Health

Listening to your favorite music could help reduce pain

By Mallika Marshall, MD

October 25, 2023 / 5:48 PM EDT / CBS Boston

BOSTON - If you're in the dentist's chair or recovering from an injury, jamming to your favorite music could help dull the pain.

Researchers at McGill University applied a hot probe to the arms of 63 healthy volunteers and found that those who listened to their favorite songs reported pain that was less intense and less unpleasant compared to those listening to relaxing music chosen for them, scrambled sounds, or silence.

They also found that music that produced more "chills" or elicited more of an emotional reaction helped numb pain.

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Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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