Music Therapy: How Music Relieves Pain

Music is balm for the soul

A real hormone cocktail floods the body and head when you consciously listen to music – at least when it is pleasant tones. Like sex, the music has a direct effect on the reward system in the brain: endorphins, the body’s own opiates, are released, as is the stimulating dopamine, both of which ensure feelings of happiness and well-being. That’s why researchers even call the goose bumps when listening to music “skin orgasm”. And one of the reasons why music therapy is now recommended for all kinds of ailments.

Music makes you happy

The happiness effect of music has been known for a long time. In the Old Testament, for example, there is the story of the melancholy King Saul, who summons David to play the harp for him. And in Greek medicine, doctors used healing chants to alleviate suffering. But the anecdotes are increasingly condensing into tangible knowledge: Music can actually have healing powers. Listening to music, making it yourself or singing – all forms have special effects.

Put an end to anxiety and depression thanks to music therapy

There is not just one area in the brain that is responsible for music; the tones make a whole network of nerve cells sound: They work in the cerebrum, which is responsible for conscious perception and memories, in the cerebellum, which controls movements and balance, and in the limbic system, the emotional center.

The many areas of the brain that are particularly stressed when listening to music consciously could explain why it is quite easy to get into a relaxed self-forgetfulness, similar to a meditation in which you don’t think about anything else. And in which pain is also less perceived: Studies show that chronic pain sufferers need less pain medication when treated with music therapy.

Music therapy treatment for depression

Music therapy has also been shown to provide support in the treatment of depression by relieving anxiety and helping people relax. The guaranteed effective music for a better feeling does not exist, however. “When making the selection, listening habits are important, as the feeling of well-being is one of the deciding factors for the relaxation effect,” says Beatrix Evers-Grewe, first chairwoman of the German Music Therapy Society. She recommends orienting yourself towards your own preferences.

The music in the operating room

Some music specialists now even allow music to suit their patients’ tastes during operations. Because studies have shown: Every second patient needs less sedatives under the influence of music, In some procedures, the right music can even replace the pain reliever. Measurements have shown that this music therapy results in significantly fewer stress hormones in the body – this could reduce the sensation of pain, researchers suspect.

Not so much the pretty melody but above all the rhythm are what many scientists mean by now to be the decisive stress killer in music. The regular structure could re-synchronize various body processes that get out of step during stress. The music rhythm can obviously help the biorhythm on the jumps: Music therapy, for example, lowers the heart rhythm and blood pressure of patients in the intensive care unit and normalizes brain waves in epileptics. And Parkinson’s patients who have difficulty walking can often walk more easily to the beat of music.

Music therapy: how people come together through music

But not only the interplay of different body functions can be brought to the beat with music – it also improves the vibrations between people. The fact that huge halls suddenly clap to music as if by remote control is only an external sign: A Japanese study has shown that at least in men who play music with others, less aggressive testosterone circulates in the blood, but more of the so-called bonding hormone oxytocin, which intensifies social relationships.

Making music – recharge your batteries

Reaching into your own music collection is a practical quick aid to experience the healing effects of music. In some cases, however, even making music is more effective. “For a psychotherapeutic goal, active music making is the method of choice,” explains Evers-Grewe. And preferably with a trained music therapist.

Active music therapy has been shown to help with the following ailments:

In music therapy, patients can learn express their feelings with instruments – and fill up with new self-confidence. This can also happen in outpatient facilities.

“The way you play instruments is often very closely related to the way you approach life as a whole,” says Beatrix Evers-Grewe. Selects a: e patient: for example, first of all hesitantly the triangle, it suggests: he probably also tones rather soft tones in real life, is quite cautious and has little self-confidence. “The medium of music offers the opportunity to playfully go a little bit in an unfamiliar direction and to experiment,” says the expert, explaining the effect of the artistic therapy. “It’s like a constant as if: Even if I’m only a triangle player, I now play as if I were a drummer and thus take on a more important and louder role.”

What instruments can I play during music therapy?

For musical beginners: inside stand in music therapy easy to play percussion and string instruments ready, e.g. B.:

You don’t need any previous knowledge – just a little courage to try the instruments. In music therapy, it is more important than musical harmony to dare to express one’s feelings through music. This allows you to overcome fears, test different reactions and learn to influence situations according to your own wishes.

But music therapy has not only proven itself in the case of psychological problems. B. learn with drums to coordinate their movements again after a paralysis. Music-making is often successful even though normal everyday movements are not yet possible again. According to a study, the “music-supported training” method works significantly better than physiotherapy and usual rehabilitation measures. And in the case of tinnitus, annoying noises in the ear, special music therapy has been proven to help you cope better with the noise in your own head.

Singing: fitness for body and soul

Perhaps the most effective way to feel the healing powers of music is to use your own body as an instrument – and just start singing. Here are 8 good reasons to sing more often:

1. Body awareness

Those who sing develop a deeper awareness of their bodies almost playfully, improve their posture and increase their self-confidence. But health also benefits considerably from the warbling: “Regular singing gets your heart and circulation going and works almost exactly like a round of jogging, “says Wolfgang Bossinger, an expert in music therapy. Singing makes breathing more even and deeper, oxygen uptake and blood flow are stimulated. The production of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol is reduced and the release of melatonin – the hormone – is increased ensures a restful sleep.

2. Immune system

The body’s defenses are also revved up by the vocal music: a study by the University of Frankfurt shows that singing increases the amount of immunoglobulin A in saliva noticeably – the antibody protects against respiratory infections. Subjects who only listened to the music, on the other hand, were hardly able to increase their immune system.

3. Resilience

And perhaps most importantly: the self-produced music increases psychological resilience. The music psychologist Dr. Karl Adamek compared singers with non-singing people. His result: People who sing regularly in the course of music therapy are also more emotionally resilient and optimistic, suffer less from frustration or depression and are better able to deal with problems and conflicts.

4. Speech disorders

Singing can also help with severe speech disorders as a therapy. This is how people succeed in whose speech center in the brain is damaged after a stroke, with a special music therapy with a focus on singing (Melodic Intonation Therapy) to find your way back to language through singing, has shown a study. Singing and speaking are processed in the brain in two different brain areas – and apparently the singing area can take over the capabilities of the destroyed language center.

5. Insomnia

Is suitable for sleep problems as a snooze aid, calm music with falling melodies and around 60 beats per minute. Because this rhythm corresponds roughly to our resting heart rate.

6. Stress

Yoga can also be part of music therapy: The so-called bee breath, for example, ensures deep relaxation:

7. Anger

If your immune system is weak, you shouldn’t swallow anger, but instead sing for a few minutes as part of active music therapy. Pent-up anger weakens our immune system for hours and thus causes infections, singing brings it up again.

8. Depressed mood

Singing you also trick a bad mood: Because the facial muscles tense while singing, as if we were laughing, our brains switch to happiness mode in both cases.

Music therapy in practices

In clinics and practices for psychiatry and psychotherapy, individual and group sessions are offered in which patients can listen to relaxing music or make music and sing with therapeutic support. Among other things, people are treated with:

However, the costs for music therapy are usually not covered by health insurance companies.

Would you like more information about gentle healing methods? Here you can find out more about the healing earth, the Kneipp cure and Qigong.

sources

Decker-Voigt, HH., Knill, PJ, Weymann, E .: Lexikon Musiktherapie, Hogrefe, 1996

Hörmann, K .: Music in Medicine: Textbook / Scientific Music Therapy, Pabst, 2009

Baer, ​​U., Frick-Baer, ​​G .: Sound to dwell within: Methods and models of body-oriented music therapy, Affenkönig-Verlag, 2004

Hegi-Portmann, F .: Music Therapy – Possibilities and Effects of Free Music, Junfermann, 1993

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Brigitte