KarunaNews Story

In the recovery unit of UC San Diego Health, Nurse Rod Salaysay helps patients manage pain after surgery. Along with medications, he offers tunes on request and sometimes sings. Patients often smile or nod along. Salaysay even sees changes in their vital signs like lower heart rate and blood pressure, and some may request fewer painkillers. “There’s often a cycle of worry, pain, anxiety in a hospital,” he said, “but you can help break that cycle with music.” Over the past two decades, live performances and recorded music have flowed into hospitals and doctors’ offices as research grows on how songs can help ease pain. Several recent studies have suggested that listening to music can either reduce the perception of pain or enhance a person’s ability to tolerate it. “We know that almost all of the brain becomes active when we engage in music,” said Kate Richards Geller, a registered music therapist in Los Angeles. “That changes the perception and experience of pain — and the isolation and anxiety of pain.”