Music Therapy

Why does music make us feel better?

The research has often drawn on how nerve impulses in the central nervous system are affected by our thought processes and emotions. Anything that distracts us from pain may reduce the extent to which we focus on it, and music may be particularly powerful in this regard. The beauty is that once we understand how music relates to pain, we have the potential to treat ourselves.

Music attracts and holds our attention and is emotionally engaging. Our favorite music is likely to have stronger positive effects than tracks we don’t like or know. Researchers have demonstrated that the music we prefer has greater positive effects on pain tolerance and perception, reduces anxiety and increases feelings of control over pain. In older patients that suffer from dementia, listening to preferred music is linked with decreasing agitated behavior.

Given that it is inexpensive, can be tailored around the everyday activities of the individual and has few of the negative secondary effects associated with many prescription and opiate drugs. Beyond the pain itself, it also may help with persistent parts of the pain cycle such as stress and negative thoughts. Particularly in this era of portable playing devices, this effective process of healing can be used in daily life.

Studies that delve deeper into this topic are being conducted by specialists on the topic. If we are going to learn how best to apply music to chronic pain, we are going to have to research everyday settings with this method applied.