Hospitals Worldwide Adopt Music Therapy to Reduce Pain, Stress, and Opioid Use

Music is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool in hospital settings to help manage patients' pain and improve recovery outcomes. Nurse Rod Salaysay at UC San Diego Health exemplifies this approach by integrating live music, including guitar and ukulele performances, alongside traditional pain medications, leading to improved patient comfort and sometimes reduced reliance on painkillers. Scientific research supports these practices, showing that music, especially when personally selected and attentively listened to, can reduce the perception of acute and chronic pain and help regulate vital signs like heart rate and blood pressure. Studies from institutions like Erasmus University Rotterdam highlight that the effectiveness of music in pain tolerance is closely tied to individual preferences rather than genre, emphasizing the importance of patient choice. Beyond pain management, music therapy has also demonstrated benefits in intensive care units, including stress reduction, improved physiological stability, and enhanced emotional well-being, even for vulnerable populations such as premature infants in neonatal ICUs. Overall, music serves as a powerful complement to medical treatments by engaging patients emotionally and physiologically to support healing and comfort.