Dec Dec 4, 2024

Why music during surgery is different from other uses of music

By DrAlice|December 4, 2024|Hearing vs Listening|0 Comments

Understanding why music for surgery is different from other uses

Music during surgery is different from other uses of music in the hospital. So much of the reason that patients use music in a hospital is for comfort, decreasing anxiety, and lowering pain perception. When patients are listening to music before surgery they experience comfort, lowered anxiety and pain perception, but DURING the actual surgery the patient is not listening to the music but they are hearing it and their body is responding to the tempo and rhythm of the music because it is coming directly into the brain through headphones.

During surgery, is the patient actually hearing the music?

When a patient is under general anesthesia, they aren’t really “listening” to the music, but they are definitely hearing it. Their body is responding to it through a process called rhythmic entrainment and rhythmic entrainment helps to keep the heartbeat and breathing stable and steady. When these body rhythms are stable and steady, the muscles are relaxed naturally and the body doesn’t require as much anesthesia or anxiety medication.

At what point does patient begin hearing the music again after surgery?

music through headphones during hip replacement surgery

Patient awakening from surgery using the surgical serenity headphones

When the patient is coming out of anesthesia they wake up hearing the same soft, soothing, and steady music that they went to sleep to and it orients them immediately. Many times patients wake up for surgery and are confused and sometimes combattive because they don’t know where they are and they feel unsafe. Especially if they should wake up prematurely, it can be frightening and terrifying. Hearing soothing music that is somewhat familiar (by then) can help patient either go back to sleep or wake up calming. This alone is a huge benefit.

Elsewhere in the hospital, music is being used to calm and comfort that patient. Most patients receiving actual music therapy and interacting with a music therapis are conscious and not in acute pain. Music therapists tend to use music that is familiar for each patient. Occasionally they use improvisational techniques with the patient.

Will an operating room actually allow a live musician to play during surgery?

Dr. Harvey plays piano during eye surgery for his friend. Surgery is a different process and requires a different approach. Very few operating rooms would allow a music therapist in the room while a patient is being put to sleep, operated on, or slowly brought back to consciousness. This is where Surgical Serenity Solutions comes in. Our music has been specifically curated and sequenced to go through the surgical process, the perioperative period, with the patient. Our music has been curated to engage rhythmic entrainment from the moment the patient begins listening through headphones or earbuds. If you are interested in know more about this or are ready to order for your hospital or clinic, just go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/contact-us.

Nov Nov 11, 2024

Veteran’s Day and the Importance of Music

By DrAlice|November 11, 2024|Veterans and Music Therapy|0 Comments

Veteran’s Day and the importance of music

Veteran’s Day is SUCH an important holiday and observance for the USA. The men and women who have fought and labored in many other way for the peace and prosperity that our country enjoys, deserve to be honored on this important day.

Music has always played an important roll in the military and every branch of the military to this day has their own band, orchestra, chorus and smaller specialty groups like jazz bands, Big Band style bands and even classical chamber music ensembles.

The Robley Rex V.A. hospital here in Louisville, KY has a brass band ensemble composed of various surgeons, and physicians at that hospital. They play at parties, graduations and other functions and call themselves Top Brass. I think this is so clever and they really enjoy getting out of their medical scrubs and entertaining both colleagues and patients.

The Birth of Music Therapy

The modern-day field of Music Therapy actually began in a Veteran’s hospital in Kansas. It was toward the end of WWII, late 40’s, and in this Veteran’s hospital were many men suffering from what was called “shell shock” or “battle fatigue.” Today, these same men might be diagnosed with major depression or PTSD.

Each week, volunteers of various kinds would come to visit the men and try to engage them in calming, social interaction. Apparently the only volunteers that were successful with the Veterans were the musicians who came with Big Band music ensembles and played the music that brought back very positive memories of a happier time.

This behavior did not go unnoticed. When the musicians would come, men who never raised their heads or their eyes, would raise their hands, looks toward the musicians, sometimes smile, and sometimes would even sing along, or sway to the music! The nurses and doctors were astounded by this phenomenon but it happened weekly and was a dependable moment of healing and progress for the veterans.

With a few years, there was a new rehabilitation specialy in medicine; it was called Music Therapy!

Veteran’s Hospitals and Surgical Serenity Solutions team up to help Veterans

In 2014 Veterans Hospitals began doing business with Surgical Serenity Solutions. Our first product purchased by the hospitals was our preloaded headphones for surgical patients. Our first hospital VA customer purchased 100 of these headphones, loaded with the Classical Playlist. The patients understood that this music engaged rhythmic entrainment better than other music they might have thought they preferred such as popular music or country music. We educated patients and staff about the fact that purely instrumental music with a slow, steady pulse works best to get the patient through surgery with the least anxiety and least amount of pain perception.

MP3 Player with Jazz Playlist and hospital branding Music for Memory Care Ten years later, in 2024, Surgical Serenity Solutions has gotten into Veterans Hospitals around the country. We now have 5 distinct playlists and 4 paths to provide our music to hospitals, surgery centers, birthing centers, chemotherapy, dialysis centers and pain clinics. Our playlists include Classical, Jazz, New Age, Lullabies, and Memory Care.

Patients can access our music with the original preloaded headphones, small MP3 players, downloadable apps, or each playlist can be licensed for a one-time annual fee.

A personal note

Every year when Veteran’s Day comes around I remember my dear father and how much our country meant to him. Although he survived WWII and the Battle of the Bulge, he was wounded and had a long and difficult recovery in the hospital in London.

Music was one the things that got him through, I think, and he loved teaching his children the songs that they sang while marching through Europe. We children loved hearing about his adventures and learning the songs they sang like “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” and “A Capital Ship.” I later learned that one of the reasons that soldiers sing while they march is because it keeps their energy level high and helps them to march in sync for very long distances.

My great-grandfather, James Grier White

Because my dear father, and my great-grandfather on his mother’s side were proud veterans and because of all the work we do with V.A. hospitals around the country, veterans will always have a special place in my heart.

How to get our Surgical Serenity Solutions music and products into YOUR hospital or clinic.

If you’re not sure which products might be best for your patient populations, please fill out this form

www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/contact-us

To see all of the hospital products go to

www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/hospitalheadphones

www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/mp3players

To download one or more of our playlists and hear samples of each, go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/calm

To all the living Veterans, thank you for your service!! To all the fallen warriors, thank you for paying the ultimate price for our freedom!!

Oct Oct 19, 2024

New research study on Surgical Serenity Solutions headphones

By DrAlice|October 19, 2024|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Researcher presenting his study on Surgical Serenity Solutions preloaded headphones at American Psychiatric Nurses conference

New research study focuses on Surgical Serenity Solutions headphones in behavioral health

A new research study on Surgical Serenity Solutions pre-loaded headphones was presented last week at the national meeting of the American Psychiatric Nurses conference. This is doubly exciting because this study was conducted not in surgery but in behavioral health.

Our headphones were originally created to be used in the perioperative period of surgery: before, during, and after. Quickly, doctors and nurses began realizing all the other places that the headphones could be used.

For many years they have been used in colonoscopies, chemotherapy, labor and delivery and situations that cause anxiety and physical discomfort. But this study was look at situations in which behavioral health (psychiatric) patients were hospitalized and were experiencing extreme anxiety and/or panic attacks.

In these situations in hospitals around the world, psych patients are often given medications (usually benzodiazepines) to calm them and move them past the panic moments. In this study, the researcher gave the patients our headphones with soothing, calming music and put them in a quiet location where they could focus on the music and their breathing.

The good news is that this strategy worked for some of the patients and allowed them to calm down without resorting to medications that work but that can definitely create a dependence on them or even lead to addiction.

What the research says

Here is a close up of the researchers poster presentation. He reports that many of the nurses present at this conference were fascinated with this concept and will hopefully be trying them in their own facilities!

Discover the various ways you can access SSS music...

Reusable Headphones: (these include disposable earpiece covers)
https://surgicalserenitysolutions.com/hospitalheadphones

MP3 Players – Give to the Patient: (branded for your facility)
https://surgicalserenitysolutions.com/MP3players

Free App – Download and Choose Playlist ($9.95 each)

https://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/calm

License our playlists – Contact Us for a Conversation

https://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/contact-us/

Oct Oct 11, 2024

New research confirms power of perioperative music medicine

By DrAlice|October 11, 2024|Perioperative Music Medicine|0 Comments

Research in Perioperative Music Medicine

Dr. Cash delivering a lecture at International Music Medicine conference Research in perioperative music medicine, or PMM, is increasing daily. Over the last 15 years I’ve seen studies emerge on the use of Music Medicine, through pre-loaded headphones, in fields as diverse as Oncology, Transplant surgery, Alzheimer’s treatment, pediatric cardiology and burn units. There is no question that the right music has the ability to calm and soothe an anxious patient as well as anxiety medication and without the risk of dependence or addiction to these medications.

As more and more scientific studies come out, my scope of education of medical professionals widens too.

Yesterday was one of those exciting days for me. For years, music was not considered seriously because scientists hadn’t figured out how to measure the ways in which it was administered or measure how much it helped and how exactly it helped. They knew that it made the patient feel better, but they didn’t understand exactly why.

So when I went to work at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1990, I was told that there were literally hundreds if not thousands of years of anecdotal reports about the healing powers of music, but very few empiracle studies. My job was to change that! There are so many anecdotal reports about how specific music, through headphones, for the patient, has made a huge difference in the patient’s recovery as a result of the patient going into surgery more relaxed and calm.

An anecdotal report from a patient’s mother

Patient awakening from surgery using the surgical serenity headphones

“My son’s surgery was yesterday. He wore the headset for two hours before surgery and during the procedure. Unlike his last surgery, all went well. Many people were involved to ensure he reacted well to the anesthesia and other medicines provided. They were very happy to let him use the headphones in the operating room. He went into surgery thinking the headset would be helpful in keeping him calm and needing less anesthesia, and he did remain calm after coming around post-op. We believe your music was integral to his good experience. Many thanks! “ Faith Nguyen,Mother.

Recently, this study was published in a journal called “Frontiers in Medicine.” To me, this signifies that it reports on cutting edge procedures and treatments. Here is just a short excerpt of this study”

“Clinical Benefits of Perioperative Music Medicine”

“Surgery is an “indivisible, indispensable part of health care” around the world (1, 2) but it causes significant physiologic stress (3, 4). Neural (autonomic) and humoral (circulating or hormonal) mechanisms primarily involve the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) adrenergic and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) cholinergic branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Current perioperative interventions used to attenuate these stress responses are primarily pharmacologic (anesthetic and analgesic medications) that are associated with a variety of complications (5). The current epidemic of opioid overuse in the United States is fueled in part by excessive perioperative prescriptions around both minor and major surgery (6, 7). Non-pharmacologic interventions that complement and integrate with pharmacologic interventions in the perioperative setting are thus of critical importance to both decrease psychophysiological stress and decrease opioid use. Perioperative Music Medicine (PMM), defined as listening to pre-recorded music around surgery (8), is an efficacious, safe, and low-cost non-pharmacologic intervention that can be delivered at the point-of-care and reduce opioid use (9–11).”

To read the entire article, click on the link below,

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.821022/full

At the end of 2024, where we are now, I believe that serious medical and surgical professionals believe that music for the surgical patient is a good idea, but if they have any doubts, this study, along with this large meta-analysis that was published in the highly-esteemed British medical journal “The Lancet” would surely convince them. Click here to read the Lancet meta-analysis. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)60169-6/abstract?code=lancet-site

What Surgical Serenity Solutions offers to hospitals

Surgical Serenity Solutions offers therapeutic music playlists in 5 distinct genres. This music has been curated by a clinical musicologist and undergone 3 clinical studies, all of which deemed it powerful at decreasing anxiety and pain perception. The music in available in 4 different formats:

Pre-loaded headphones

Pre-loaded MP3 players

App stores on iPhone or Android

Licensing within hospital departments

For more information, go to www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com/contact-us

Sep Sep 23, 2024

Is it Music Therapy or Music Medicine?

By DrAlice|September 23, 2024|Music Therapy or Music Medicine|4 Comments

Do YOU know the difference between Music Therapy and Music Medicine? Many people use the terms interchangeably but they differ in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Fundamentally, music therapy requires licensed music therapists; music medicine relies on prescriptive pre-recorded music as implemented by other clinical professionals.

Who can practice music medicine and music therapy?

Asian senior woman listening to music with headphones in backyard.

Music Medicine is practiced by a variety of practitioners, including music therapists. The wonderful thing about Music Medicine is that it can be practiced by any clinical professional, including physicians, nurses, physical therapists, hospital chaplains, and even dentists. The only requirement is that it must be implemented by a clinician.

In my case, I am a Ph.D.-level clinical musicologist and a licensed clinical social worker. I have been working in a medical setting for over 30 years, helping patients to use my therapeutic playlists in a surgical setting, before, during, and after surgery.

For our clients, the clinician is usually a nurse or physician.

What does a music therapist do and what credentials must they have?

Music therapists have a Bachelors or Masters in music therapy and are board-certified by their peers. They work in hospitals and clinics and sometimes they work in private practice. Music therapists traditionally work one-on-one with patients but occasionally do group therapy.

Music therapists help thousands of people worldwide every day in hospitals, clinic and home settings. But there are far more people that need music medicine than there are music therapists. That’s where music medicine comes in.

What is required to practice music medicine and what are their credentials?

Music Medicine is therapeutic music that has been pre-prepared for patients undergoing or suffering from a wide variety of medical situations. It is being used daily in surgical suites, pre- and post- surgery suites, chemotherapy, kidney dialysis, labor and delivery, and pain management. Our newest hospital customer is using our music medicine intervention in their ketamine infusion area.

Waiting for a C-section.

Many patients have gotten through their colonoscopies with the help of our playlists loaded on their smartphones. In the situation, the Doctor simply educates the patient about the benefits of going under anesthesia accompanied by therapeutic music that has the tempo of the healthy resting heartbeat, a simple texture, and one that easily engages rhythmic entrainment. Rhythmic entrainment occurs when the pulse of the music synchronizes with the body’s natural rhythms such as breathing and heartbeat. This is clinically important because having stable body rhythms during a procedure is important to the success of the procedure and the health of the patient.

Note that most popular music such as the kind that’s available on Spotify, Apple Music, et cetera, is not intended to be therapeutic and is not likely to engage rhythmic entrainment.

Other uses for our pre-loaded and downloadable devices

The patient in this picture is wearing our headphones pre-loaded with a classical playlist, that has calmed her down with no additional medication. The side benefit is that the headphones also block out other conversations of doctors and nurses, as well as nearby patients who are also waiting for C-sections but without the benefit of soothing music and noise-blocking headphones.

Music Medicine and Music Therapy have both been proven extremely effective at calming anxiety and pain perception and have absolutely no known side effects. If a music therapist is available to work with you, go for that! But music therapists are often in very short supply, especially for things like C-sections, surgery, chemotherapy and kidney dialysis.

This is where Surgical Serenity Solutions headphones, MP3 players, and playlists shine! Hospitals often purchase the MP3 players in great quantity and even give them to the patient after the procedure. Use the links below for more information or to purchase!

How to get Music Medicine going at YOUR hospital

If this sounds like something you want your hospital to acquire, like many VA hospitals, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Johns Hopkins, and Mayo cardiology, just click on a link below.

Reusable headphones: https://surgicalserenitysolutions.com/hospitalheadphones

Give to the patient MP3 players:
https://surgicalserenitysolutions.com/MP3players

License or download our playlists:
https://surgicalserenitysolutions.com/contact-us

Aug Aug 9, 2024

What’s the big deal about “Social Proof?”

By DrAlice|August 9, 2024|Social Proof|0 Comments

What’s the big deal about “social proof?”

I am NOT a marketer! Never was, but when I had a great idea back in 2005, to create pre-loaded, cordless headphones for surgery patients, I quickly began to learn some of the nuts and bolts of marketing. I had to get my message out and email marketing was just really getting started.

Prior to that, marketing was done by snail mail, or TV/Radio ads and that was all really super expensive. Luckily, I have had many kind and knowledgeable people along the way who have taught me the benefits of “social proof.” Here’s a simple definition of social proof:

“Social proof is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when people base their actions on the actions of others in an attempt to appear to be behaving correctly in a given situation. It’s the idea that if others are doing something, then one should do it too.”

Recently I talked with a new acquaintance on LinkedIn who is a successful marketer, helping others to build their visibility. He told me that after looking through my website, articles, videos, research and social media posts, it was clear that one thing I have in spades is:

“Social Proof! ✨”

I guess that when you have Social Proof, word gets around faster and your product goes viral? Just this week, I got two inquiries, then purchase from the same hospital in Southern California. Two different staff members, unbeknownst to each other, ordered our headphones for two purposes: one for the original purposes of surgery, both adult and child, and the other for ketamine transfusions. Awesome!!

Here are some of my most recent examples of social proof

Just yesterday I had this response from a physician who had just watched my recent podcast:

“This is one of the very best discussions of scientific studies that have demonstrated how music via headphone or earbuds can be used to reduce anxiety and stress during a wide variety of surgical, medical and dental situations. At the same time, it often reduces the dosage of medications necessary for anesthetic purposes. Especially interesting is that studies of Alzheimer patients have demonstrated that music can be used to stimulate memory.

All without any negative side effects!” –

Getting buy-in from physicians is crucial but we must also get that buy-in from the patients who use them and feel that they make a great difference:

In the last year, I have been invited to be on 7 difference podcasts, so I know that people are buzzing and it is very exciting!!

Does YOUR hospital use the Surgical Serenity Solutions headphones or MP3 players yet? If not, I strongly recommend getting them for your patients. The proof is there, social as well as empirical medical data. Just click on the link below to purchase either the headphones or the MP3 players! Your patients will thank you!

www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com/hospitalheadphones

www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com/MP3players

Jul Jul 19, 2024

Introducing Surgical Serenity Solutions…with the help of AI

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

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.

Jul Jul 9, 2024

What Physicians say about Surgical Serenity Solutions

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

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

Jul Jul 5, 2024

Rhythmic Entrainment Explained

By DrAlice|July 5, 2024|Rhythmic entrainment|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!

Jun Jun 7, 2024

Breakthrough Medical Treatment Using the Power of Therapeutic Music

By DrAlice|June 7, 2024|Music Medicine Breakthrough|0 Comments

Patient awakening from surgery using the surgical serenity headphones

People have known for millennia that music, sound, and vibration can have a soothing, calming effect. The first music created by humans was probably created to imitate the sounds of nature that we knew were soothing and calming: birdsongs, waves lapping the shore, wind through the trees, a babbling brook—all of these were thought to be calming and comforting.

Today, we are taking calming, therapeutic music into the surgical suite, to calm and soothe the jangled nerves of the patient about to have surgery. An innovative clinical musicologist has created and patented a process to provide this music, through cordless headphones, or MP3players to the patient throughout the perioperative period.

The Existing Medical Research

A clinical trial was conducted at the Veterans Hospital here in Louisville, Kentucky. Veterans undergoing major abdominal surgery wore our Surgical Serenity Solutions lightweight, pre-loaded, headphones before, during and after the surgery, and into recovery. The results were impressive.

The MOST exciting result was a statistically significant decrease in opioid consumption after the surgery was completed. This was important because the opioid epidemic has been raging now for decades it is exciting to know that listening to this therapeutic playlist through cordless headphones can make a significant difference.

The veterans really enjoyed the music too. Many of them initially asked for rock and roll or country music. The experimenter, Dr. Marina Varbanova, an anesthesiologist, explained that when a patient is having surgery it is best to use calming music that is purely instrumental and does not have a lot of associations. In a way, this is the opposite of music therapy where a one on one relationship is created and the music therapist tries to determine what kind of music the patients prefers and achieve positive therapeutic goals by playing the music that has positive associations for them.

Once the veterans understood the purpose of the music for surgery, they were fine with the classical playlist and several responded that they didn’t realize until then that they really do like classical music. This published study can be read at https://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Our-SSS-study.pdf

Using the Therapeutic Playlists in places other than surgery

Insomnia and music Insomnia seems to be a serious problem for lots of people these days. Although we do have a specific “Lullaby Playlist,” since these 5 therapeutic playlists were created for the surgical patient who is being put to sleep, any of them have a very soothing and soporific effect.

Men and women have reported that they fell asleep quickly and stayed asleep for longer than usual when they used this music at home.

Now that we have each playlist available in a mobile app format, (www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/calm) you can listen with your own earbuds or through a nearby bluetooth speaker, playing very softly.

In addition to actual surgical procedures and insomnia, there are in-hospital procedures such as colonoscopies, labor and delivery, and even blood draws. For the patient having these procedures, we offer the preloaded, cordless, fully self-contained headphones that the patient can use over and over, even at the dentist. To get those, go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/headphones.

For the hospital staff, we now have our five therapeutic playlists available on small MP3 players that can be branded for the hospital and actually give to the patient after their surgery or procedure! When hospitals do this, the first order can come out of the marketing budget! To see or purchase, go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/MP3players.

No matter whether you’re the patient, the surgeon, or the hospital, we can help! Music can make a tremendous difference in terms of reducing the amount of pain medication, anxiety medication, and recovery time. Research has documented this.

Apps: www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/calm

Preloaded headphones: www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/headphones

Preloaded MP3 players: www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/MP3players

Please let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for reading!