January 2012 - Surgical Serenity Solutions

Which hospitals in the U.S. are using the Surgical Serenity Headphones?

This is a question that I get more and more these days. As people around the country and around the world, find out about our ready-to-go, pre-programmed surgical headphones, they want to know that the research is there and that nationally-known, reputable hospitals are already using them.

Well, good news! They are already being used at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and the Cleveland Clinic in both Ohio and Florida. Individuals have purchased them and used them here in Louisville, KY at Baptist Hospital East, Jewish Hospital and Norton Hospital downtown as well as Norton Suburban Hospital. They’ve been used at hospitals in New York City, Greenville, S.C., Spartanburg, S.C., Birmingham, AL, Houston, TX, San Francisco, CA and in Canada, Hawaii and London.

Several patients were afraid that they would not be able to wear them into surgery, but only two people nationwide were told that they could not take them into surgery. These patients both concluded simply that it had not been done before and that the surgeon or anesthesiologist did not want to try it. No medical or safety precaution could be cited.

To date, all patients who actually used the music before, during, and after their surgery have reported that they will never have surgery again without using their headphones and music. Patients have said that they drift off to sleep feeling as though they’re at the beach, listening to favorite music through headphones and totally forget that they’re in a hospital about to have surgery. Needless to say, when patients are not tensed up and rigid with fear and anticipation, the procedure goes better: less anxiety meds, less anesthesia, less pain medicaltion = faster and safer procedure and recovery! Who could argue with that?

Fear of Anesthesia: How Can the Right Music Help?

: Waiting for a Ceasarean-section childbirth

As a therapist and a clinical musicologist, I talk to people nearly every day that have just been told that they need to have surgery and are almost more fearful of the anesthesia than they are of having surgery! Why? Because general anesthesia is very powerful medication and occasionally people do not survive the anesthesia. The vast majority of people do fine, but if the patient is elderly or in a fragile health state already, it is a delicate balance.

How can music help? Music therapy and Operating Room nursing journals have shown repeatedly shown that listening to your favorite calming, comforting, soothing music can make a very positive difference in your overall surgical experience. There are also dozens, if not hundreds, of clinical studies showing that music in the recovery area can help the patient stay calm and comfortable as they regain consciousness and begin to feel the pain of the surgery.

Now, studies are being conducted to confirm that music DURING surgery can also make a positive difference and possibly decrease the amount of anesthesia needed to achieve the same degree of sedation, but without as much risk. This is achieved by tapping into the power of rhythmic entrainment, by which the slow, steady tempo of the music brings the heartrate and the breathing into synchronization with the music and thereby keeps the body relaxed.

To learn more about the incredible power and benefits of music during anesthesia and surgery, please check out: www.SurgicalHeadphones.com.