July 2024 - Surgical Serenity Solutions

Introducing Surgical Serenity Solutions…with the help of AI

Recently, our company decided that we needed a concise introduction to the products and services offered by Surgical Serenity Solutions. We came up with this two-minute video, created by a company that specializes in artificial intelligence-based videos. I think it does a good job of presenting the concept and the products. But I am painfully aware of how robotic the AI gentleman is!

I’m not sure whether or not anything can be done about it, but I would like to give him a little more personality, if that’s possible.

Nevertheless, this does make it clear that we now have three distinct methods for delivering our proprietary, therapeutic playlists:

Hospitals can purchase the preloaded headphones or the preloaded MP3 players with decreasing prices the more product ordered. They can also license our music through the mobile apps and stream the music to different parts of the Surgical Suite or other parts of the hospital.

For more information or to purchase today, go to www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com/contact-us or www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com/mp3players

NOTE: We encourage you to donate our headphones or MP3 players to the hospital or clinic of your choice. Contact us to discuss how this might work.

By DrAlice|July 19, 2024|AI and the new INTRO to Surgical Serenity Solutions|0 Comments

What Physicians say about Surgical Serenity Solutions

In this blog, I share remarks and reviews from surgeons, anesthesiologists and music therapists. Their comments are specifically about Surgical Serenity Solutions headphones and music. I am so proud of the product and business my colleagues and I have created and hope that one day it will be standard procedure to use this with surgery and other painful medical procedures. These are some of my favorite comments and reviews.

David Friedman, MD, Cleveland Clinic, Florida:

“We were among the first of the 20 Cleveland Clinics to use the Surgical Serenity Solutions headphones and were so pleased that we invited Dr Cash down to our Florida hospital so that she could deliver a Grand Rounds lecture to our surgeons and anesthesiologists on her research and her patented solutions. We intend to use her mobile app, too, when it is available with our own or patient’s Bluetooth headphones.”

Sandra Elam, MD at Lifespring Inc.:

“Dr Alice Cash’s earphones designed for surgery are the highest and best thing you can do for yourself if you are facing surgery. I had had a failed bowel resection (colectomy) , then an ileostomy. I was in no way prepared for those surgeries and they were terrible. Using Dr. Cash’s headphones for the third and reversal surgery was a completely different experience. The surgeon as well as the anesthesiologists were impressed and said that it made their work easier!! I don’t know why everybody doesn’t wear them into surgery!”

Les Garson, MD, Anesthesiologist at University of CA, Irvine Medical Center (2014):

“Dr. Cash has created a valuable new addition to the surgical suite. Now patients and surgeons can benefit from music with surgery to facilitate faster, safer procedures. Bravo.”

Thomas Mayo, MD, Anesthesiologist in Boston, MA:

“As an anesthesiologist with an extensive background in classical music, I am a strong proponent of Dr. Cash’s headphones. Rarely, if ever, in medicine is there an intervention that has repeatedly demonstrated efficacy in multiple studies that also carries with it virtually no risk to the patient. As a physician, I am always weighing the risks and benefits of each treatment to determine if it’s worth utilizing. Surgical Serenity Headphones are unique in that they carry immense benefits without any downside. I am always pleased to accommodate a patient’s wishes to bring music into the operating room. I would be particularly enthusiastic if they had these pre-programmed cordless headphones that would maximize the physiologic benefits through rhythmic entrainment. I recommend talking to your surgeon as soon as possible in the process, and certainly mention your desire to bring headphones in on the day of surgery to the anesthesia team. This would best be accomplished if you have a pre-op appointment with someone from anesthesia, but not everyone will have this chance. This could also happen during a pre-op phone call. Whenever it happens, try to be prepared to assuage any concerns or skepticism with the fact that these headphones, and music in general, have been and are currently being used in operating rooms across the planet, including many world-renowned medical centers.”

Lisa Gallagher, MT-BC [board certified music therapist], Head of Music Therapy, Cleveland Clinic:

“These headphones are an ingenious solution to the delivery of music during the perioperative period. Get them for your next surgery, dental visit, or medical procedure and feel the difference!” Cleveland Clinic Head of Music Therapy, 2014

Scott Sugar, MD, Anesthesiologist:

“I had been thinking for a long time about how music and surgery/anesthesia could work together to help calm patients without as much anesthesia. Surgical Serenity Solutions has solved this process and has affordable, effective headphones and music waiting for the patient.”

Michael Peck, MD, Anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins Suburban Hospital:

“These surgical serenity headphones are a gift to the medical world because there are so many different places in medicine and dentistry where they can calm and soothe the patient naturally. This idea is such a refreshing way to reduce anxiety in the operating room and should be standard equipment going forward. The difference it makes in reduction of anxiolytics and opioids is remarkable.”

Arthur Harvey, DMA, Music for Health Services:

“I’ve watched the progress of this wonderful business, from idea to manifestation! Dr. Cash has created a process and a tool that will alleviate of lot of anxiety, pain, and suffering, all through the power of music! Bravo!”

If you or your hospital ASC, or clinic is interested in incorporating the Surgical Serenity Solutions into your surgery protocols, and (skyrocketing your patient satisfaction scores!) please contact us at www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/contact-us

By DrAlice|July 9, 2024|What physicians say about Surgical Serenity Solutions|0 Comments

Surgeons and anesthesiologists are using music in the ICU more than ever before.

Rhythmic entrainment is a very well-documented scientific phenomenon that was discovered in 1665 by a Dutch physicist named Christian Huygens. Although Huygens original experiment was with metronomes, the principles that he discovered also have applications to the human body undergoing surgery. What the concept states is that vibrating bodies in close proximity tend to synchronize and beat/pulsate in unison. Here is the definition found in Wikipedia:

Entrainment in the bio-musicological sense refers to the synchronization (e.g. foot tapping) of organisms to an external perceived rhythm such as human music and dance. Humans are the only species for which all individuals experience entrainment, although there are documented examples of entrained nonhuman individuals.

There are different kinds of entrainment, such as the entrainment of moods or feelings, but we’re talking about rhythmic entrainment. This occurs, when a steady rhythm or pulse, is present near a human body, in this case the patient. As a direct result of the slow, steady pulse of the music, the patient’s heartbeat and rhythm begin to calm down and then synchronize with the music.

It was further discovered that even when patients are sleeping, in a coma, or under general anesthesia, the body still responds to the pulse of a nearby, steady beat. For that reason, if the patient undergoing a surgical or dental) procedure rhythmic entrainment can be obtained with slow, steady, soothing music delivered to the brain, through (preferably) cordless headphones. With headphones, the music goes directly to the brain through the eighth cranial nerve and the patient’s heartrate and breathing begin to slow down and stabilize. This is the power of rhythmic entrainment.

Doctors were anesthetized Women who are surgical patients

One of the many tasks of the anesthesiologist is to monitor the vital signs of the patient to make sure the heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and body temperature are stable. If any of these vital signs can be stabilized simply by the patient listening to music that engages rhythmic entrainment, then that is the way to go.

Entrainment in general

Rhythmic entrainment is a type of entrainment, but entrainment happens in many different settings in life. There is social entrainment, for example; when you go to a football game or other sporting event, there are cheerleaders there to whip the crowd into a frenzy of enthusiasm for their team. Getting everyone to cheer together, to sing together, to chant together. This is entrainment and here, it’s the mood that is being entrained. Same with a rock concert, where a current pop music idol like Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift is performing. The crowd is entraining with the electric mood of the event.

Another very different example would be a church or religious service. After singing a congregational hymn or response, the attendees are feeling joined together and of a like mind. This is entrainment. When a chorus, a choir, an orchestra or a chamber ensemble experiences exact unity when performing a music work together, this is entrainment.

Not only do they entrain with each other, but they also entrain with the audience. This is one of the ways that you can tell if the performance went well. At the conclusion, the audience leaps to their feet and the performers are beaming with joy.

But until recently, the power of musical entrainment in a hospital or surgical setting has never really been explored or applied to the individual patient having surgery or other medical/dental procedures. Now when I speak to conferences and gatherings of medical personnel, they invariably say, “What a great idea! I’m surprised no one thought of this sooner!”

Dr Leatherman was one of the first physicians in Louisville to use music in the operating room.

When a physician or nurse enters a patient examining room, one of the first things they do is to listen to the heartbeat and the lungs. Heartbeat and breathing are both involuntary processes that should be slow and rhythmic in a healthy patient. When either of these is erratic, too shallow, or too fast, the patient is NOT in a state of good health but is in a state of dis-ease. Understanding body rhythms and their reflection of health is part of the physician’s job. Music can help with this.

To get music into YOUR hospital, please visit www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/mp3players or www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/hospitalheadphones

Understanding rhythmic entrainment will allow you to provide the best surgical experience for your patients!

By DrAlice|July 5, 2024|Rhythmic entrainment|0 Comments

Introducing Surgical Serenity Solutions…with the help of AI

What Physicians say about Surgical Serenity Solutions

If you or your hospital ASC, or clinic is interested in incorporating the Surgical Serenity Solutions into your surgery protocols, and (skyrocketing your patient satisfaction scores!) please contact us at www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/contact-us

Rhythmic Entrainment Explained

Entrainment in general