I don’t want to say too much right now, but I have received a provisional patent on an invention for the direct delivery of music to the patient during surgery. Hundreds of people are extremely excited about this right now. Please stay tuned for more information!
Thanks, Alice
Despite hundreds of research studies documenting the benefits of music in the OR, most patients are still not offered the chance to use music during their surgery. Why? I believe it is because of the pervasive belief that when one is anesthetized, one cannot hear anything that is going on in the OR. This, despite the fact that many, many, many people have awakened in the recovery area of hospitals reporting exact conversations that they heard while “asleep” under anesthesia.
For the next several weeks and months, I will be reporting on all the existing research I can find on music with surgery, leading up to a very exciting announcement at the end of this year! Stay tuned!
Alice
Are you dissatisfied with your medical and hospital experiences? If you are, join the community of thousands who feel that going to a hospital just might make them worse!! With each passing day there are frightening stories or patients contracting staph infections, getting the procedure intended for someone else, having equipment left inside of them after surgeon has sewn them up and on and on. It’s enough to make you want to get lots more involved with your own health and learn more about how to stay healthy and create new eating and exercising habits!
Recently I’ve written quite a bit about the importance of you, the
patient, having your own music during surgery. I continue to get questions, thanks and requests for personal consultations before surgery. It really doesn’t matter if you’re having out-patient surgery for something like a colonoscopy, a laser treatment or even chemotherapy, or if you’re having inpatient major surgery for heart bypass, ruptured disk or hysterectomy.
The facts are clear: patients who are listening to their own favorite,
self-selected, slow and steady instrumental music, need less anxiety
medication before the procedure, less anesthesia during the procedure,
and less pain medication after the procedure. There are hundreds of studies from hospitals and clinics around the world documenting this fact but surprisingly, most hospital operating rooms do not provide music for patient. Many surgeons are now bringing their own favorite music into the OR, but the patient is thought to be “asleep” and unaffected. Not true! Many patients have reported to me that they heard conversations between various staff members, comments from the surgeon and even frightening words such as “doesn’t look good,” “worse than I thought” or even “oops!”
What can you do? If you have some advance notice that you need surgery, get a good Walkman or Discman, choose your favorite music that has a slow, steady tempo and no words or lyrics (a favorite is always the Pachelbel Canon in D) and let your surgeon know that you want to use music during your surgery. Remember, it’s not about entertainment, it’s about stabilizing body rhythms, keeping the muscles relaxed, and blocking out OR conversations and bleeping machines. The surgeon and anesthesiologist needs to hear these things, but the patient definitely does not!
If you want a consultation with me before your procedure, contact me through my website at http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/ or call me at 502-419-1698. Hope to hear from you soon!
Your partner in good health,
Dr. Alice Cash
Clinical Musicologist
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Why would you want music during surgery, ? As I travel the country talking with people about the importance of music during surgery,
there is one question that arises over and over. The question is a good one: why would you want music during surgery if you’re going to be asleep? Very logical question and luckily, the answer is very logical too. Music during surgery is not about entertainment; it is not about soothing a person or even comforting them. The whole point of using music during surgery is to relax the body so that less anesthesia is needed. Secondarily, when you have music coming through headphones, the music enters the brain through the eighth cranial nerve and entrains or synchronizes the heartbeat and breathing with the tempo of the music. For this reason, you want to choose music with the tempo of the healthy resting heartbeat. You also want to choose music that is purely instrumental, i.e., nothing with lyrics.
The third and final reason to use music through head- phones during surgery is to block out comments and conversation of the medical staff that might be negative or pessimistic and influence you subconsciously.
Today you can get my patented Surgical Serenity Headphones by going to www.surgicalheadphones.com or you can simply download the music!
www.HealingMusicEnterprises.com.
Have a great week and keep the music playing!
Alice
Alice H. Cash, Ph.D., LCSW
www.HealingMusicEnterprises.com