Common Fears in Surgery Archives - Page 3 of 8

Surgery with Music: What are the options?

People preparing for surgery having been asking this question for about 30 years now. Although the use of music in a medical/healing environment is ancient, only in the late 20th century were we actually able to measure the effects that music has on the patient. For an intervention to be considered scientifically meaningful or valid, there must be research. Now the studies have been done and we know, for sure, music before, during and after surgery is a great idea!

So what are your options? Here is how I see them:

1. Tell your surgeon that you’d like to be listening to some calming, soothing music during your process, whatever that might be, and trust him to make it happen.

2. Spend some time, probably 3-5 hours, going through your CD’s or iPod playlists, and choose about an hour’s worth of your favorite calming, soothing music, to take into surgery on your iPod, if your surgeon will allow you to take your iPod in!

3. Buy the “state-of-the-art” Surgical Serenity pre-programmed headphones that have 2e years of research behind the selection of the music and they way in which it is delivered. These headphones have been used by hundreds of people in hospitals across the country, Canada, Hawaii, and Europe. Many people have contacted us and sent powerful reports about how much the headphones helped them to be calm and feel fewer side-effects of the anesthesia and pain medication. Also, these headphones can be used for years to come and re-loaded with other kinds of music for you to enjoy when you want to relax. We’ve even had children use them during surgery and are hoping to have a child-sized model created and loaded with music just for children.

There is no question that music before, during and after surgery is a great idea. Whether you choose your own music and load it on your iPod, or buy ready-to-go headphones, let yourself benefit from all the many advantages of music during your surgery or other medical procedure!

By DrAlice|December 1, 2012|Anesthesia, Characteristics of music for surgery, Common Fears in Surgery, Fear and Anxiety about Surgery, Fear of anesthesia, How music works|0 Comments

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!

By DrAlice|October 19, 2012|Anesthesia, Common Fears in Surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Fear and Anxiety about Surgery, Headphones for other medical procedures|0 Comments

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!

By DrAlice|October 12, 2012|Anesthesia, Common Fears in Surgery, Fear and Anxiety about Surgery, Headphones for other medical procedures|2 Comments

How soon will you be having surgery?

If you’ve just found out that you need surgery, then you’re probably still shaking and quaking from the news. Perhaps you expected it, but perhaps you did not! So many people have a natural fear of surgery, and especially a fear of being put to sleep or anesthetized. The chances of something going wrong are less than 1%, but if you are part of this small group, your life might be at risk. Of course, if you need surgery and don’t have it, then your life is at risk anyway.

I was always taught that knowledge is power, so with that in mind, I want to tell you about one specific option that more and more people are turning to in order to increase the chances of a positive result and at the same time, decrease many of the dangers. This solution is so simple that many people overlook it completely, but it is so easy and safe that it is definitely worth giving a try. That solution is music! Not just any music though. The ideal music for surgery, especially if you’ll be put completely to sleep is music that is very slow and rhythmic. It is music that has the tempo of the healthy resting heartbeat and is purely instrumental, in other words, no lyrics! Ideally, the music should be played on a soothing instrument such as piano, harp, or flute. Probably not a brass instrument. Needless to say, there are millions of pieces of music that would fit this description, but after over 20 years research into the best music for surgery, I have chosen a set of pieces that I think are the best and hundreds of people have now listened to this music during their procedures and agree that it is amazingly calming and helpful. Some have told me that they will never again have surgery without this specific music playing through headphones!

Would YOU like to give it a try for your upcoming surgery? If so, just go to www.surgeryheadphones.com. There you can buy either pre-programmed headphones or a download of our scientifically researched music. This particular blog has literally hundreds of posts about the benefits, and FAQ’s of music with surgery! I would love to help you personally if you have questions and can set up an online consult with you via SKYPE or telephone call. If you live in the Louisville, KY area you can come into our offices for a face to face consult! Best wishes for a successful procedure.

By DrAlice|September 20, 2012|Characteristics of music for surgery, Common Fears in Surgery, Fear and Anxiety about Surgery, Fear of anesthesia, Fear of surgery|1 Comment

Music with Surgery Case History #5: 69 y.o. female with eye surgery

This patient came to me as a result of previous negative experiences with her eye surgeries and was scheduled to have more eye surgeries. The patient was a professional woman who had heard about music with surgery and the many benefits, especially in terms of stress relief and pain and anxiety management. The patient was suffering from both macular degeneration and glaucoma and needed to undergo procedures that required her to be both awake and sitting upright in a chair. She had already undergone three such procedures and reported that after each one she had a migraine headache and muscles that were so tense and tight and even a one-hour massage did not help enough. She had reached the point where she was willing to do anything in order not to suffer so much from these procedures.

Listen to the patient as she describes what happened:

If you have been told that you need to have eye surgery for any reason, whether lasik eye surgery, cataract surgery, glaucoma surgery or macular degeneration surgery, I strongly recommend that you consider using the surgical serenity headphones. They are currently being used at both the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic, as well as other hospitals around the country. They will put you in a healing, sonic cocoon, and yet you can still hear the doctor if he needs to ask you a direct question. For more information, go to www.SurgicalHeadphones.com.

By DrAlice|September 20, 2012|Common Fears in Surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Fear of surgery, Headphones for other medical procedures, Music and Eye Surgery, Surgery with Music Case Histories|1 Comment

Surgery with Music: Case History #1, 70-y.o.female with by-pass surgery

One of our first patients to use music during surgery, was a 70 year-old female with 90% blocked arteries. She had not yet experienced a heart attack, but was in grave danger of having one. She was moderately overweight and had a diet consisting of many fatty foods, fried foods, sugary foods and lots of diet soda. Her exercise level was almost non-existant because of arthritic hips, knees and other joint problems.

One Fall evening, she and her husband attended a local college basketball game at their coliseum. At half-time, the patient began to climb the stairs to the level where restrooms were and got so out of breath that she nearly passed out and could not continue the climb. First-aid staff was called and eventually patient was put into an ambulance and sent to the emergency room. Suspected heart attack was the initial diagnosis. After a short time, it was determined that she should be transferred to a larger, regional hospital with more services. This was when we were called in for a consult on whether or not music might be advisable.

The patient could not handle large amounts of anesthesia and was allergic to many pain meds, which made her violently nauseous. On day 3 of hospitalization I met with patient to discuss her taste in music and to recommend 4 or 5 different possibilities. Patient was not feeling well and was only mildly to moderately enthusiastic about using music with her upcoming open heart surgery. (This was 1996) Finally, patient said to me “why don’t you just choose whatever you think would be best as long as it isn’t “Nearer my God to Thee.”

Surgery was early the next morning and patient listened to Handel’s “Water Music Suite” through light-weight headphones for about four hours of surgery. The surgeon called us back after surgery to see patient and was I in for a surprise! Upon approaching her bed in the recovery area, patient propped herself up on an elbow and said “Oh Dr. Cash, the music was BEAUTIFUL!!” I will never have surgery again without using music! It was just so beautiful and I really enjoyed it!!” Wow!

I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone before or since tell me that they enjoyed surgery, but then she was still “under the influence” of some of the drugs. When I visited her in her room the next day, she still had her headphones one and said they helped her sleep in an otherwise quite noisy environment. “A hospital is no place to get any rest and I want to go home as soon as possible.” She went home 5 days later and is still doing well and listening to her headphones!

By DrAlice|September 3, 2012|Anesthesia, Common Fears in Surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Fear of anesthesia, Fear of surgery, Surgery with Music Case Histories|2 Comments

Preparing for your surgery: 3 Easy Ideas

If you’ve just found you need surgery, or if you’ve decided to have an elective procedure, you still have fears and anxiety. Everyone does if they’re honest with themselves:

What if something goes wrong?
What if I wake up in the middle of the procedure?
What if I don’t wake up at all?!

In the vast majority of surgeries, nothing goes wrong. Surgery happens all over the world, every day. But when things go wrong, whether it’s leaving the sponge inside the patient’s body, taking off the wrong leg, or breast, or hand, it’s extremely traumatic.

I was always taught that knowledge is power, so if you’re planning to have surgery, you need to get information and do everything you reasonably can to assure a successful procedure. One of the easiest things you can do is to listen to music before, during and after your surgery or other medical procedure.

If you have enough time and know-how, you can begin choosing some of your favorite relaxing, comforting music to listen to, initially for an hour each day before the surgery, while lying down so that you can practice relaxing when you hear that self-chosen music.
You can talk to your surgeon in advance of the surgery and download your chosen music to your iPod or other MP3 player. If s/he approves the plan, you can take it to the hospital the day of the surgery and begin listening as soon as you get there, and continue all the way through recovery. There is ample research documenting the benefits of this, including reduced anxiety meds, anesthesia, and pain medication afterwards.
If you don’t have time, know-how, or willingness to do these things, you can buy pre-programmed headphones that already have the slow, steady, soothing music that researchers believe will keep your heart-beat and respiration steady and decrease the amount of anesthesia and pain medication you will need.

If I can help you in any way, feel free to contact me via a comment on this blog. Best wishes for a successful procedure!

By DrAlice|August 27, 2012|Anesthesia, Common Fears in Surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Fear of anesthesia, Fear of surgery, Music and Anesthesia|0 Comments

How Does Music Reach the Brain during Surgery

When patients have surgery today, music CAN come to them in one of several different ways. Sometimes there is ambient music in the operating room. Oftentimes, the surgeon has speakers set up that are playing HIS or HER favorite music. That’s great for the surgeon, but the music that the surgeon needs is often the opposite from what the patient needs. The surgeon wants rhythmic, upbeat music that will keep his energy up and his focus sharp! The patient needs music that is slow, soothing and steady. Even under general anesthesia, the heart and breathing will entrain or synchronize with the pulse of the music.

When the patient listens to music of this type, he can have all the benefits of less anesthesia, less anxiety medication and less pain medication. The less medication and anesthesia that the patient requires, the faster and safer the recovery will be. When the patient listens through headphones, the surgeon’s music is blocked, or at least muffled greatly. Also, conversations in the OR that the patient doesn’t need to hear will be blocked. Patients often report that they heard conversations between nurses and doctors that were upsetting in one way or another.

A third choice in some hospitals is actual live music, administered by a music therapist. I think this would be fantastic because clearly the music would be geared toward the patient. I’m not sure how practical this is in a large busy hospital where the 20 operating rooms are busy all day long. MY choice would be the headphones and the only place that carries them right now is www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com. Check them out and let me know what you think. They can be used for years after the surgery and you can add more music or delete any and all of it and create your own playlist. Not only that, but you can download the music from the website onto your own iPod or MP3 player. Pretty cool!!

By DrAlice|August 15, 2012|Common Fears in Surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Headphones for other medical procedures, Music and the 8th Cranial Nerve, Rhythmic entrainment|0 Comments

Surgery Headphones continue to help people get through surgery with fewer problems

When the surgery headphones were conceived in 2005, there had already been 15 years of preparation. Starting in 1990. we were beginning to be aware at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, that music before and after surgery were powerful ways of decreasing anxiety and pain, as well as stabilizing blood pressure, body temp and mood. We weren’t positive about how much effect it might have during surgery, but we suspected that it could reduce the amount of anesthesia even though the patient’s sense of hearing is not functioning. How does that work? Through the process of “entrainment” which means that the pulse of the music is transmitted by vibration through the headphones directly to the brain and body. Because of this phenomenon of “rhythmic entrainment” the heartrate and breathing synchronize with the pulse of the music and this keeps the body relaed through the surgery.

Of course, the less medication the patient has, the faster they recover, get back to work and the fewer complications arise. We can mail the headphones anywhere in the world and we can program the type of music you request for a slight additional fee. The music we have selected now is classical piano music that has the slow, steady pulse that is best for surgery. Don’t have surgery without them!!

By DrAlice|July 15, 2012|Anesthesia, Common Fears in Surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Music and Anesthesia|0 Comments

Preparing for Surgery: Three easy things you can do today

Waiting to go into surgery.

No one really wants to have surgery. If you must though, for a life-threatening condition or a life-enhancing procedure, there are a few easy things you can do to help yourself and greatly improve your outcome:

1. Starting today, begin eating light and healthy foods that are easy to digest. Especially if you go under general anesthesia, all of your systems slow way down…like peristaltic action? The easier to digest foods you eat today, the happier you’ll be after your surgery.

2. Make sure that you have some frozen casseroles in your freezer, or friends lined up to bring in food for the week after surgery. You may not be able to get up and down easily and you certainly can’t get to the grocery or stand on your feet cooking. Ordering pizza or Chinese food is highly NOT recommended either. Stock your cabinets and fridge now with simple foods that are healthy and easy to prepare. We like fresh fruit, yogurt, scrambled eggs, salad fixins and lean turkey or chicken.

3. Begin putting together a playlist of your favorite soothing, comforting music for your iPod. Studies have shown that listening to favoite calming music before your surgery can greatly decrease the amount of anxiety medication you’ll need. Listening to slow, steady, simple music during surgery can help maintain blood pressure and breathing and listening to favorite, slightly more upbeat music after surgery can decrease pain meds and overall recovery time. You can make your own playlist, or order our pre-programmed headphones on this page.

Here’s to a very successful surgery!

By DrAlice|June 16, 2012|Anesthesia, Common Fears in Surgery, Headphones for other medical procedures|0 Comments