Ongoing History Daily: Music for Surgery

I don’t know what you can do with this information, but if you ever must go in for surgery, you might want to keep this in mind. 

A series of studies have concluded that music played before, during and after surgery can reduce the heart rate, the level of anxiety and even the amount of stress hormones in the bloodstream.  The result seems to be faster healing.  Here’s where it gets complicated. 

As the patient under the knife, you don’t get to choose a lot of the music for the OR.  What you get is what the surgeon wants to listen to.  Even though you’ve been put under, you may SUBLIMINALLY remember 80% of all the sounds in the OR, including the surgeon’s music.  If you hate what’s being played, it may actually have a negative effect on your healing process. 

Bottom line?  Do what some patients are doing: request that the anesthetist strap on some headphones playing your favourite tunes just before he puts you under.  It may be good for your health.