Research shows that listening to music can help patients recover faster from surgery.
Experts have found that playing your favorite songs, whether in headphones or speakers, can reduce pain and anxiety levels after surgery.
It may also reduce the amount of morphine a patient needs, leading to a slowing of the heart rate, which is key to recovery.
A team of researchers at California North State University School of Medicine analyzed 35 existing studies on music and its role in aiding recovery from surgery.
Overall, they found that the simple act of listening to music after surgery had a noticeable impact on patients during recovery.
Listening to your favorite music reduces pain and anxiety levels after surgery (pictures)
Music can help ease the transition from waking up to returning to normal, and may help reduce stress during that transition (pictured)
For example, they report up to a 19 percent reduction in pain levels and a 3 percent reduction in anxiety.
Patients who listened to music took less than half the amount of morphine on the first day after surgery than those who did not listen to music.
Those who listened to the song also had a lower heart rate, about 4.5 beats per minute, compared to those who didn’t listen.
Researchers say this is important because maintaining a patient’s heart rate within a healthy range allows oxygen and nutrients to circulate effectively throughout the body, promoting recovery. Ta.
“When patients wake up after surgery, they can sometimes feel very scared and have no idea where they are,” said Eldo Frezza, senior author of the study.
“Music can help ease the transition from waking up to a normal state, and may help reduce stress during that transition.”
Dr. Frezza and his co-authors found that unlike more active therapies such as meditation or Pilates, which require a great deal of concentration and movement, listening to music is a more passive experience that patients can use immediately after surgery. He pointed out that this can be implemented without much expense or effort. .
“While we can’t specifically say that the pain is less, the study found that patients perceived their pain to be less, and we think that’s just as important,” said Shezaib, lead author of the study.・Mr. Reis said.
The simple act of listening to music after surgery had a noticeable effect on patients recovering (pictured)
The research team said listening to music lowers the body’s stress hormone cortisol levels, which may play a role in helping patients recover from surgery (pictured)
“Listening to music helps me unplug and relax. Then I don’t have so much to do or focus on, and I can calm myself down.”
The research team said listening to music lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body, which may play a role in helping patients recover from surgery.
Future research will include evaluating the use of music in surgical settings as well as intensive care units.
Dr. Frezza said she recommends listening to your favorite music if you feel like it after surgery.
“We’re not trying to say that one type of music is better than another,” he added. “We think music can help people in many ways after surgery, as music can be comforting and make you feel like you’re in a nostalgic place.”
The study results were presented at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Conference in San Francisco.
