared with those who did not listen to music. Patients who listened to music after a surgery also consumed half of the amount of morphine that was consumed by patients who did not listen to music.

How can music help in healing?

Eldo Frezza from California Northstate University College of Medicine, told Independent that after a surgery, patients go through the transition of waking-up-stage to a return-to-normalcy-stage. Music helps in facilitating this transition and reducing stress. It is a more passive experience compared to meditation and suits more people better.

Music reduced post-surgery pain by 19% and decreased opioid use.
Patients who listened to music experienced a 3% reduction in anxiety levels.
Music listeners had a lower heart rate, improving circulation and recovery.

Source: American College of Surgeons

Looking for a creative way to quicken your recovery from surgery? The key may be found in listening to music, according to research presented at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2024 in San Fransisco, California.

Researchers at California Northstate University College of Medicine in Elk Grove, California analyzed existing studies on music and its role in helping people recover from surgery, narrowing a list of 3,736 studies to 35 research papers.

All of the studies included data on patient outcomes, such as pain and anxiety, as well as measures of heart rate and opioid use. In their analysis, the researchers found that the simple act of listening to music after surgery, whether with headphones or through a speaker, had noticeable effects on patients during their recovery period:

Lower pain levels: Patients who listened to music had a statistically significant reduction in pain the day after surgery. Pain was measured using two validated measures that asked patients to self-report their pain levels: the Numeric Rating Scale (around 19% reduction) and the Visual Analogue Scale (around 7% reduction).
Reduced anxiety levels: Across all the analyzed studies, patient self-reported anxiety levels were reduced by about 2.5 points, or 3%, as assessed by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, a patient-answered survey that assesses anxiety on a scale of 80.
Less opioid use: Patients who listened to music used less than half of the amount of morphine compared to those who did not listen to music on the first day after surgery (an average of 0.758 mg compared to 1.654 mg for those who did not listen to music).
Lower heart rate: Patients who listened to music experienced a reduced heart rate (around 4.5 fewer beats per minute) compared with patients who did not listen to music, which the authors noted is significant because keeping a patient’s heart rate within a healthy range helps improve recovery by allowing effective circulation of oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, especially to areas that were operated on. In addition, tachycardia, or a heart rate greater than 100, can lead to abnormal heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillation, which can be life-threatening.

“When patients wake up after surgery, sometimes they feel really scared and don’t know where they are,” said Eldo Frezza, MD, MBA, FACS, senior author of the study and a professor of surgery at California Northstate University College of Medicine.

“Music can help ease the transition from the waking up stage to a return to normalcy and may help reduce stress around that transition.”

“We’re not trying to say that one type of music is better than another,” he said. “We think music can help people in different ways after surgery because music can be comforting and make you feel like you’re in a familiar place.”

Study co-authors are Hannah Chang, BS; Kimberly Ku, BS; Niloufar S. Tehrani, MTM; Julia C. Howard, BS; and Muzammil Akhtar, BS.

The authors report no disclosures.

With Thanks Reference to:https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/health/forget-painkillers-listening-to-music-after-surgery-could-be-the-ultimate-healing-you-need-101729692088619.html and https://neurosciencenews.com/music-surgery-pain-anxiety-27894/#:~:text=An%20analysis%20of%2035%20studies%20found%20that%20patients,heart%20rate%2C%20both%20crucial%20for%20improving%20recovery%20outcomes.

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