Blog - Page 14 of 39 - Surgical Serenity Solutions

Mar Mar 29, 2016

Headphones for the patient?

By DrAlice|March 29, 2016|Baby Boomers and Surgery, Benefits of cordless headphones, Recent Research on Surgery with Music, Research on Surgical Serenity Solutions|0 Comments

Headphones for the patient undergoing surgery is a must! Why has it taken so long for the medical/surgical community to realize this? Surgeons have been using music for themselves, assuming that if the patient enjoys it, that would be nice, but not medically significant. Has there been a misunderstanding? No, I think it’s a matter of educating the patients, the doctors, and the hospital administrators. Surgeons have been choosing their preferred music in the OR for many decades now. Patients and administrators have assumed that the music would also be effective for them, especially since they would be asleep for most of that time.

But is that really the case? NO. When music is being played ambiently in the OR, through speakers on a nearby table or counter, speakers in the wall or ceiling, the patients may vaguely hear that music, but they also hear the conversations, the sounds of surgery (which might include drilling, sawing, and hammering!) and the beeping of various monitors in the OR! This is not soothing for the patient.

After over a decade of research, and patient/staff accounts, we know for sure, that when the patient puts on cordless, lightweight headphones that are pre-programmed with soothing, slow and rhythmic music, they do better. Why? Because the music that has been chosen is the ideal music to engage rhythmic entrainment and place the patient in a “sonic cocoon.” This keeps that patients heartrate and breathing synchronized to the music, and outside conversation and noises do not penetrate the patient’s consciousness.

We are excited about our new headphone model that is priced so that the hospital can GIVE each surgical patient a headphone to take home with them. Our initial efforts are focusing on hospitals that have multiple facilities around the country, but if you would like us to talk with administrators at your hospital, just let us know, and we’d be happy to set up an initial call!!

Mar Mar 1, 2016

Why Headphones in Surgery?

By DrAlice|March 1, 2016|Benefits of cordless headphones, Benefits of music during surgery, How music works|0 Comments

Headphones before surgery

Have you had headphones in surgery before? This is increasingly happening in operating rooms around the world. If so, you know that today, most surgeons play their preferred music in the OR. Most of the time, they choose the music that they prefer. I’m totally in support of the surgeon having his preferred music, but rarely is this the music that the patient needs to hear.

When preparing for surgery, the patient needs slow, soothing, steady, simple textured, purely instrumental music. That is likely NOT what the surgeon will be choosing. The surgeon wants music that will help keep his energy and focus at a high level, sometimes rock and roll, sometimes upbeat jazz, sometime classical. Ir order for the best surgical outcomes, the patient needs to have headphones!

When the patient listens to their ideal music through lightweight, cordless headphones, such as the ones John has on in this photo, he can have the slow, steady, soothing music that will calm jangled nerves, stabilize breathing, blood pressure and body temperature, and decrease the need for as much anxiety medication and pain medication. It may even decrease the amount of anesthesia required, because when the patient is relaxed prior to surgery, it takes less anesthesia to put them under. And then the surgeon can have his own preferred music coming through speakers in the OR for him and for the staff to entrain with.

In addition to all the benefits for the patient and the surgeon, the hospital also benefits because in our research studies, patients who utilized the Surgical Serenity headphones had higher patient satisfaction ratings, across the board!

Another benefit is that HIPAA compliance is improved when patients are wearing the headphones in the pre-surgical area where medical staff is often discussing details of upcoming procedures with patients who are waiting in close proximity with only a curtain separating them.

To purchase the pre-programmed Surgical Serenity Headphones, click HERE.

Feb Feb 15, 2016

Putting Your Music on Our Headphones

By DrAlice|February 15, 2016|Benefits of cordless headphones, Benefits of music during surgery, Characteristics of music for surgery, knee replacement surgery|0 Comments

Are you think of putting your music on our headphones? This afternoon I received an email from a lady who is having both knees replaced and wanted to use some music that she used 22 years ago for a heart procedure. The problem is that the music, at that time, was on cassette tapes. Can it be done? Of course, but cassette tapes are in an analog format, so the music must be digitized. It could be transformed into an MP3 file, or even a CD, which could be popped into a laptop and uploaded.

Will this lady be able to do that in time for her surgery? We shall see. She says she has some “young people” who can help and they are to call me tomorrow. I certainly hope we can make it happen for her, but this brings us to one of the main reasons I created these pre-programmed and programmable headphones in the first place. When a patient finds out that they need surgery, or they decide that are going to have a procedure they’ve been putting off, creating their own music on headphones is not easy. That’s why I’ve done it for you! The classical piano music I’ve chosen is not familiar to most people and so there are no particular associations with it.

If you want to put your music on our headphones, you can certainly do it. But you’ll need some basic skills with a USB cable and digital files. If I can help or answer questions for you, don’t hesitate to email me here!! Be healthy!

Jan Jan 29, 2016

Fundraising begins for headphones

By DrAlice|January 29, 2016|Benefits of cordless headphones, Fundraising|0 Comments

Alice at AORN conference in Chicago

I’m excited, but also a little bit scared: Fundraising begins for our new model of Surgical Serenity Solutions. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about how excited we are to have a new headphones that is 1/5 the cost of the other one. Our goal is to make the headphones so affordable that a hospital can issue them to each patient having surgery or other painful, anxiety-producing procedures. Still, we have to order 1000 of them to pass on our huge savings to you! So we are fundraising through the fantastic Kiva program for entrepreneurs.

Would you be willing to make a $25.00 loan to Surgical Serenity Solutions? This is a loan that will be matched by Kiva and repaid within three years. Here’s the info: Make a $25 loan to SSS. Of course, more than $25 would really be appreciated too!

Since I posted this a few weeks ago, many more expenses have suddenly appeared. My patent is up for renewal and it costs almost $2000.00 just to renew the patent! Then I discovered that one of the factories that we deal with in China had suddenly closed!! Now I’m having to hire a man who goes to China multiple times a year to check out factories and make sure that they are legit! These are expenses I was not counting on, so the Kiva Zip loan will also be used for some of that! When fundraising begins, you just don’t know what all the expenses will be.

Please give us a loan for as much as you can? You will definitely get it back! Then we can get our wonderful music out to all surgery patients and anyone who is anxious and fearful about a medical procedure!

Jan Jan 23, 2016

Will Surgical Serenity be covered by insurance?

By DrAlice|January 23, 2016|Anesthesia, Baby Boomers and Surgery, Benefits of cordless headphones, Benefits of music during surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Fear and Anxiety about Surgery|0 Comments

Will the Surgical Serenity headphones be covered by insurance?

Waiting to go into surgery.

This is a fair question, and one that I get asked fairly often. The Surgical Serenity Solution has the capability to reduce anxiety before surgery, anesthesia requirements during surgery, and pain medication after surgery. The Surgical Serenity Solution can decrease nausea and vomiting in the PACU so that patient is able to be discharged to hospital room or home sooner and begin their overall recovery. This ingenious and revolutionary tool has the ability to create a win-win for both patient and hospitals by contributing to patient health, but also increase patient satisfaction scores for hospital and allowing them to have faster turnover and treat more patients in the same time period.

So when will health insurance start paying for this? The insurance industry is a conservative industry and I believe that they will require more studies on this, even though we have at least a couple of hundred in the last two decades. I believe that BC/BS of California already covers some tapes/CDs that have affirmations for healing on them and actually issues them to patients with various health challenges from chemo to surgery to depression. I see no reason that they won’t eventually cover the Surgical Serenity Solution, too.

In the meantime, we are working tirelessly to find a headphones that is so affordable for hospitals, that they can actually GIVE them to patients when they arrive at the hospital the morning of the surgery and use them throughout the process and them take them home to keep during their recovery and afterwards!

Are YOU having surgery soon? Do YOU want to use the absolute best music during your procedure and afterwards? Just go to www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com now and get some for yourself. They hold 4G of music, so you can add whatever music you want afterwards and use them for years to come. You’ll be so glad that you did!

Jan Jan 6, 2016

Surgical Serenity Highlights of 2015

By DrAlice|January 6, 2016|Benefits of cordless headphones|0 Comments

Surgical Serenity had a banner year in 2015. We have begun selling to both surgical patients and hospitals equally, we have added a new, less expensive model, and we’ve quadrupled our sales staff and now have exclusively experienced medical/dental sales agents. We have a foot in dozens of different hospitals around the world now and new inquiries daily!

As exciting as the new products and playlists are, I was ecstatic about the new “meta-analysis” the came out in the highly respected British Medical Journal, “The Lancet.” This analyis looked at the results of 70 individual medical studies on the use of music before, during, and after surgery and concluded that music was a powerful, but greatly under-utilized medical intervention for patients undergoing surgery of any kind, whether inpatient or outpatient.

This was exactly the boost we needed to give scientific credibility to our idea! Now, as we begin to call on new hospitals, dental surgeries, and plastic surgery spas, we will have so much scientific documentation, in addition to our own study that was done at the VA hospitals here, and all of our fabulous video, audio, and written testimonials! It just gets better and better!!

Dec Dec 1, 2015

Surgery Music Now Available for Download!

By DrAlice|October 20, 2015|Anesthesia, Benefits of cordless headphones, Characteristics of music for surgery, Rhythmic entrainment, Surgery Music|0 Comments

We are so enthusiastic and excited about our Surgical Serenity Music, that we offer JUST the download if you feel that you cannot afford our lightweight, high-quality cordless headphone! The download alone is only $99. The headset with music already loaded onto it, is $197.97!

We believe that the Surgical Serenity Solution is slowly revolutionizing the way the surgery is being performed. There are so many studies now, including a study on our own music and headphone (!) that there is absolutely NO doubt that music before, during and after surgery, can make a big difference in how fast and well the patient will recover. Who knew that something as simple as choosing the right music for the patient could make such a powerful improvement to surgical outcomes??

Actually, I knew that back in the early 1990’s when I began reading the medical and music medicine literature. It was quite obvious that, through the process of rhythmic entrainment, the patient’s heart-rate and breathing will begin to synchronize with the pulse of the music. This relaxes the patient and keeps them relaxed through the procedure so that less medication is needed. As a clinical musicologist, I know JUST the music to choose for the best results. Right now the music is classical piano, but we are close to having a NEW AGE playlist, a children’s playlist, and one for elderly patients!

Don’t miss out on this! You can download the music in minutes or order now for overnight delivery! Just click on the picture of the headphones!

Sep Sep 29, 2015

Must everything be sterilized for Surgery? No!

By DrAlice|September 29, 2015|Benefits of cordless headphones, Benefits of music during surgery|0 Comments

If you’ve been following Surgical Serenity Solutions for awhile, you know that our headphones are being used every day in hospitals around the world! But every now and then, somehow asks us how hospitals are able to “sterilize” them for surgery. I rely on what surgeons, anesthesiologists and surgical nurses have told me and here is what I’m told: during surgery, a “sterile field” is prepared, depending on what part of the body is being operated on.

Only things that are going into a patients body need to be sterile. Our Surgical Serenity headphones are behind the neck and over the ears. Each earpiece has a disposable sterile cover on it and these are replaces with each patient and connecting band is wiped down with antibacterial spray. Obviously, the headphones can’t be used with brain, head, neck or face surgery. Still, our proprietary music can be played nearby and the body will still entrain with the steady, soothing pulse!

For those that are concerned that the headphones are not “sterilized,” we are starting a new purchase model where we offer a less expensive model that doesn’t have as long a battery-playing time but is otherwise very similar to our current model in terms of style (behind-the-neck) and comfort, for a price that will allow hospitals to give EACH surgical patient their own headphones that they can take home with them and continue using as they recover at home with our soothing, steady, comforting music.

Stay tuned for the new model, hopefully appearing in time for Christmas!

Sep Sep 14, 2015

New Hospital Program planned for Surgical Headphones

By DrAlice|September 14, 2015|Benefits of cordless headphones, Fear and Anxiety about Surgery, Fear of anesthesia, Fear of surgery, Headphones for other medical procedures, Music in the hospital, Research on Surgical Serenity Solutions, Surgical Headphones and HIPAA|0 Comments

For the past 5 years we have been marketing our surgical headphones primarily to individuals who are preparing for surgery. After selling hundreds of these clinically and scientifically proven headphones with our proprietary music on them, we have decided to also have a different headphone that we will market to hospitals. The new headphones is intended to be given or issued to each surgical patient for them to keep and take home to continue using in their recovery.

We have put thousands of hours into this process and are excited to reveal that we are getting really close to having this new surgical headphone ready to provide to hospitals! With concerns about infection-control at an all-time high, many hospitals don’t want to re-use anything that they can make disposable. Although we wouldn’t call this new surgical headphone disposable, we do believe that the new price will allow hospitals to give all surgical patients their own surgical headphone and in addition, patients will have at least four different playlists to choose from.

When we went to the AORN conference in Denver in 2015, this nurse from Johns Hopkins hospital was extremely enthusiastic about our surgical headphones!

Of course we will keep selling our premium surgical headphone will 4 GB of memory and a battery life of 20-24 hours. We anticipate that dentists will buy these because they can more safely re-use them, as well as cosmetic surgery practices where price restrictions are not so intense. To order these, just go to www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com. We look forward to providing our proven surgical headphones to all patients preparing for surgery!