People love music because it touches the strings of the soul. Recently, however, music has increasingly been discussed as an effective pain reliever.
British dietitian and television presenter Michael Mosley has personally experienced this effect while listening to his favorite soundtracks.
To test music’s power, Mosley decided to try it during a dental appointment. While having a troublesome tooth treated, he listened to his favorite music through headphones. His playlist included hits from U2 and The Prodigy.
Mosley says the procedure was completely painless. He did have a chuckle when he received the bill.
A Fantastic Effect Backed by Science
The study that inspired him to conduct this self-experiment was published last month in the journal Frontiers by researchers from the Pain Center at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. The scientists asked 63 volunteers to choose their favorite music. Then the team had participants listen to either their chosen music or tracks selected by the researchers.
During the listening session, the researchers briefly applied a thermal probe to the volunteers’ forearms — a device that heats up. The sensations were quite painful, like pressing a hot coffee mug against the skin. The probe did not cause any serious harm.
The researchers found that participants who listened to their favorite melodies experienced the least pain. That reduction in pain was equivalent to taking a strong over-the-counter painkiller. The effect was particularly pronounced in volunteers who reported feeling chills while listening to their favorite tracks.
These results align with another study published in 2015 in The Lancet. In that research, a team from Brunel University (Norway) and Queen Mary University of London examined the results of 72 studies involving around 7,000 patients. Those patients were exposed to music before, during, or after surgery. The researchers compared the patients’ pain responses with those of participants in a control group who did not listen to music under identical conditions, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The scientists discovered that patients who listened to music experienced significantly less anxiety after surgery and required far fewer pain medications. Some individuals reported less pain after surgery even if the music was only playing during the procedure.
Mosley also cited the results of another study that looked not at pain relief but at music’s effects on blood vessels. In 2005, researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine asked ten volunteers to spend 30 minutes listening to music that made them feel joyful and to music that made them feel anxious. When participants listened to joyful music, their blood vessels dilated by an average of 26 percent. That effect lasted for several hours, while listening to anxious music caused the vessels to constrict by 6 percent.
The Great Power of Musical Art
Despite numerous studies, the exact mechanism behind music’s pain-relieving properties remains unclear. Mosley recalled one theory that suggests favorite melodies trigger the release of endocannabinoids. These endogenous lipid-based substances produce effects similar to those of marijuana and are produced naturally by the body.
Mosley shared his experience participating in a recent experiment conducted by researchers at the University of Nottingham. The team measured endocannabinoid levels in Mosley’s blood and in other participants’ blood before and after singing in a choir and before and after a 30-minute workout on a stationary bike. Both activities led to a significant increase in endocannabinoid levels. The effect from singing was twice as pronounced as the effect from exercising.
Mosley says one in three elderly people in the UK suffers from chronic pain. More evidence of music’s pain-relieving effects would be welcome. Unlike medications, music is a simple, inexpensive, and enjoyable remedy.
