Effects of vibroacoustic music

The power of music: It’s a real heart opener

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By Val Willingham
CNN Medical Producer

(CNN) — If you didn’t catch the white coat and the stethoscope, you might take Dr. Mike Miller for a middle-aged rocker, roaming the halls of the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

For years, Miller, a research cardiologist, has been studying the effects of happiness — or things that make people happy — on our hearts. He began his research with laughter, and found watching funny movies and laughing at them could actually open up blood vessels, allowing blood to circulate more freely.

Miller thought, if laughter can do that, why not music? So, he tested the effects of music on the cardiovascular system. “Turns out music may be one of the best de-stressors — either by playing or even listening to music,” said Miller.

The setup was basically the same as with the laughter study: Using high-tech imaging, Miller measured blood vessel size as people listened to music.

The results did not surprise Miller. “The inner lining of the blood vessel relaxed, opened up and produced chemicals that are protective to the heart,” he said.

But when participants listened to music they didn’t particularly enjoy, Miller said, “the vessels actually began to close up.” 

That’s exactly what tension — or stress — does.

Long-term stress can wreak havoc on the cardiovascular system. Over time, it can cause blood vessels to stiffen and become rigid, constricting blood flow. As people get older, arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, becomes a problem. Constricted vessels can cause blood pressure to rise and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Stress can also suppress the immune system, contribute to infertility and impotence, speed the aging process and even rewire the brain, leaving people more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

But music can counter the effects of stress. “It gives us an overall feeling of good, well-being — a sense of euphoria in some cases,” Miller said.

A recent study out of Stanford University found elderly patients who were diagnosed with depression gained self-esteem and saw an improvement in their mood when they were visited by a music therapist.

In fact, many hospitals across the country use music therapy to help patients heal. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, uses music as part of its cardiovascular surgery healing program to “promote relaxation and reduce tension, stress and anxiety.” Because music helps these patients relax, it decreases their pain, improves their moods and helps them to sleep better, especially during recovery.

Miller has not only seen these same results in some of his patients who use music therapy, but he said he also believes music can be so relaxing that it can actually keep the body young. “We would like to believe that it may slow down the aging process,” he said.

But be careful what you listen to. Whether you like Beyoncé or the B-52s, Chopin or Johnny Cash, Miller found that listening repeatedly to the same tune diminished the music’s effects on the body. “You just don’t get that boost if you listen to the same song over and over again,” he said. “You need to vary your songs, so when you hear the song fresh, it brings back the sense of joy and opens up the system.”

So, the next time your boss gets on your nerves, or the kids are driving you crazy, or the car breaks down, don’t start pulling out your hair. Instead, turn on the radio, grab your iPod or pop in a CD, and let the music carry you away.

The Effects of Sound Wave Vibration Therapy on Motor Symptoms of Parkinson’s DiseaseThe Effects of Sound Wave Vibration Therapy on Motor Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

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Passive Stimulation for Parkinson’s Disease

Music therapy can reduce pain and anxiety in hospice pateints

December 2009 23:34

Add guitars and other musical instruments to the tools caregivers can use to help patients in hospice care. That’s what University of Alabama senior Sarah Pitts found when she brought her music therapy skills to patients in Hospice of West Alabama.

“We’ve gotten a lot of encouraging comments from families,” says Pitts, a music therapy major from Memphis, Tenn. “Sometimes families who hear us say, ‘Can you come and play a song or two?’ Even one session with a music therapist can reduce pain and anxiety in this setting.”

Pitts’ experiences in hospice care inspired her to research how students doing clinical practice in hospices react to the experience. She won the E. Thayer Gaston Award for outstanding student paper, and she continues her survey research with her mentor, Dr. Andrea Cevasco, assistant professor of music at UA. The resulting article is titled “A Survey of Music Therapy Students’ Practical Experiences in Hospice and Palliative Care.” Part of Pitts’ motivation for pursuing this research was the lack of resources she could draw on when working with hospice patients.

“In this particular area, there’s not a lot of research to go to as a student,” Pitts says. “The emotional component and goals are a little bit different from other clinical settings. You’re improving the quality of life or helping with the changing needs of the patient, and you’re also helping to provide closure and support for families. For students, it’s a very difficult thing to handle.”

Music therapy, taught in a four-year program with a six-month internship following coursework, combines work in music, psychology and other disciplines. It has many applications in a wide variety of environments and a broad range of clients, from premature babies to people needing physical or psychological therapy. The key is to get a patient moving or involved with the music, perhaps singing along or playing an instrument as the therapist plays on the guitar.

It might be that we have kids playing drums,” Cevasco says. “They reach and extend their arms out, which might help a child who has cerebral palsy whose muscles may be tense. Reaching out and playing the drum is fun and enjoyable, but the therapy also is important, because the child is using specific muscles that might normally be painful to use during physical therapy and daily exercises.”

The music therapy program has had a relationship with Hospice of West Alabama since 2007. Cevasco says one of her students came to her asking if she could work in hospice for her clinical experience, so Cevasco set it up. She notes that it takes a student with a particular interest in working with patients at the end of life to follow this path.

“I don’t force the students, but if they’re interested in it, we move in that direction,” Cevasco says. “As an undergrad myself, I never pictured myself doing any kind of hospice work. Personally, I wasn’t ready to deal with death and dying as an 18 to 22-year-old.”

Pitts chose to work with hospice patients because of a personal experience that brought her face to face with mortality.

“I’ve also faced death in someone my own age,” she says. “Last year, my brother dealt with a potentially fatal health condition. I understand you need someone to support you at that time. As a therapist, I can be there for people when they face very difficult times in their lives.”

Her work with the hospice patients varied; two clients became well enough that they could leave hospice. In one case, Pitts, at the request of a family who had heard her play did perform music while a patient died.

“The family requested a few songs, and I played straight through,” Pitts says. “I added a couple of songs of my own that I felt were appropriate. I felt like what she (the patient) needed was slowing-down music as her breathing slowed. I got to be there as she was dying, and we all got a chance to be a part of that.”

Patients in hospice care, depending on their illnesses, may or may not be able to participate in the playing of music for therapy, Pitts says. But music still matters. In her clinical experience, Pitts says she found a wide range of music to be helpful in working with hospice patients and families. Hymns, including “Amazing Grace,” are often requested, but patients frequently want to hear other styles of music as well.

“Typically, when we go in, I have a list of songs I know,” she says. “I prepare songs from different genres – hymns, show tunes, or sometimes songs from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, which may be from the patients’ young adult years. If the patient isn’t responsive and awake, I find out what the family wants me to play. If I’m in a situation where the patient is actively dying, I just play a few songs, and I’ll be a very passive member of the room. The family is just there saying goodbye, and I’m providing an atmosphere for that.”

The working with hospice patients – that element of saying goodbye – troubles young music therapists, Cevasco says.

“For all the students, they’re wondering how they’re going to deal with this relationship and this attachment that has developed with this patient and having the patient pass away — how they’re going to cope with this aspect of the job,” Cevasco says.

In the survey Pitts and Cevasco collaborated on, they note that students feared how they would cope when working with dying patients, particularly in how they handled “emotional attachments or relationships with clients, talking about the death and dying process and how previous experiences would affect current clinical work.”

The survey also asked students some open-ended questions about their own beliefs about the end of life. Finding out what those fears and beliefs are, Pitts says, may help instructors better train the students who plan to work with hospice patients.

“The students said it was a very difficult and emotional thing to do,” Pitts says. “Some people had done palliative care with children, but others didn’t realize that was what it was – that the patients died. They didn’t realize what the unit did.”

For Pitts, this kind of therapy represents a way she can use her deep background in music to help people. She ended up choosing to pursue music therapy in college, particularly once she became involved in the clinical part of the degree program.

“I grew up in a very musical family,” she says. “I had piano lessons, and I started singing in middle school and high school choir. . . . I found music therapy to be a nice mix of psychology and music.”

Cevasco says she admires the work Pitts has done, both with the research article and the therapy she provided the hospice clients.

“I was really surprised when she chose hospice,” Cevasco says. “I realized, and she realized, how great she was working with patients with mental-health needs in the previous semesters of her clinical work. I was very surprised, and I was so pleased with her and her work that she did with those hospice patients. It was beautiful the way she was able to work with the hospice families. And the beauty of her being able to play the guitar and sing and provide these families with what they needed and the patients what they needed at this critical moment of their life.”

Source: University of Alabama

Music Prompts Memory in Alzheimer’s Patients

Music Therapy stimulates cognitive functions lost to disease

(Newser) – Therapists and doctors who treat Alzheimer’s are now using music not only to soothe and entertain their patients but to restore some cognitive function. For decades it’s been recognized that Alzheimer’s patients can still remember and sing songs long after they’ve stopped recognizing names and faces. Now it’s thought that those tunes can provide a pathway back to memories otherwise lost. One claims intensive music therapy can lead to an increase of 50% on cognitive-function tests.

“By engaging very basic mechanisms of emotions and listening,” one caregiver tells the Wall Street Journal, “music is stimulating dormant areas of the brain that haven’t been accessible due to degenerative disease.” Another therapist says by singing along patients “are exercising their cognitive function—just like they are exercising in physical therapy.” They can even learn new songs, he adds, citing a colleague’s success with “Who Let the Dogs Out?” “I know they had never heard that one, but it became an anthem.”

SMART Lounge vs. Stress: The Battlefield Frontline

nexNeuro has the solution for America’s most stressful city

Chicago, IL – Long commutes, crowding, sinking property values and a high unemployment rate are just a few reasons why Forbes has ranked Chicago as America’s most stressful city for the second consecutive year.  While it’s up to each individual to take the time out for some “self-healing,” the SMART Lounge makes it fast and easy to rest, rejuvenate and re-center during the typical demanding work day.

The Stress Management and Relaxation Technology (SMART) Lounge is a vibroacoustic support system that provides audio and tactile stimulation to the mind and body. This therapy delivers “natural stimulants” in a passive and non-invasive process that exercises the brain and central nervous system. Special transducers are used to vibrate the body with optimal psychological and physical impact. Vibroacoustic music (VAM) resonates through the body’s nerves, skin and bones- an “inner massage”.

Eric Polcyn, owner of SpaceTime Tanks- the world’s longest running Floatation Center- sees the benefits of personal relaxation.  “Stress relief and therapeutic treatment are critical and essential to well-being… 80-90% of ailments link back to stress alone.”

That’s why SpaceTime Tanks has incorporated the nexNeuro SMART Lounge to its current practice of floatation and massage therapy, where they utilize the two tools to facilitate the mind, body and spirit.  “Here is an oasis away from real life,” says Eric, “the amount of effort you put into coming here is minimal compared to the benefits you get out… it’s about removing the obstacle- yourself.  Take a “vacation in an hour” and you’ll see that this is real life, not being stuck in traffic, at work or dealing with the stresses of everyday life.”

About SpaceTime Tanks:

SpaceTime Tanks has been providing “Floating” in Chicago since 1982 and today is the longest running Floatation Center in the world. To try out the floatation tank or the nexNeuro SMART Lounge, visit SpaceTime Tanks at 2526 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago or visit them on the web at www.chicagofloatationtanks.com.

About nexNeuro:

nexNeuro is a pioneer in a new culture of stress relief and mind-body rejuvenation at a time when the world needs it the most. Corporate employees, hospital workers, care givers, and military personnel all suffer from tremendous amounts of anxiety and emotional fatigue; but everyone endures stress in their lives. Regular use of the SMART Lounge provides passive neuro stimulation for individuals with progressive neurological diseases and disorders. This is proving to be beneficial for extending mobility, managing pain, reducing stress and helping patients recover from surgery with rehabilitative therapy.

nexNeuro SMART Lounge Relaxes West Chicago

SMART Bus Travels to Senior Circle of Wellness Event and Receives Outstanding Response.

West Chicago, IL – Vendors and passer byes alike got their first experience on the SMART Lounge last Friday at the inaugural Senior Circle of Wellness event at West Chicago Community High School.

The Stress Management and Relaxation Therapy (SMART) Lounge is a non-medical vibroacoustic mattress system that provides audio and tactile stimulation to the mind and body. This therapy delivers “natural stimulants” in a passive and non-evasive process that exercises the brain and central nervous system.

The rainy Friday afternoon turned out to be a perfect opportunity for newcomers of the Lounge to sit back, relax and feel the benefits of the sound therapeutic system- and the responses did not disappoint.

“I found myself all the way in meditation just after a few minutes,” said Gail Gauger, leading sponsor and Community Liaison of Alden Gardens.  “The soothing vibration and quietness really stuck out to me and the relaxation effect keeps coming back.  It’s so calming!”

Jodi Krause, event coordinator and Superintendent of Recreation for West Chicago Park District was also very impressed with her first experience on the SMART Lounge.  “I felt extremely comfortable and in a natural position.  It conforms to your body, is relaxing and rejuvenating… I felt at home.”

NexNeuro is proud to have been invited to the senior outreach and can be expected back for the event’s second program around the same time next year.

About Senior Circle of Wellness:

A community outreach put on for seniors looking for new ways to improve their financial, physical and/or emotional wellbeing.  A free event brought by The Friends of West Chicago Parks Foundation, Alden Gardens of Waterford and Alden Gardens of Bloomingdale.

About nexNeuro:

nexNeuro is a pioneer in a new culture of stress relief and mind-body rejuvenation at a time when the world needs it the most. Corporate employees, hospital workers, care givers, and military personnel all suffer from tremendous amounts of anxiety and emotional fatigue; but everyone endures stress in their lives. The nexNeuro System sessions include clients that require therapy to extend mobility, manage pain, reduce stress, rehabilitative therapy, for patients recovering from surgery and provide sensory stimulation for individuals with progressive neurological diseases and disorders.

Open House Looks to Open Eyes on SMART Lounge

Open House Looks to Open Eyes on SMART Lounge

Mesmer Wellness Clinic to showcase “must experience” tool for health and medical peers

Courtland, MS – Complementary healthcare specialist Dr. Carl Lindgren hopes to generate the same excitement he’s found in nexNeuro’s SMART Lounge at his clinic’s open house September 20th.  Social workers, nurses, doctors and other practitioners alike will be invited to experience the many unique benefits of sound therapy in its most complete form.

The Stress Management and Relaxation Technology (SMART) Lounge is a vibroacoustic support system that provides audio and tactile stimulation to the mind and body. This therapy delivers “natural stimulants” in a passive and non-invasive process that exercises the brain and central nervous system

Carl Edwin Lindgren, D.Ed. has over twenty years experience in complementary healthcare practice and research.  While his focus remains on pain relief and hypnotherapy, he has yet to find a remedy that produces the profound results like the SMART Lounge does for him personally.

“After using the lounge I have reduced my pain levels by a considerable amount… for up to two days at a time,” says Dr. Lindgren who suffers from fibromyalgia himself.  “I’m finding I can use less pain medication and there’s less muscular and nerve tenderness.”

The SMART Lounge system uses special transducers designed to vibrate the body with optimal psychological and physical impact. Vibroacoustic music (VAM) resonates through the entire body’s nervous system, organs, skin, bones, etc. The system also incorporates music (sound therapy) and brain entrainment.

The clinic’s grand opening will take place at 10431 Highway 51 in Courtland, MS (662.563.7554) from 2:00 pm till 4:00 Sunday September 20th.  While Dr. Lindgren has personally seen the results and is recommending the use of the lounge at least three times a week, he’s confident that after experiencing the SL others “will see the benefits of using this particular system for pain and other practices.”

About Carl Edwin Lindgren, D.Ed:

Serves as a complementary health care specialist in various fields including pain management, biofeedback, herbology, hypnotherapy and relaxation techniques.  Research includes working with the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe, membership in the International Association for the Study of Pain and fellowship in the World Academy of Art and Science.

About nexNeuro:

nexNeuro is a pioneer in a new culture of stress relief and mind-body rejuvenation at a time when the world needs it the most. Corporate employees, hospital workers, care givers, and military personnel all suffer from tremendous amounts of anxiety and emotional fatigue; but everyone endures stress in their lives. Regular use of the SMART Lounge provides passive neuro stimulation for individuals with progressive neurological diseases and disorders. This is proving to be beneficial for extending mobility, managing pain, reducing stress and helping patients recover from surgery with rehabilitative therapy.

New Moon Finds Balance: High Tech Meets High Touch

SMART Lounge Figures a Perfect Technology for Traditional Healing

Chicago, IL –Chiropractic, naprapathic and acupunctural rehab clinic New Moon Ancient Healing is taking a modern approach to traditional Eastern medicine by incorporating a SMART Lounge session at the end of their already beneficial treatments.

The idea behind New Moon’s practice is to engage patients’ posterior control, resetting the body and patterns- ultimately strengthening their non-conscious component and reinforcing positive gate and postural patterns.  After this is done, the mind needs to re-center, a perfect role for the SMART Lounge.

The Stress Management and Relaxation Technology (SMART) Lounge is a vibroacoustic support system that provides audio and tactile stimulation to the mind and body. This therapy delivers “natural stimulants” in a passive and non-invasive process that exercises the brain and central nervous system.

Dr. Freeman, owner and leading practitioner of the clinic finds the SL an ideal complement to his treatments.  “It’s the perfect tool to re-center with, by way of shutting off systems, normalizing and equalizing the neurological functions of the body… it’s something to experience.”

“It puts you in a completely relaxed state, you can feel a connection taking place with the physiology of your body-at the neuro level as well as the bio chemical,” said Dr. Barnes, fellow practitioner, who also sees the advantages of having the system.  “Patients are also finding relief with other ailments… it’s an added benefit.”

About New Moon Ancient Healing:

Opened doors in 1995 focusing on chiropractic, naprapathic, and acupunctural healing; specifically traditional Eastern medicine.  Rehab clinic specializing in reducing patients’ pain, educating on their personal health and bringing them to an optimal well-being.  Located at 2144 S Archer Ave, Chicago, IL (312.326.9160).

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About nexNeuro:

nexNeuro is a pioneer in a new culture of stress relief and mind-body rejuvenation at a time when the world needs it the most. Corporate employees, hospital workers, care givers, and military personnel all suffer from tremendous amounts of anxiety and emotional fatigue; but everyone endures stress in their lives. Regular use of the SMART Lounge provides passive neuro stimulation for individuals with progressive neurological diseases and disorders. This is proving to be beneficial for extending mobility, managing pain, reducing stress and helping patients recover from surgery with rehabilitative therapy.