Music could be a cheap way to help people be more comfortable after surgery
Dragos Condrea/Alamy
Listening to music after surgery has shown to alleviate a patient’s pain and anxiety, offering a cost-effective and simple method to reduce the use of painkillers.
According to Eldo Frezza at California Northstate University College of Medicine, many patients experience anxiety and pain after awakening from anesthesia post-surgery.
Extensive research has demonstrated the calming effects of music, prompting Frezza and his team to investigate its impact on post-operative recovery.
Through an analysis of 35 studies examining the effects of post-surgery music on pain, anxiety, heart rate, and painkiller consumption, the researchers observed significant benefits.
Participants in these studies, who listened to music of various genres following abdominal or bone-related surgeries, reported a 20% reduction in pain levels and required less morphine during their hospital stay compared to those who did not listen to music.
Furthermore, music was found to decrease anxiety levels, lowering heart rates by approximately 4.5 beats per minute and reducing self-reported anxiety by 2.5 points on a scale of 20 to 80.
Annie Heiderscheit from Anglia Ruskin University explains that music can elevate serotonin levels in the brain, promoting a sense of well-being and distracting individuals from anxious thoughts.
This inexpensive and accessible method of using music for post-operative care could be beneficial for hospitals in aiding patients’ recovery process.
Frezza suggests that future research should involve larger studies where patients undergoing similar surgeries are randomly assigned to listen to music post-procedure, providing more robust and reliable results than combining data from smaller studies.
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