As a complement to traditional pain relief tools like medication, listening to music may lessen acute or chronic pain related to cancer and other conditions, according to a new review.
“We have seen and observed this effect in multiple clinical settings such as medical hospitals and hospice-care facilities,” said author Jin Hyung Lee of Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea.
“In addition to all the clinical trials investigating the effects of music interventions on pain, we are seeing an increase in the number of music therapists who work in the medical and hospice care settings,” Lee told Reuters Health by email. “Of course, these professionals work on a variety of clinical goals in addition to pain management, but it definitely is one of the major goals.”
