Blog - Page 17 of 39 - Surgical Serenity Solutions

Jun Jun 26, 2015

Research study on Surgical Serenity Solution slated for publication

By DrAlice|June 26, 2015|Research on Surgical Serenity Solutions, Surgery with Music Research|0 Comments

Anyone who works in the medical field or deals with any kind of medical procedure or device, knows how very important it is to document scientifically that the device works as all of the claims say it does. For the past almost five years, a study has been in progress at the VA hospital here in Louisville, KY, on our Surgical Serenity headphones. The study was a double-blind study with a music group and a control group. At this point, I’m not free to divulge the details, but they are very positive and exciting! Once our study is published, then we are hoping to get lots of publicity and news articles in medical journals and media of all kinds.

Before we began creating this amazing process, we knew that there was already ample research documenting not only the benefits of music in surgery, but also documenting the many ways that music affects the mind and body. To me it was a fairly short step to apply the process of rhythmic entrainment to the relaxation response. Then the idea of having cordless (not wireless!) headphones that could be pre-programmed with the ideal music to elicit the relaxation response through rhythmic entrainment was the gift that popped into my head.

The next step was patenting my idea and the steps to the process. Although there have been hundreds of subsequent steps, we felt that having an official scientific study would be critical to having our Surgical Serenity Solution taken seriously by medical professionals. While we have waited for the study to be completed, we have sold the headphones to individuals around the world and gotten lots of great feedback and suggestions.

There are different versions and different playlists in the pipeline but we need to have a few secrets and surprises for you! Stay tuned for the next exciting updates!

May May 13, 2015

Surgical Serenity Solutions: Ideal music delivery

By DrAlice|May 13, 2015|Benefits of cordless headphones, Benefits of music during surgery, Common Fears in Surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Fear and Anxiety about Surgery, Fear of anesthesia|0 Comments

While reading through some new research this morning, on the benefits of music before, during and after surgery, I came across several patients who commented that although some “pretty music” was playing in the operating room during their procedure, they couldn’t hear it very well. I wonder why? Some of the things that could very well be going on in the OR would be:

Lots of beeping from lots of different medical device machines
Lots of conversation between surgeon, nurses, assistants
Sawing, hammering and drilling if it’s a joint replacement
The music chosen by the surgeon, which is probably loud and upbeat…not what you want if you’re the patient!

Sooooo, why did we decide to find some fabulous cordless headphones? So many great reasons:

Programmable unit is totally self-contained
Our proprietary, scientifically tested, highly-praised music comes loaded on the headphones, but
You can add your own favorite music, if you wish!
There are no cords dangling around neck to tangle with other equipment
The headphones block the distracting conversations and unpleasant sound of surgery

If you’ve just found out that you need surgery, you’re probably scared and anxious. If you’ve never had surgery, you don’t know what to expect. If you have had surgery but had a bad experience, or a negative reaction to anesthesia, then you are even more fearful of going through this again. Do yourself a favor! Order the Surgical Serenity Solution now, download the free “How to Talk with Your Doctor about Using Music During Surgery,” and start getting proactive. Thousands of people have had music during their surgical experience and those that used the headphones simply rave about how easy they were and how much they helped!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions!

May May 6, 2015

Surgical Serenity Solutions: a few words about our music

By DrAlice|May 6, 2015|Benefits of music during surgery, Characteristics of music for surgery, Headphones for other medical procedures, How music works, Rhythmic entrainment, Surgery Music|0 Comments

Surgical Serenity Solutions exists to create a surgical experience that is less stressful for the patient, speed recovery, and that will improve over-all outcomes! That said, what exactly is our proprietary music all about? Well, I’ll go so far as to say that they main idea is to get rhythmic entrainment established through the use of slow, steady, soothing, music. As a concert pianist, musicologist, and therapist, I have chosen music that fits that definition, in a variety of genres. Our first playlist is still our primary playlist and it is the one we’ve sold the most of. It is a classical piano playlist and contains 23 lesser-known classical pieces that I purposely chose because of their ability to help the patient entrain, or synchronize their heart-rate, breathing, and emotional state, quickly and easily.

When patients put the headphones on for the first-time in my presence, they invariably get a smile on their face, close their eyes, and say “ahhhh…that’s beautiful!!” I purposely chose music that is not well known, because people have such strong association with music, and, just in case it’s a piece that someone might have a negative association with, I chose music that the average piano student would not have encountered.

However, it is not at all necessary to love classical music or even be familiar with it, to greatly benefit from this playlist. The only time you’ll really hear it is as you’re going to sleep (under general anesthesia) or as you’re waking up. If you have access to the headphones or to our proprietary music (we do sell JUST the music!), before your procedure, then you can practice relaxing while listening to the music, and condition your mind and body to relax as you lie down and start the music. By the time you’re ready for surgery, you will quickly relax by the end of the first piece.

Soon we will offer a New Age playlist, a jazz-style playlist, a folk-style playlist, and more. Eventually, we’ll have multiple options within each genre! There is literally no other company that offers such a powerful, yet simple solution. To buy, just click on the link www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com/buy.

Mar Mar 31, 2015

Three Questions you’ll want to ask when considering Surgical Serenity Solutions? Some FAQs

By DrAlice|March 31, 2015|Characteristics of music for surgery, Common Fears in Surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Fear and Anxiety about Surgery, Headphones for other medical procedures, How music works|0 Comments

The concept of using music for the patient during surgery is still a new concept for many people. But the research is coming in! Even when you are asleep from anesthesia, your body STILL responds to the slow, steady pulse of the right music! How do I know this? Because I am a clinical musicologist who has spent the past 25 years studying this phenomenon and helping surgery patients create their own playlists from their favorite music, and then creating the Surgical Serenity Solution for those that either don’t have time to choose their own preferred music or would rather get something that is ready to go and proven effective!! Here are some more of the questions I often get:

Q1. Why should I use music before, during and after surgery if I’ll be asleep anyway?

A1. When you listen to soothing, steady, instrumental music before surgery (or other anxiety-provoking medical procedure) research documents measurable decreases in anxiety medications; when music continues into surgery, there is not only less anesthesia, but stabilized blood pressure, body temp, heart rate and respiration rate. The body synchronizes with the slow, steady tempo of the music and has a lower report of pain perception. After surgery, into the recovery room, the patient awakens with less nausea and vomiting, better oriented to time and place, and requiring less pain medication! This is big!

Q2. How can talk to my doctor about wanting to use the Surgical Serenity Solution?

A2. If you go to www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com, you will see a link to the blog. Click on that and in the right-hand margin you will see a link to our complimentary report “How to Talk with your Doctor about using Music in Surgery.” The brief report includes research studies that have been done, documenting all the positive benefits to patient when the right kind of music is used during surgery.

Q3. Why can’t I just bring my own iPod with earbuds of headphones?

A3. You can probably do this, but then the surgical team has to try and avoid the cord that is hanging down to connect iPod with headphones or earbuds. Our pre-programmed headphones are totally cordless and do not transmit any signal that could interfere with other devices in OR. Also, our headphones will be brand-new for you and completely sanitized and disinfected. And while your music may be favorite music and enjoyable, our proprietary classical blend has been specifically chosen to entrain or synchronize with your heart-rate and breathing.

At the request of many potential surgery patients, I will be publishing more of these Q and As so let me know what YOUR questions are!

Mar Mar 3, 2015

Benefits of Music with Surgery: Revisited

By DrAlice|March 3, 2015|Anesthesia, Benefits of music during surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Fear of anesthesia, Fear of surgery|0 Comments

As our Surgical Serenity Solution isn’t exactly well-known, I spend a lot of time explaining to people of all kinds, what the benefits of music before, during, and after surgery can be! Luckily, you can also search within this blog as well as my Healing Music Enterprises Blog, and my Brain and Music blog, for lots of other posts I’ve written through the years about the use of music during surgery.

Most of my readers know intuitively that music has great power to calm, soothe, comfort and heal. Having surgery is an extremely stressful event and very few people go into it except by medical necessity. Fear and anxiety are sky-high, and for many, many reasons. First of all, patients are afraid because of whatever is causing them to need surgery: cancer, joint replacement, heart valves or by-passes, need for a C-section, and on and on. Then there is the very real fear of anesthesia and what could happen if they have a bad reaction to it. This is especially true if they have not had general anesthesia previously.

When our scientifically-chosen music is administered to the patient through pre-programmed cordless headphones, research shows a significantly decreased amount of anesthesia and pain medication is needed, during and after the procedure! As a result, the patient recovers faster and has fewer post-op side-effects such as nausea, vomiting and dizziness.

Of course depending on what the surgery or procedure is, the patient will not be dancing out of the recovery room or hospital, but if we can decrease not only the side-effects experienced, but also the length of hospital stay, then using carefully chosen music, through cordless headphones, is definitely the way to go!!

Jan Jan 28, 2015

Music and Surgery: Research on Benefits Continues to Emerge

By DrAlice|January 28, 2015|Anesthesia, Benefits of music during surgery, Common Fears in Surgery, How music works, Recent Research on Surgery with Music, Rhythmic entrainment, Surgery Music|0 Comments

When you hear someone say that music before, during and after surgery is beneficial, you assume that its a certain type of music that has been specifically chosen for surgery, right? After talking to people and working with patients and physicians and nurses about this for 25 years, I’ve heard it all!

It started out primarily with the surgeon deciding that he would be happier if HE had music playing in the OR, so he chose music that he felt would help him do a better job operating. I’ve heard of surgeon’s choosing classical, rock and roll, smooth jazz, chant, and lots more. This music usually is played through iPod speakers on a counter or shelf, or even through a boombox on the floor.

The thought was that the patient was either under general anesthesia and wouldn’t really hear it or they would be under regional anesthesia and would probably also enjoy it! Pretty “iffy” I’d say, since taste in music varies wildly. Then I came along in the late 90’s saying that even when patient was under general anesthesia, they could benefit from having their own slow, steady music, because of a process known as rhythmic entrainment.

The way this works is that our bodies respond to a nearby strong, steady beat by synchronizing with it, or entraining with it! This is a well-documented phenomenon, first noticed in the 1700’s by a Dutch physicist named Daniel Huygens. One of the things the anesthesiologist and staff do during surgery is to keep the heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure and body temperature at a resting, normal level. This can be greatly helped along by tapping into rhythmic entrainment, utilizing music with a slow, steady beat and a soothing mood.

This is the music that we have already programmed onto your Surgical Serenity headphones to achieve the Surgical Serenity Solution! A research study that came out just a couple of years ago reported that listening to music “during all three stages proved beneficial. Overall, patients who listened to music were less anxious, required less sedative medication, recovered more quickly and reported better satisfaction with their medical experience. But while some studies show that listening to classical music could yield the most positive results, the latest findings underscore the importance of taking into account patients’ musical tastes.” –

To that, I would add that when the patient is going under general anesthesia, probably classical music is best overall. Our study here at the VA Hospital utilized exclusively classical music, and although most of the men were not classical music afficianados, once they had been explained why this specific music was chosen, they were happy to give it a chance…and experienced all the benefits listed above!!

The comment below was from a blog that was citing this study above, done at the University of Kentucky by music therapists. However, it is not necessary to have a music therapist present to use our pre-programmed surgical headphones! That’s one of the money-saving benefits to hospital and patient.

I will write lots more about this in future blog posts but do let me know your thoughts and your questions! Thank you!

See more at: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2012/11/20/how-music-therapy-may-benefit-surgery-patients/#comments

June Pegram Says:
August 27th, 2013 at 12:37 am

I had a full hysterectomy in 2005 at Stanford and my physician provided me with a cd to listen to in preparation for the surgery. The premise was to listen to the cd an follow the exercises provided along with the music. Having the music, prepared me in ways that I never would have dreamed- it actually changed my life, even to this day. There was no pre-op nervousness and before I knew it, I was in my recovery room still listening to the music. What a peaceful and relaxing way to enter something normally so stressful. My recovery was just as wonderful and I listened to the cd every night during recovery. Years later I find myself humming a few bars of the relaxation song to calm me down when I am tense. The cd has since been lost to me during several moves, but I truly wish I still had it. Music is very beneficial to the psyche and physical attributes towards preparation and healing and I will use it from now on…

– See more at: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2012/11/20/how-music-therapy-may-benefit-surgery-patients/#comments

Sep Sep 30, 2014

What are some of the surgeries that our headphones have been used with successfully?

By DrAlice|September 30, 2014|Aeortic Abdominal Aneurysm, Anesthesia and labor, Characteristics of music for surgery, Hand Surgery with Music|0 Comments

Patients wearing our headphones

This is a questions that I’m frequently asked when people are planning to use music with their surgery. The concept of using music during surgery is still a very new concept and many patients are confused about whether it is primarily for them or for the doctor.

Of course, one of the BIG benefits of the Surgical Serenity Solution is that both patient and doctor can each have their ideal, preferred type of music! Usually the surgeon wants music that is

* Energetic

* Familiar

* Upbeat

* Positive

The patient needs music that is

* Calm

* Slow and Steady

* Purely instrumental

* Unfamiliar

So why does the patient need unfamiliar music and the surgeon gets to use familiar favorites? Primarily because the surgeon is wide-awake, needing to focus and aware of what music does that for him. The patient, on the other hand, needs to brought down in energy level, consciousness, and awareness of surroundings. Something slow, steady and soothing will best do that; and because music is so often associated with specific events and people, we need to choose music that is not widely known and associated with pop culture or well-known events.

The music that we use on our pre-programmed, cordless headphones is classical music that the average person will not know. In all the hundreds of people that have used the headphones, only one person at the last minute had a negative association and asked that headphones be removed.

We do have samples on our sales pages that give you a representative sample of what our music sounds like. See http://www.surgicalserenity.com/purchase.htm

So, back to the question “what surgeries have successfully incorporated the use of music through Surgical Serenity Headphones?” So far we’ve been present for:

Abdominal Aortic Anerysm

C-section

Labor and Delivery

Heart by-pass surgery

Pacemaker implantation

Knee replacement

Hip replacement

Breast cancer surgery

Lung cancer surgery

Root canal surgery

Dental crowns

Dental cavities

Hysterectomy

Shoulder replacement surgery

Hernia repair and tummy tuck

Hand surgery

and many, many more!

If YOU are having surgery and want to ask questions before buying, please contact me through my website or this blog. Thank you!!

Aug Aug 27, 2014

Music during surgery: for patient or surgeon?

By DrAlice|August 27, 2014|Benefits of music during surgery, Characteristics of music for surgery, Headphones for other medical procedures|0 Comments

Many people ask me if the music on our Surgical Serenity Headphones is for the surgeon or the patient. Actually, quite a bit has been written about music for the doctor, whether focusing on the surgeon or the anesthesiologist. Very litle has been written about music for the patient!

The article that I will cite, shortly, is from 2011, and is written for the general public by an M.D. in San Francisco. Although this article is very interesting, no mention is made of the powerful phenomenon known as “rhythmic entrainment” which is at the heart of the Surgical Serenity Solution! When people or medical personnel think about music during surgery, they are mainly thinking of music being broadcast in the OR through speakers or perhaps an iPod on a speaker. The music is usually chosen by the surgeon and is in accordance with his taste.

How the patient might respond to it is not really foremost in their mind. The field of music therapy has conducted hundreds of scientific, empirical studies on the use of music in healthcare, medicine and wellness. Recently there has been an increase in the number of studies focusing on the use of music with the patient during surgery. Often these studies are looking at the use of a music therapist playing live music for the patient during surgery! Although it sounds wonderful, I’m not sure how practical it really is. The operating room is a rather small space as hospitals work to accomodate as many ORs as they safely can.

In any event, the music therapists are working with the patient before surgery to determine the patient’s taste in music as well as the music that will be most beneficial to them during their procedure. Then, a music therapist usually plays the chosen music on guitar and possibly sings? Music therapist friends, please correct me if this is wrong. If I were having surgery, I would love this! However, in a busy hospital with dozens of surgeries going on daily, I think it’s not likely to be available.

For that reason, knowing how to choose the music that will best entrain, or synchronize your heart-rate and breathing is so important. Or, you can always get the pre-programmed cordless headphones, with the ideal music already on them and waiting for you. That way, the surgeons and other staff can still have their music of choice! Your choice!

For more information on music in surgery, see http://www.salon.com/2011/03/07/poprx_music_in_operating_room/

Jul Jul 28, 2014

Will MY hospital have these Surgical Serenity headphones for me?

By DrAlice|July 28, 2014|Benefits of music during surgery, Common Fears in Surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia, Fear and Anxiety about Surgery, Fear of anesthesia|2 Comments

If you are going to one of the cutting edge hospitals in the U.S. (and we’re not allowed to name the hospitals who have them waiting for you at this point) you might very well find the headphones there. Four of the largest hospital systems in the world either have the headphones or are seriously considering them for their patients. All you need to do is ask your surgeon if the hospital where your procedure is being done, utilizes the Surgical Serenity Solutions. He should know immediately whether they do or don’t.

One of the main reasons I had the idea to create pre-programmed, cordless headphones for the patient was for the patients convenience. I know that when I had surgery 20 years ago, I did not have a lot of advance notice. I was literally up all night the night before my back surgery, creating three cassette tapes for before, during and after my surgery. Because I was a clinical musicologist even then, I knew the benefits of steady, soothing, instrumental music in the surgical process. My surgeon was fascinated by all of this, and even though I used a Walkman, connected to headphones with a wire, the surgeon and anesthesiologist allow this in the OR.

In 2005, when the idea to create programmed, cordless headphones was born, one of my main reasons was so that patients who were likely already in pain and quite fearful of going under general anesthesia, could have easy access to music for their surgery that had been tested and approved by hundreds of people. Now we have this!

The headphones are getting national attention now and I do believe that one day they will be standard equipment in all hospitals. If your hospital does not have them waiting for you, please order yours now!! You will be so glad that you did!

To order: www.SurgicalHeadphones.com

Jul Jul 28, 2014

Case Study: Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair

By DrAlice|July 28, 2014|Aeortic Abdominal Aneurysm, Anesthesia, Characteristics of music for surgery, Dangers and Side-effects of anesthesia|0 Comments

This 70-year-old gentleman had undergone surgery many times and, although he wasn’t excessively anxious about his procedure, he was quite intrigued by the idea of using music with his surgery, especially since he is a huge fan of classical music. Here is his story:

Jim came to my office for about 30 minutes, a week before his surgery. We talked about his procedure and how music might positively affect the total experience. Jim is huge classical music afficianado, so when he found out that our proprietary music is classical, he was thrilled. When he was told that after his surgery, he could put any music he wanted on the headphones and continue to use them for probably another 5-10 years, he was excited!

After his serious surgery, Jim wanted to come back to my office to tell me his story. You’ll hear his story in the video above, but just let me encapsulate by saying that he was told before the surgery that it would probably take 4-5 hours. It took slightly less than 2! He was told that he would be in ICU for probably 3-4 days. After one night in ICU and continuing to wear his headphones, he was discharged from the hospital to his home in exactly 24 hours!

Of course Jim attributes all of this to his headphones and we are agreeing with him! Don’t you want to try them too?

To purchase your own: www.SurgicalHeadphones.com