Music reduces chronic pain

Listening to music can reduce chronic pain by up to 21 percent and depression by up to 25 percent, and can make people feel more in control of their pain and less disabled by their condition. Results of the study conducted by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation appear in the UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.

Researchers carried out a controlled clinical trial with 60 people, dividing them into two music groups and a control group.

They found that people who listened to music for an hour every day for a week reported improved physical and psychological symptoms compared to the control group.

The participants, who had an average age of 50, were recruited from pain and chiropractic clinics in Ohio. They had been suffering from a range of painful conditions, including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis, for an average of six-and-a-half years. Ninety percent said the pain affected more than one part of their body and 95 percent said it was continuous. Before the music study, participants reported that their usual pain averaged just under 6 on a 0-10 pain scale and their worst pain exceeded 9 out of 10.

One group chose their own music to listen to, while the other group listened to music chosen by the researchers. Everyone who took part, including the control group, kept a pain diary.

“Non-malignant pain remains a major health problem and sufferers continue to report high levels of unrelieved pain despite using medication,” says researcher Sandra L. Siedlecki. “So anything that can provide relief is to be welcomed.”