For millions of us, everyday we jump in our cars or walk-into our homes and immediately turn on our favorite music station. It makes us feel good and helps unwind from the stresses of everyday life.
Music though can become more than just for stress relief or enjoyment. Music can be used as medicine. In fact, researchers are exploring how music therapy can improve the health for a variety of different patient populations. That includes premature infants, people with depression and even those with Parkinson’s disease.
For example, for a premature infant, the only sounds they hear when they enter the world is the sound of oxygen hissing into their lungs and beeping’s from surrounding equipment. Probably not the most appetizing sounds when you enter life.
But with the help of simple music such as lullabies and other soothing sounds, studies show that an infants eating and sleeping patterns can be greatly improved. In addition, these musical sounds can also help parents by decreasing their stress levels.
It’s not just babies and infants that benefit from music therapy. Music has a variety of benefits for adults as well. Not only does it provide an outlet for emotions but also sounds and rhythms can assist in treating physical ailments. In fact, studies have shown that music can improve the body’s immune system as well as reducing stress. In addition, the act of listening to music appears to be more effective than prescription medication for reducing stress before an operation or surgery.
That is because music increases the body’s production of an antibody called immunoglobulin A as well as other killer attack cells that fight off viruses.
On top of the medical benefits of musical sounds, vibration can also have healing power. For example sound vibrations can help in easing the symptoms of many neurological diseases including Parkinson’s and depression. By utilizing a low frequency sound can create a vibration that can then be applied directly to the body. Similar to sitting on a Selby subwoofer, this type of treatment has tremendous potential in not only improving some symptoms but also improving other elements of overall health.
As you can see, music can play a major role and create positive outcomes to those going through all types of painful medical procedures. All you need is some good tunes!