Should the patient choose his own music?

Would you prefer to choose your own music for surgery? The responses I get are about 50/50. Many people do want to choose their favorite music because they have definite musical taste and don't want to risk having someone else choose the music that accompanies them into a long (or even a short!) surgery. Then there are those who would prefer that someone else choose relaxing music for them. If you do want to choose your own music, keep these guidelines in mind:

1. Studies show that instrumental music is best. Lyrics tend to engage the left brain causing the patient to begin analyzing the music; not relaxing!

2. Choose some music that has the tempo of a healthy resting heart beat...between 40-50 beats per second.

3. Choose music that has positive associations for you. Music that you have loved for many years is always good.

4. You can choose music that you don't know well or maybe have never heard. Just listen to enough of it that you know it isn't upsetting or agitating.

5. Many people believe that slow classical music is best.

6. Some people really prefer slow and soft New Age music.

7. Personal taste in music is the key that opens the mind and body to a good surgical experience.

As soon as you know you're going to need surgery, start listening to many types of music. You know what you respond to. Talk with confidence to your surgeon about what you want to do. There is plenty of research that documents the benefits. You won't regret it! Let me know if I can help!

Man sings to infant daughter during surgery

Just moments ago I read about a man who sang a love song to his six-month-old daughter during her open-heart surgery. The original citation of this can be found at http://teamtsunamiblog.blogspot.com/. What a beautiful thing! I would love to know more about this story but it definitely seems like a good idea! What do you think? Just click on "comment" and share your reaction to this. You don't have to sign up for a Blogger account but you'd probably enjoy that!

iPod or Headphones in surgery?

With all the news and research about the numerous benefits of music for the patient undergoing surgery, many people are wondering if actual headphones or iPod earbuds are best. At this point, I would say that overall, headphones are best, primarily because they will have a more secure fit. There are many cases in which the iPod would probably be fine but my experience is that with some patients they just don't stay in the ear securely. Babyboomers and older are not used to earbuds and so are probably better off with full headphones that comfortably cover the entire ear. After all, one of the benefits is blocking conversations that the medical staff might be having that the patient doesn't need to hear. Please write to me on this blog with your questions and concerns.

An interesting surgery experience

Recently, a friend of mine's son had to have brain surgery. Thankfully, the tumor was benign and he is recovering fabulously well, but over coffee the other day, the father related an interesting and humorous experience his son had while coming out of the anesthesia. Apparently he was thinking of the new TV Show "Deal or No Deal." In his "dream state" he was playing the game and was asked "deal or no deal." He said "deal" and when the pretty girl opened the case, in it was a NEW BRAIN!

What does this have to do with music? Nothing, but I thought my readers would enjoy the story! Actually I will say this: if my friend had been wearing headphone (or earbuds in this case since it was brain surgery) he might or might not have had this dream. I believe that music affects the thoughts and probably dreams of people who are listening. In this case, the dream was funny and amusing. I believe that the chances for a positive surgical experience are greatly increased when listening to music through headphones or earbuds.

Recent Research on Music and Surgery

There is so much data about the benefits of music before, during and after surgery. You can search by type of surgery or you can search by type of adjunctive intervention like music, relaxation tapes, aromatherapy or any of dozens of things! If you want to see some of the most recent, go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez. Just do a search for what interests you most. Please let me know how I can help you!

You can also visit http://www.HealingMusicEnterprises.com/listmailings/email_temp_pain.html

Plan ahead for surgery, if you can

Many people cannot plan ahead for surgery beause it is last-minut and urgent. However, if you do have some advance notice start making plans to use music before, during and after the surgery. There is lots of documentation that using music through headphones before, during and after surgery can greatly reduce the amount of anxiety medication needed before, the amount of anesthesia needed during and the amount of pain medication needed afterwards.

For more information, order my tape set, CD, or download on how to talk with your doctor before the procedure and then also provides the music that I recommend for you to listen to during the procedure. Go to www.HealingMusicEnterprises.com/products/music_surgery/music_surgery.html

You can also purchase consulting time with me on the website. Best wishes for a healthy result if you're planning to have surgery.

Research on Music with Surgery

I've been talking about music with surgery for a long time and I believe that hundreds of thousands of people have paid attention and are now asking for music before their surgery. Looking at some of the clinical research is helpful too. Studies have been done around the world but here are two that I thought you might find interesting:

Unassisted music listening has also been studied with patients undergoing elective procedures using regional anesthesia to determine music’s effect on decreasing anxiety levels during surgery. Eisenman & Cohen (1995) studied patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. Patients reported that music listening during surgery helped make the time pass more quickly, masked background noises and diverted attention away from the surgical procedure. Anesthetists also reported that patients required less anesthesia, were calmer, and maintained more stable pulse rates and blood pressures. In a similar study, Cruise, Chung, Yogendran & Little (1997) studied elderly patients who were scheduled for cataract extraction surgery. Patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Subjects in group one listened to relaxing suggestions; group two listened to white noise (level of normal noise in a quiet environment); group three listened to operating room noise recorded during a cataract operation; and group four listened to relaxing, classical music with sounds of nature. After surgery, no significant differences were noted in vital signs between any of the groups. No significant differences were found in STAI or VAS scores among the groups before or after surgery. Patients in group four did report being more satisfied with the surgery experience and feeling more relaxed than was reported by other subjects. Results of this study showed a subjective improvement in anxiety with music listening but lacked objective evidence to support music listening as an effective medium to decrease physiological responses caused by stress.