Using Music Therapy as an Adjunct to Pharmacologic Therapies for Chronic Pain

Chronic pain affects more than 1 in 4 individuals in the United States. Many patients are being prescribed opioids to manage this pain, leading to an immense problem involving addiction, overdoses, and preventable deaths. Music therapy has been shown to provide “music analgesia,” improving anxiety, depression, and mobility problems associated with chronic pain conditions. The most benefit was seen when the music was known to the patient, the patient had a role in choosing the music, and when the music had a beat of less than 120 beats per minute. These promising results include a wide variety of chronic pain conditions and therefore have application for numerous patients across a spectrum of specialties within a variety of care plans. Music therapy has the potential to decrease the devastating effects of chronic opioid use and misuse that are becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States