Music Therapy

Recently Answered

• QWhat does a music therapist do in children's hospitals?

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  A Intermountain Healthcare answered

  Music therapists use music to treat pediatric patients and siblings of all ages and ability. This is done individually and in groups. Music therapists address socialization, communication, emotions, physical issues, thinking, memory, pain control, and senses.
  
  They provide the following:
  

  • distraction and relaxation
  • support physical rehabilitation
  • help with learning skills, strengthening memory, and supporting learning
  • encourage empowerment and self-esteem
• QCan music treat illness?

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  A Discovery Health answered

  Music has been found to be an effective therapy for several conditions. It lowers levels of loneliness and anxiety in the elderly, eases depression, reduces stress in pregnant women, decreases the heart rate and blood pressure in cardiac patients, and strengthens the immune systems of patients after surgeries.

• QHow can music benefit my health?

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  A Dr. Kathleen Hall , Preventive Medicine, answered

  Sound is proven to be beneficial to our health. Aural nourishment through the form of music had proven to be helpful in many studies by reducing anxiety, relieving the symptoms of depression, and lowering blood pressure. It was also found patients receiving chemotherapy while listening to live music had 32 percent lower anxiety levels and 31 percent lower depression levels than those who did not listen to music. Music reduces stress by producing serotonin in our body. Listening to calming music decreases you physical responses, such as heart rate and respiration. Soothing background music in companies increases productivity. Stimulating music increases your heart rate and respiration and causes you to feel more energetic. Music can shift your mood almost immediately.
  
  Performing music is beneficial to your health as well. A study from the University of California at Irvine found that levels of the disease-fighting protein, immunoglobulin A, increased by 150 percent during choir rehearsals and 240 percent during performances.
  
   
  

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• QWhat is music therapy?

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  A Multiple Sclerosis Foundation answered

  Music therapy has gained recognition and acceptance as a viable method of healing by those in the field of conventional medicine. With music therapy, a person creates or listens to music, either individually or in a group setting. For those with movement limitations, music therapy may bring about more rhythmic, fluid and efficient movement, while improving cognitive function, pain, coordination, and gait.

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• QCan music therapy help in reducing stress?

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  A Debra Fulghum Bruce PhD , Healthcare, answered

  Many people find that music distracts them from the painful moment, helping to reduce mental stress. In fact, in some hospitals, staff members give patients tapes of soothing music and reassuring voice-overs to use during procedures. In clinical studies, both doctors and patients agreed that listening to music produced greater decreases in peaks of tension, and it produced greater compliance with relaxation practice. While the studies are limited, it’s thought that music therapy can help to improve mood and pain tolerance. This therapy is thought to enhance the parasympathetic response through the effects of sound, encouraging relaxation at a deep level. Moreover, relaxation has been shown to alter perceptions of pain.  

• QHow can music help patients?

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  A Debra Fulghum Bruce PhD , Healthcare, answered

  In a recent study from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, heart-attack survivors in a hospital ward said they felt less anxious immediately after listening to classical music. This change was reflected in their bodies as their heart rates slowed from an average of 79 beats per minute to 71, and the average number of breaths they took dropped from 17 to 16 per minute. They also showed an increase in something called "heart-rate variability," a sign that their hearts were growing stronger and more flexible.
  
  When you're under stress, your body releases epinephrine, norepinephrine, and other compounds that set your heart racing and increase the risk of complications. Researchers in this study believed the music distracted patients from their fears and focused their minds on something more soothing than memories of the heart attack.
  
• QHow does music therapy reduce stress and pain?

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  A Debra Fulghum Bruce PhD , Healthcare, answered

  Perhaps the most popular relaxation modality is music therapy. Many women find that music distracts them from the painful moment, helping to reduce mental stress. In fact, in some hospitals, staff members give patients tapes of soothing music and reassuring voice-overs to use during surgical procedures. In clinical studies, both doctors and patients agreed that listening to music produced greater decreases in peaks of tension, and it produced greater compliance with relaxation practice. While the studies are limited, it’s thought that music therapy can help to improve mood and pain tolerance. This therapy is thought to enhance the parasympathetic response through the effects of sound, encouraging relaxation at a deep level. Moreover, relaxation has been shown to alter perceptions of pain.

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• QWhat are the health benefits of music therapy?

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  A Dr. Maoshing Ni, PhD, LAc , Geriatric Medicine, answered

  To date, there is evidence that music therapy can reduce high blood pressure, depression and sleeplessness. In Alzheimer's patients, music therapy was shown to significantly reduce anxiety and aggression. While there are no claims that music therapy can directly cure diseases like cancer, medical professionals believe that music can reduce certain symptoms, help with healing, improve physical movement, and enrich a patient's overall quality of life.

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• QWhat are the health benefits of listening to slow music?

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  A Dr. Maoshing Ni, PhD, LAc , Geriatric Medicine, answered

  In the past few decades, researchers have found that slow, soothing music is generally beneficial to one's health, whereas fast, jarring music is not. Listening to calming music enhances cognitive functions such as memory, concentration and reasoning skills; even better, it boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, relaxes muscle tension, regulates stress hormones, elevates mood and increases endurance. Classical music and meditation music were found to deliver the most health benefits. On the other hand, irritating sounds can cause stress and therefore negatively impact your health. The composers that have been suggested to most effectively improve your quality of life are Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi and Scarlatti.