Relieving mood & pain with sound

[Richard]

Tonight I read a study on the National Institute of Health's web site that may help some folks actively engaged in managing chronic pain or mood regulation:

The effect of low-frequency sound stimulation on patients with fibromyalgia: A clinical study.


Though the title names fibromyalgia specificially, the section on the effects of sound stood out to me as something applicable beyond fibromyalgia. Given my time here on CRVL forums, I recall several mentions scattered across various threads of people who struggle with pain management or mood regulation (I'm in the latter group) so this seems like a topic for "Vandwelling topics that don't fit into other areas"

After the fibromyalgia-specific information, there's a section on the effects of music/sound on the body. Following a brief introduction to pain theory, this section is the one that stood out to me (bold emphasis is mine) :

Cognitive and affective effects of music:

Given the role that neuro-transmitters, hormones and the limbic system play in pain according to the NM theory, it is highly relevant that music has been shown to affect the release of endorphins (29–37), dopamine (38,39) and serotonin (40,41), and decrease cortisol levels (39,42–47). A recent review (45) of 400 published scientific articles investigating music as medicine found strong evidence that music has effects on brain chemistry, has mental and physical health benefits on management of mood and stress reduction, and that it is the rhythmic stimulation of music, rather than the melody, that has the greatest antipain effect in the brain.

It's been the case for a while now that videos pop-up in my 'recommended by YouTube' feed with titles like this:

• Happiness Frequency - Serotonin, Dopamine and Endorphin Release Music, 10 Hz Binaural Beats

I've casually wondered whether this was science or hype but until tonight I hadn't taken the time to look into it further. Tonight I began looking further and that brought me many pages dealing with the topic, including this NIH study.


I realize that reading studies can be drudgery for some. For those who would like a less technical explanation of what's going on here, this article seems pretty accurate:

• Psycho-Acoustic Medicine: The Science of Sound In Producing Serotonin, Neurotransmitters & Health

Don't let the long title fool you. It's surprisingly accessible, written for non-specialists yet with enough sources that anyone so inclined can do their own due diligence.

I hope this proves helpful to some who may desire an additional 'layer' of treatment options to consider. Also, if any of you already utilize music/sound for pain management or mood regulation, please do share what you're doing. I'm very interested in what others are doing that's working for them because, hey, maybe what you're doing will work for me, too!

Let's talk about it

 

[bigsallysmom]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to pass it on to my spouse who has had fibro for decades.

 

[rvpopeye]

I studied psycho acoustics as part of my quest for a greater understanding of my work in the pro audio field.

My use was mainly using audio manipulation to make people to "hear" (feel) things that weren't actually there. It was quite effective.

I understand what is going on with these tracks and think the application of subliminal audio clues could easily work in pain relief as well.
I'll check it out.