Healing Music Enterprises Blog » Music Healing

Music Can Aid in Pain Relief, Especially When Anxiety Involved

Dr. Alice Cash — Sat, 12 May 2012 02:57:20 +0000

Listening to music can provide a distraction that can help to relieve pain finds a new study published by researchers from the University of Utah Pain Research Center in The Journal of Pain, a publication of the American Pain Society.

For the study, 143 subjects listened to music tracks, following the melodies and listening for deviant tones. During the music tasks, the volunteers were given safe levels of pain shocks using fingertip electrodes. While listening to music and distracted by the activities, the volunteers experienced less pain during the shocks

When the brain senses injury to the body, pain signals that begin in the somatosensory cortex and the hypothalamus work their way downward through the “pain pathway”, ultimately sending signals that provide pain relief. There are also signals that stimulate the release of neurotransmitters such as endorphins, dynorphins, and enkephalins. Music appears to help in pain reduction by activating these sensory pathways.

Music is one alternative therapy that is studied for pain relief, primarily for its ability to distract the patient from the discomfort. This new research finds that it is especially beneficial to those with high anxiety levels about the pain, such as when doctors are giving vaccines or performing painful procedures that must be done without anesthesia. Music also has the ability to soothe, inspire, energize and uplift a person, which may be beneficial to those with chronic pain who need to learn coping techniques.

Currently, there are approximately 5,000 trained music therapists that work with patients in pain management centers, hospitals, clinics, senior centers, and rehabilitation facilities in the United States. Those who use music therapy to cope with chronic pain tend to require less pain medication, have significant improvements in clinical markers such as respiration, blood pressure, and heart rate, and also tend to have an improved quality of life.

Source Reference: David H. Bradshaw, Gary W. Donaldson, Robert C. Jacobson, Yoshio Nakamura, C. Richard Chapman. Individual Differences in the Effects of Music Engagement on Responses to Painful Stimulation. The Journal of Pain – December 2011 (Vol. 12, Issue 12, Pages 1262-1273, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2011.08.010)

Can music prevent organ rejection?

Dr. Alice Cash — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 03:53:56 +0000

Music has a fundamental affect on humans. It can reduce stress, enhance relaxation, provide a distraction from pain, and improve the results of clinical therapy. New research published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery demonstrates that music can reduce rejection of heart transplants in mice by influencing the immune system.

The link between the immune system and brain function is not clearly understood, nevertheless music is used clinically to reduce anxiety after heart attack, or to reduce pain and nausea during bone marrow transplantation. There is some evidence that music may act via the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates the bodily functions that we have no conscious control over, including digestion.

Researchers from Japan investigated if music could influence the survival of heart transplants in mice. They found that opera and classical music both increased the time before the transplanted organs failed, but single frequency monotones and new age music did not.

The team led by Dr Masanori Niimi pinpointed the source of this protection to the spleen. Dr Uchiyama and Jin revealed, “Opera exposed mice had lower levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon gamma (IFN-?). They also had increased levels of anti-inflammatory IL-4 and IL-10. Significantly these mice had increased numbers of CD4+CD25+ cells, which regulate the peripheral immune response.”

It seems that music really does influence the immune system – although the mechanism behind this still is not clear. Additionally, this study only looked at a limited selection of composers, so the effect of music on reducing organ rejection may not be limited to opera.

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Notes to Editors

1. Auditory stimulation of opera music induced prolongation of murine cardiac allograft survival and maintained generation of regulatory CD4+CD25+ cells Masateru Uchiyama, Xiangyuan Jin, Qi Zhang, Toshihito Hirai, Atsushi Amano, Hisashi Bashuda and Masanori Niimi Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery (in press)

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central’s open access policy.

Article citation and URL available on request on the day of publication.

2. Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal that encompasses all aspects of research in the field of cardiothoracic surgery.

3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.

Music and Corporate Wellness

Dr. Alice Cash — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 22:42:42 +0000

Businesses are struggling today, no doubt about it. Businesses are going bankrupt, folding, going under. Is there ANY chance at all that music, drum circles, or singing could make a difference? Really? Well, here are some of the things that music is credited with doing:

Music is a powerful tool that affects our moods, behavior and physiology. When employees are educated about what, when, where and how to listen to music as medicine, they become more self-aware, educated (beyond their instincts), motivated, engaged and happier! The possibilities for self-satisfaction are endless and untapped: recommended music for use as medicine is found in all genres. Reap the potential benefits:

reduce trauma
diminish stress
minimize anger
reverse depression
lessen anxiety
heal loss

Bringing musicians and music-wellness, music-medicine professionals into the workplace is an option that is increasingly being considered. Businesses that struggle with:

high turnover
too many sick days
high worker compensation claims
high stress, worry, frustrations and disappointments
low motivation
poor customer satisfaction
low sales

are willing to look at any interventions that might work. Dr. Judith Pinkerton, a board-certified music therapist in Las Vegas, is looking at all of these conditions and options. In Louisville, KY, I am beginning to implement these workshops in the many small and large businesses our city has.

If YOU or YOUR company is interested in bringing me and some of my colleagues in for an educational/inspirational program on corporate wellness through music and sound and rhythm, contact me at DrAlice@HealingMusicEnterprises.com!

Having surgery? Music for surgeon and music for patient

Dr. Alice Cash — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 03:35:12 +0000

Today it is not unusual for the operating rooms of hospitals to have music playing. Thats a good thing for sure, but unfortunately, the music that the surgeon wants will usually have no benefit at all for the patient. Yes, it’s important for the surgeon to feel good and have a high energy level and laser focus. However, the patient needs to have feel calm, secure, peaceful, optimistic and reassured. There is no way that the same music can accomplish the same things for both patient and surgeon!

The reason that most people have not considered this yet, is that the medical personnel are assuming that if the patient is under general anesthesia they can’t hear the music anyway. Often, this is not the case. Many patients wake up from surgery, saying that they heard not only conversations between nurse and doctor, but they heard the sounds of surgery. In some surgeries, such as joint replacement surgeries, there is quite a bit of noise, including sawing, hammering and and drilling! Wouldn’t YOU rather hear some beautiful soothing music, calming music?

If surgery is in your future, please remember to ask your doctor if music will be present in the OR and if it will be chosen for the doctor or the patient. To be absolutely sure you have the best music for your surgery, check out the Surgical Serenity headphones! You’ll be glad you did!

What are Therapeutic Characteristics of Music?

Dr. Alice Cash — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:49:33 +0000

We all know that music makes us feel better! It cheers us up, it calms us down, it brings back wonderful memories of love, childhood, holidays, vacations, and our whole lives. The field of music therapy has provided lots of wonderful information on this and so much more.

The following list is from www.preludemusictherapy.com. I highly recommend this site to you and encourage you to check out all of the resources it provides!

Music captivates and maintains attention — it stimulates & utilizes many parts of the brain.
Music is easily adapted to, and can be reflective of, a person’s abilities.
Music structures time in a way that we can understand (“that’s the last verse – my exercise session is almost over!”).
Music provides a meaningful, enjoyable context for repetition.
Music provides a social context — it sets up a safe, structured setting for verbal and nonverbal communication.
Music is an effective memory aid.
Music supports and encourages movement.
Music taps into memories and emotions.
Music — and the silences within it — provide nonverbal, immediate feedback.
Music is success-oriented — people of all ability levels can participate.

If you still have doubts about the power of music in the health and healing world, I urge you to start at the beginning of this blog and read all the way through. Music is powerful medicine!

Mozart by Cat

Dr. Alice Cash — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:53:11 +0000

Nora the cat pawing out a little music.

Another story of Music’s Healing Power

Dr. Alice Cash — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 02:56:08 +0000

Music helps when all else fails.

Published on September 28, 2011 by Susan R. Barry, Ph.D. in Eyes on the Brain

My 89-year-old father lives three miles from me in an Assisted Care home. Like many of the other residents, he can barely walk and is terribly withdrawn. It is a struggle to find ways to bring even a small amount of pleasure into his day. But reading Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks gave me an idea.
Dr. Sacks wrote movingly about the effects of music on his patients, which made me wonder if music could help my dad. Every night, all through my childhood, my father played his violin. When my sister and I were too agitated to sleep, he would come into our bedroom and play us to sleep. During my mother’s last decade, my father played for her every night which calmed her Parkinson’s tremors and allowed her to drift into slumber. In a sense, my father had been our family’s music therapist. Perhaps, I could find a music therapist for my dad.

After some research, I found Rusty. At our first music therapysession, Rusty came to my father’s bedroom, tuned his guitar, and began to sing. I sang along. My father laid on his back on his bed, unmoving. The only time he opened his eyes was to say good-bye at the end of the music session.
“Don’t worry,” Rusty said to me when he saw my sad face, “It can take some time for people to warm up to me.” But I felt hopeless.
A breakthrough came, however, during the second music therapy session. We began with folk songs, but they had no effect on my dad. Since his real love is chamber music, I started to hum the melody to Schubert’s Trout Quintet while Rusty improvised on his guitar. My father opened his eyes. Then Rusty moved into a syncopated version of “Ode to Joy.” My dad applauded.
With each subsequent music therapy session, my father grew more engaged. During the sixth session, several other residents peeked into my dad’s room. “Come in! Come in!” Rusty and I shouted, and the staff rushed to get additional chairs. Soon there were six other elderly residents in the room, singing and clapping. We sang World War II era songs, and two women even got up and danced, holding on to each other (otherwise they would have both fallen over.)
Now, Rusty comes every Friday afternoon. We’ve moved the music therapy out of my father’s bedroom into a common area where we are joined by a dozen other residents. The music transforms them. One woman, for example, is usually so folded into herself that she reminds me of a flat tire. But, when Rusty strummed the tune to “Old Man River,” she straightened up, tilted her head back, and gave a performance as moving as any Paul Robeson could have done.

There are days when conversation is too hard for my father. But I know now what to do. We sing. Even as a younger man, my father knew the lyrics to only one song, “Home on the Range.” So, we end our visits by singing “Home on the Range” together. There’s an irony in this. My father and I are New Englanders. We’ve never lived on the range or even seen a wild antelope. But, no matter. The song brings us comfort, and we are both at peace.

Music is Becky Lippard’s saving grace

Dr. Alice Cash — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 04:38:05 +0000

[Tagline]

Published Saturday, August 13, 2011 11:00 PM

By Katie Scarveykscarvey@salisburypost.comWhen faced with the prospect of losing most of a lung, Becky Lippard knew what was important to her.

“I’d rather have five years of singing than 15 years without it,” she told doctors.

Becky is well-known locally for her beautiful voice. She’s appeared in many Piedmont Players musicals, including “Smoke on the Mountain” in 1994, “Sanders Family Christmas” in 2000 and the 2006 world premiere of “Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming.”

She’s been in lots of other shows as well, including “H.M.S. Pinafore” and most recently “Nunsense” and “Hairspray” and sings frequently with a Lee Street Theatre group, whose shows are so popular they’ve had to turn people away. She’s also served as the piano accompanist for various shows, including “Curtains,” “Seussical,” “1776” and “Tommy,” and she’s served as a church organist locally for the past 11 years.

All of this comes naturally to Becky, who majored in music and voice performance when she was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Although it hasn’t necessarily paid most of her bills, music is more than just a hobby for Becky.

“Music has been the saving grace,” she says. Recently, as she’s navigated a series of threats to her health, music has become a healing force.

Last June, Becky had dental surgery, and her health began to deteriorate following that, she says. In July, she lost her job unexpectedly and continued to feel bad. She was listless and feeling depressed. As bad as she felt, she forced herself to try out for the Piedmont Players Theatre show “Nunsense,” hoping it would help snap her out of whatever was getting her down. She got a part, but she wasn’t feeling any better.

While rehearsals for that show continued in September, she finally went to the doctor. Test results showed that she was anemic, dehydrated and in kidney failure. That led to 10 days in the hospital. She got out just in time to take publicity photos for the show.

Somehow, she managed to make it through the run of the show.

While she was in the hospital doctors discovered that Becky had what they felt was a carcinoid tumor on her right lung.

She couldn’t have it removed, however, until her kidney function improved, since the risk of complications during surgery was too great.

In February, her nephrologist determined that she needed to undergo dialysis because her kidneys were no longer filtering impurities. In March, she had a catheter installed so she could undergo dialysis in her own home. She began doing that in April, after receiving training.

Becky hooks herself up to a dialysis machine every night for nine hours. As she sleeps, toxins are cleared from her body.

“It makes you feel so much better,” she says.

She doesn’t mind the process at all, she says, although she has to make sure she has an uninterrupted block of time to do it in. For example, when she was in “Hairspray,” the show ended at 10:30 Saturday night and she had to be at church the next morning at 8:30 — which didn’t leave her a very big window of time for dialysis.

Her doctors weren’t sure what had caused her kidney function to deteriorate so quickly, but there was some speculation that it was possibly related to the tumor or to medication Becky had taken during or after her dental surgery. Although Becky is diabetic, she had always had healthy kidney function before last year, she says.

In May, much healthier because of the dialysis, Becky was finally cleared for her lung surgery. She scheduled it for May 20 — which allowed her to get in one last singing gig with Lee Street Theatre.

A surgeon at Wake Forest’s Baptist Medical Center removed two thirds of Becky’s right lung. Fortunately, the tumor hadn’t spread, and it was determined to be benign.

After the surgery, she felt terrible, wanting to just curl up in a ball and sleep. She was in intensive care for five days.

“I had a hard time getting out of the drug-induced state,” she says. “I just wanted to be left alone with the drugs to stop the pain.”

Worried that Becky wasn’t bouncing back as she should be, a nurse tried to provide stimulation by bringing an iPad to Becky’s bed and playing Stevie Wonder on it.

While the doctors observed, she turned on Stevie Wonder — “You are the Sunshine of My Life” — and Becky began snapping her fingers and tapping her leg.

She remembers the doctors furiously scribbling. “That’s good for you,” her doctor said.

“You have no idea,” Becky responded.

The next day, her best friend and her aunt came to visit her, and Becky found her voice again.

She sang, “Oh What a Beautiful Morning.”

Becky credits music with helping her recover.

“Music is important,” she says. “That and prayers.”

Becky says that having most of one lung removed hasn’t affected her singing, and she’s incredibly grateful for that. The tumor was probably keeping her from using that part of her lung anyway, and it’s possible she’d had the tumor a very long time before it was discovered.

Lee Street Theatre is planning another evening of music at the Black Box Theater for November, and Becky’s looking forward to singing again. She loves Broadway tunes — “Music Man” and “Gypsy” are favorites.

Her favorite musical role to date has been Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeney Todd” (who’s “a little bubble off plumb,” Becky says).

Becky’s happy to continue doing what she loves, but there’s still that issue of nightly dialysis.

The next step, Becky says, is going through the steps necessary to get on a kidney transplant list. She’s been told she’s a good candidate.

Still, she says, “I feel better than I have in over a year. I didn’t know how bad I felt until I felt better.”

When people see her these days, they often tell her how well she’s looking, and she responds: “This is what it looks like for me not to worry. You haven’t seen this face for a while.

“This year has been a lesson in humility,” she adds.

“You think you’re strong and independent and you find you have to ask for help…and people want to help you. I just couldn’t have made it (without help).”

Becky hasn’t had a full-time job since last July, but she works part-time at Center for Faith & the Arts and continues serving as a regular substitute organist for the Third Creek Presbyterian Church choir, which she’s done for 11 years now. In 2008, she traveled with the choir to Northern Ireland.

The church has put together a barbecue fundraiser for Becky on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 4-8 p.m. at Third Creek Presbyterian Church, 2055 Third Creek Church Road, Cleveland.

Meals are by donation, and Becky’s Lee Street Theatre buddies will provide entertainment.

Oh yes, and Becky will sing too.

You can hear for yourself that one and a third lungs, if they happen to be Becky Lippard’s, sound better than two lungs on most people.