Music Healing Power: When Adele debuted her 2011 single Someone Like You, her bittersweet ballad resonated with millions worldwide. More than a decade later, it remains one of her most popular tunes. Her artistry, as well as that of many others who have mastered the art of tugging at our heartstrings with slow and emotional beats, has a way of managing the emotional pain of heartbreak and loss.
There is no doubt that music can soothe the soul for some, and it turns out that it could also be a temporary soother for physical pain.
Listening to favorite songs could reduce peoples perception of pain, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Frontiers in Pain Research. And the most effective pain relievers were found to be sad songs detailing bittersweet and emotional experiences.
It doesnt take the place of Tylenol when you have a headache, but music can help take the edge off, said Patrick Stroman, a professor of biomedical and molecular sciences at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. He was not involved in the latest study but has conducted his own research on the relationship between pain and music. Unlike other medications, he noted, there is no side effect or risk to listening to music (just keep the volume at a reasonable level).
The small study invited 63 young adults to bring two of their favorite songs, and the only requirement was that they needed to be at least 3 minutes and 20 seconds long. One selection represented their favorite music of all time, and the other was the song they would bring with them on a desert island. The researchers also had the young adults pick one of seven songs that the team considered relaxing and were unfamiliar to the study participants. (The seven they could choose from were Cotton Blues, Jamaicare, Légende Celtique, Musique de Film, Nuit Cubaine, Reggae Calédonien and Sega Mizik Kèr.)
Each person underwent 7-minute blocks where they were instructed to stare at a monitor screen while listening to their favorite music, one of the seven relaxing instrumental songs (each of which lasted for 6 minutes and 40 seconds), or a scrambled version of both songs and the relaxing song chosen. The scrambled music was a noisy jumble of all three songs, cut into fragments and randomly shuffled so that they lacked their original structure. One 7-minute block had people sitting in silence. All the while, the researchers stuck a hot object similar to the pain of a boiling hot teacup on your skin to the participants left inner forearms.
When rating their experiences, people were more likely to report feeling less pain when listening to their favorite songs compared with hearing the unfamiliar relaxing song or silence. The scrambled songs did not reduce pain either, which the authors suggested was evidence of music being more than a distraction from an unpleasant experience.
With millions of songs available, one persons favorite song is likely not the same as another. After interviewing the participants about the song they brought and their rating of pain, the researchers found people who listened to bittersweet and moving songs felt less pain than when they listened to songs with calming or cheerful themes.
Also Read : Revolutionizing Flu Vaccination: Self-Administered FluMist Inches Closer to Home Use
Its a very cool result, said lead study author Darius Valevicius, a doctoral student of neurosciences at the University of Montreal. I think its something that myself and probably many people intuitively pick up on why we listen to bittersweet, melancholic or even spiritual music.
People who listened to bittersweet songs also reported more chills the thrill and shivers you get on your skin from listening to pleasurable music. This sensation was associated with lower ratings of unpleasantness elicited by the burning pain they felt in the experiment. While not thoroughly studied here, Valevicius said he thought those musical chills could be causing these pain-blocking effects.
Your brain on music is likely tapping into the bodys built-in system for regulating pain, Stroman said. The bodys ability to engage emotions and feelings helps to gauge how important the pain is at that moment. Stroman and his research team recently used brain imaging to capture what goes on in the central nervous system when people are exposed to pain while listening to music. The researchers observed music-altering brain connectivity across multiple brain regions involved in pain, memory and processing subjective emotional states.
When people are listening to music they enjoy, by our measurements it can reduce the pain that were feeling by 10%, he said. Stroman cautioned, however, that this behavior is not enough of an analgesic to avoid medication or medical services.
Still, there is nothing wrong with picking a more upbeat song if that is your preference. Music provides many other health benefits, including stress reduction and a good nights sleep. Valevicius said he has embraced this balm, stating I definitely have let myself indulge a little more in listening to music.
Our Reader’s Queries
How does music help in healing?
Calming music has been proven to be an effective tool for relaxation and mindfulness. Research has shown that listening to music can trigger the release of endorphins, which are hormones that promote feelings of pleasure and reduce stress levels. In fact, some studies suggest that music therapy may even have healing properties. So, the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious, try putting on some soothing tunes and see how it can positively impact your mood and well-being.
What type of music is good for healing?
The types of music that promote self-reflection and therapeutic change are diverse, ranging from classical music to Indian classical music, Japanese shakuhachi flute pieces, and African drumming. However, the most effective healing music is the one that strikes a chord with the individual and establishes an emotional bond. Uncommon musical styles can enhance the originality of the content and make it easy to comprehend, even for a child. Avoid self-referencing and explaining what you are doing to maintain a professional tone of voice.
Why music is so powerful?
When we listen to music, our limbic system, responsible for emotions and memory, becomes active. This is why we can feel chills when we hear a powerful piece of music. The neurotransmitter dopamine is responsible for these sensations of pleasure and well-being.
Does healing music actually work?
According to a recent review from 2020, sound therapy has the ability to greatly impact brain waves by transforming frenzied patterns into serene ones. This shift from a state of high activity to a more tranquil, dreamy state occurs as our brain waves begin to slow down. Auster explains that this process can be highly beneficial for achieving a sense of relaxation and calmness.