Music not just good for the soul, it’s also good for body

The headline of the article I have read is «Music not just good for the soul, it’s also good for body”. The article was written by Lisa Paraport and it was published in www.reutors.com on November 20. The main purpose of this article is to provide readers with some information on the impact of music on the human body healing after surgery.

The author starts by telling that, according to the analysis, surgery patients who listen to music usually have lower levels of pain and anxiety as well as lower blood pressure and heart rate than people who don't.  Further Lisa describes the research results, in which 31 percent of patients had less pain, 29 percent had lower odds of using pain medication, and 34 had percent less anxiety. The author adds that music helped to lower blood pressure to 40 percent of people and to lower heart rate to 27 percent. The writer also points to the fact that the benefits of music were bigger when patients chose the playlists themselves. According to the article, self-selected music was also linked to 47 percent lower anxiety levels, compared to a scant 6 percent reduction with music chosen by study personnel, but there wasn't much difference in heart rate or blood pressure based on whether patients chose their own music or listened to music selected by study personnel.

In conclusion, the author says that even though the scientific evidence may be limited when it comes to music interventions, the current findings add to a growing body of evidence that makes a good case for letting patients listen to music in the hospital.

I found this article very instructive and important, as they don’t use such a method in hospitals of our country and we should know how to help us ourselves. People who’s keen on listening to music know that it helps them to keep calm and to deal with anxiety but few people know that it can lower heart rate and blood pressure and even to relieve pain. I suppose, this knowledge are useful.

What do you think of the music therapy, would you like to see it in Russian hospitals? Have you ever noticed a good influence of music to your body?