October 2012 - Surgical Serenity Solutions

Surgical Serenity Solutions: Combating Side-Effects of Anesthesia and other meds

Music Helps with Surgical Side-Effects

No one wants to have surgery. No one wants to be in the hospital, but sometime you really don’t have a choice. If you are in an automobile accident and seriously hurt, going to a hospital and having surgery might save your life when nothing else would. If you’re told you need to have a colonoscopy for diagnostic purposes or if your appendix is inflamed and in danger of bursting, you’ll want to be in a hospital. But there is a very simple procedure that can greatly reduce the pain, anxiety and side-effects of surgery and anesthesia. That intervention is music. Is there documentation of this? Absolutely! Here is a link to one recent study: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19388893 “Relaxing Music as Pre-Medication before Surgery.” It is a well-known fact that nowadays, many surgeons play music in the operating room. Do they play slow, soothing, calming music? Usually not! They play upbeat, faster music that keeps their energy level up and their focus sharp. This is a good idea for the surgeon and other staff members, but it is not good for the patient! The patients needs slow, soothing, purely instrumental music that will entrain, or synchronize his heart rate and breathing to the music. The studies show clearly that patients receiving music before, during and after surgery suffer from less nausea, less dizziness, less confusion and recover faster because they require less pain medication and often, less anesthesia. It really makes sense if you think about it. More and more patients are bringing their own iPods and other devices into surgery and that is usually an option, but if you don’t have the time to create your playlist or don’t know how, or don’t want to, pre-programmed headphones created especially for your surgery are available. Questions? Just send them to me through this blog!

Music with Surgery, Case History #7: Dental Surgery

Dental surgery in your future?

Whenever I mention using music for surgery, everyone says “have you thought about using the Serenity Headphones for dental surgery? Why yes, that has been one intended use from the beginning! It definitely makes sense, since the sound of the dental drill is one of the most un-nerving sounds on the planet. My dentist has had headphones available for years, but they are the kind that plug into the wall and there are so many cords near the chair I choose not to use his at all. Plus, they are set just to play the radio station that office staff chooses which I don’t usually prefer. Here’s a patient’s account from Canada: ” I had my dental surgery on Wednesday, April 8th with your surgery music and it was wonderful. I had begun listening to the music ahead of time, so they were like old friends when surgery time rolled around. Benefits were I kept expecting to be nervous as the date of surgery rolled around, but found I couldn’t summon up any anxiety! I was sure I wouldn’t be able to sleep prior to the surgery, but, guess what, I slept well! I was calm and relaxed befor the surgery; my blood pressure dropped to normal limits; the dentist and staff tucked me in, made sure the music was playing, and away we went. Post-op I was still relaxed-had a sleep and had little pain. I had a bunch of work done. I did take an Advil at bedtime just for “insurance” but really didn’t need it. Thank you Dr. Cash, for your beautiful music and the cordless pre-programmed headphones!” Anne Thoen, Alberta, Canada So, if you have a sensitive mouth, need some dental work and want to try a tested and proven method of coping with dental pain and anxiety, I suggest you get our headphones, which come pre-programmed and fully charged! Or you can purchase a download of the serenity music to load on your own MP3 player or iPod! Best wishes for a successful surgery!