Music Medicine or Music Therapy

Many people use the terms “music medicine” and “music therapy” interchangeably.  To me, it’s not a big deal, but to some people, it is a huge deal.  My mentor, Dr. Arthur Harvey, explained it to me like this:  in order to conduct a music therapy session, a music therapist must be present.  It is the therapeutic relationship between the music therapist “doing” music with the patient that creates the result.  Music therapy is what worked miracles with Gaby Giffords.  Music therapy is a wonderful, fantastic modality for many situations, especially situations needing rehabilitation.

This is not true with music medicine.  The use of music during surgery is an example of music medicine.  In this situation, the music, as chosen by a clinical musicologist for its unique properties and suitability for pre-surgery, surgery, and recovery works all by itself.

How does Music Medicine help during surgery?

Patient awakening from surgery using the surgical serenity headphones

When played for the patient through wireless, lightweight headphones, well-documented benefits result!  The surgery suite needs a surgeon, an anesthesiologist and several nurses and surgery techs.  They do not need one extra person!

Not only is it about having one more person in the operating room, but most hospitals only have 3-4 music therapists on staff during any given shift and those wonderful music therapists are working with cancer patients, children with cerebral palsy and other disease, or possibly in the hospice setting. Sending a music therapist to the surgery suite almost never happens.

Surgical Serenity Solutions is hoping to change that!

This may not sound earth-shaking to you, but in a litigious society, and a hospital community that is terrified of lawsuits and staph infections, the surgery headphones provide a lot of comfort and benefits for both patient and doctor.   The anesthesiologist gets the patient to sleep more easily because the patient is already relaxed by music.  The patients wake up faster and with fewer complications, because they required less anesthesia.  In recovery, they require less pain medication because the soothing music and the entrainment phenomenon have kept the patient relaxed and therefore they experience less pain.

How can I get these headphones for myself or my hospital?

Nurses are using music in the ICU more than ever before.

We have our pre-loaded headphones in hospitals around the world right now and are working with new hospitals to get our headphones into their operating rooms for all patients.  If you or a friend or a family member is having surgery, please be sure that they have the information about music and surgery!

To purchase our pre-loaded headphones, go to https://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/patient-headphones

To purchase our pre-loaded headphones for your hospital or surgery center, go to www.surgicalserenitysolutsion.com/hospitalheadphones

To hear samples of our five therapeutic playlists, in five different genres, go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/calm

Here’s to your successful surgery, whether as patient or physician!