We already know that listening to your favorite music helps improve your mood, but does it also work against pain? You can find out in this article.
Research
Operations cause fear, stress and pain for patients, because of course no one likes to have such a major procedure. Researchers from Erasmus MC can demonstrate that anxious and stressful feelings disappear more quickly and pain decreases more quickly in patients who listen to music during the operation.
Music as a painkiller
It may be unusual to wake up in a hospital bed after surgery and the first thing you hear is your favorite song or the playlist of your favorite artist. Yet you can imagine that this is a lot nicer than the standard hospital sounds such as the beeping monitor and the rolling wheels of beds and carts. Researchers from Erasmus MC say that listening to music during their operation ensures that patients suffer less from pain, stress and anxiety complaints. In addition, a nice tune also has an effect on the reduced need for painkillers. Your favorite song is not (really) addictive and has no unwanted side effects, something that painkillers do have. A real win situation.
What does music do to us?
We have known for some time that music is linked to certain emotions. It has a positive effect on your mood, which is also very important for your recovery after surgery. It is almost a kind of placebo effect: the more fear and stress a patient has, the more pain they will experience after going under the knife. It is therefore important that you enter the operating table relaxed, and listening to the album of your favorite artist can help with this.
Not only that, but listening to your favorite tune also triggers certain chemical processes in our bodies: researchers think that the ‘vagus nerve’, a cranial nerve that sends signals to the abdomen and chest, plays a major role in this process. People who listen to quiet songs often have lower blood pressure and heart rate. The number of happiness hormones increases and the number of stress hormones decreases. The hormone endorphin plays an important role: this is a natural painkiller, which makes you feel happier, but also has less pain. Music actually allows you to tolerate more pain!
