Researchers have shown that listening to music may help patients recover from surgery by lowering their heart rate, anxiety, narcotic usage, and discomfort.

According to a meta-analysis presented at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2024 in San Francisco, music listening may help patients recuperate by lowering cortisol levels.

According to Eldo Frezza, a professor of surgery at California Northstate University College of Medicine, “patients may wake up from surgery feeling really scared and unsure of where they are.” “Music may lessen the stress associated with the transition from the waking-up stage to a return to normalcy.”

In contrast to some more active therapies like meditation or Pilates, which call for a lot of movement or focus, listening to music is a more passive experience that patients can incorporate almost immediately after surgery without much expense or effort, according to Dr. Frezza and the study’s co-authors.

The scientists narrowed a list of 3,736 studies to 35 study articles by analyzing previous research on music’s ability to aid in postoperative recovery.

According to their data, patients’ recuperation was significantly impacted by the mere act of listening to music after surgery, whether via a speaker or headphones.

The day after surgery, those who listened to music saw a statistically significant decrease in discomfort. Self-reported anxiety levels among patients decreased by around 2.5 points, or 3% across all trials.

According to the study, on the first day after surgery, patients who listened to music consumed less than half as much morphine as those who did not.

In addition, their heart rates were lower (by around 4.5 beats per minute) than those of patients who did not listen to music.

Shehzaib Raees, the study’s lead author, said, “We can’t say they’re in less pain, but the studies showed that patients perceive they are in less pain, and we think that is just as important.”