Defining Music Therapy . This book defines music, therapy, music therapy, and levels of music therapy. It also provides examples from music therapy literature, one of which is Music In Medicine. This author has found that music reduces preoperative anxiety and decreases the amount of medication needed for anesthesia.
Music helps awaken postoperative patients and reduces pain.
This study involved colorectal surgery patients. It compared patients who listened to music tapes three days before surgery, during surgery, and after surgery, to those who did not listen to music. The results indicated that the listeners experienced half the postoperative anxiety and used half as much painkiller. There were three control groups under study. Group one did not wear headphones, group two wore headphones but heard no music, and group three wore headphones and listened to music.