Music Therapy For Reducing Pain and Anxiety

'Music isn't only for entertainment. It is an art form whose medium is sound and silence and whose power is endless. A new study reported in The Journal of Pain concludes that listening to music can be effective for reducing pain and high-anxiety.'

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'Music therapy has also been used to temporarily open up areas of memory for Alzheimer's patients. And in one study, mood and function significantly improved in subjects with dementia who learned that when they pushed a button they would be rewarded with a familiar song. 

In research conducted by Dr. Schlaug, stroke victims who developed speech impairments were taught to improve speech fluency by expressing themselves with a chant-like form of singing.'

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How it feels to have a stroke (worth viewing again)

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The Power of Music

Music can literally work wonders for people with Parkinson’s, dementia, or strokes. A leading music therapist talks about how caregivers can make the best use of it.

'A man in his late 60s has a stroke and loses his speech. After two years of intense speech therapy, he still can’t talk. From a treatment standpoint, he’s considered “hopeless.”

A music therapist hears him singing a few words — all that he can get out — of “Ol’ Man River” and begins singing with him or accompanying him on the accordion a few times a week. Within two months, he’s crooning that entire song, and others, and has begun to recover his speech.'

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Music to Your Ears

'Nothing really engages the human brain like music.'

'The left brain enjoys rhythmic structures, chord progressions, and the way lyrics fit nicely. While the right brain soars on melody and emotional responses produced by the infinite combinations of instruments and voices.

But music's effect on the brain may go far beyond enjoyment. In fact, more than 5,000 certified music therapists in the U.S. base their professional practice on the healing properties of music.'

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