Written by:By Geoffrey Kendricks
Going into hospital for a surgical procedure can be very stressful and nerve racking. People feel a wide range of emotions from anxiety to worry and frustration. However, focusing on the long-term benefits after the procedure is over, helps people to understand the reasons why they opted for proceeding with the surgery in the first place. Focusing on the positive aspects, provides individuals with the confidence to proceed and go through with the surgery. However, negative emotions can often cloud patient judgement consequently leading to doubting the medical professionals, and fear of the medical procedure going horribly wrong. Thus, it is important for patients to build trust with their medical professional team to put them at ease, in addition to understanding the procedure. Patients can often find information online regarding medical procedures, symptoms, and cures, which can contribute towards negative emotions particularly where misinformation is a prevalent within untrusted resources. Hence, finding the right information is vital to the patient journey.
Fight or Flight
We are all naturally subject to the fight or flight response to external threats. However, this system can be triggered for the wrong reasons when physiology is unbalanced. It is important to dissolve the stress that has accumulated over a period of time within the nervous system. Consequently, freeing the mind from anxieties, worries or fears. When we let go of the negative emotions like anxiety and fear, the whole body relaxes and starts to enjoy being health. It is not a secret that music can produce powerful emotions within individuals. However, it can impact the brain health. Music can connect to different moods that we encounter and has healing powers when utilised appropriately as it can have a positive impact on mental health. In addition, it can calm and soothe our nervous systems and slow down the rate of brain aging. Hence, prior to surgery listening to music can relax the nervous system, in addition if music is being played during the surgical procedure, medical professionals can potentially complete the surgery is a shorter amount of time.
Can music really help our health?
When we listen to music that has a slow tempo research has found that our blood pressure can decrease, in addition to our respiration rate and heart rate. Upon selecting the correct music for you, short and long-term memory recall can be improved, concentration can be increased and so can blood flow, in addition we can retain more information. Studies have revealed that when patients listen to music before undergoing surgery, they can reduce anxiety and also, they may not need as many sedatives. In addition, when patient’s listen to music post-surgery this may help to ease pain and reduce the need for medication. When patients listen to music before or during surgery, they are likely to feel less pain, take reduced medication and feel less anxious post-surgery up to four hours after the surgery. Music may promote the brain’s ability to create new connections between nerve cells. Our nervous system and brain respond to rhythm, tunes, repetition, and tones. Therefore, music consists of rhythm, facilitates a positive response.
What type of music can help?
Soothing music with approximately sixty beats per minute can result in brain synchronisation causing alpha brainwaves which are frequencies ranging from eight to fourteen hertz or cycles per second. This occurs when individuals are conscious and relaxed. Anything above sixty to eighty beats per minute is not recommended because it can heighten anxiety and result in increased heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. When you listen to soothing music, the effects on the body are different and this is subjective, because taste in music is a personal choice and differs between individuals. It is important to ensure that music is not disruptive to medical practitioners and patients undergoing the surgical procedure.