5 Significant Health Benefits of Music

“Without music, life would be a mistake” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Ask someone what kind of music they listen to and you will get a specific answer, an eclectic answer or an, “I listen to whatever” answer. Interestingly, there have been some fascinating studies regarding music and how it may be helpful for a variety of physical and/or mental issues.

Most people do not consider music healing and would rather pop a pill to feel better, however, before you throw back a pharmaceutical fix you may want to throw on some tunes instead. These 5 significant health benefits of music could open a whole new world to the enhancement of your future health.

De-Stress

Stress is slowly killing us all but you may not be able to fit in meditation, breathing, solving puzzles or any other number of recommended remedies. However, music is an easy addition as you can get it going in your car or in your headphones during your commute.

Relaxing music such as some classical, new age, jazz, piano or anything else that does not present as too fast or too loud could help stress. These genres were used in a study published by PLoS One, a peer reviewed journal, titled, ‘The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response’ by a combined research team that concluded,

“Our findings indicate that music listening impacted the psychobiological stress system. Listening to music prior to a standardized stressor predominantly affected the autonomic nervous system (in terms of a faster recovery), and to a lesser degree the endocrine and psychological stress response.”

Take it Down a Notch

Hypertension aka high blood pressure can be the result of a poor diet and sedentary living. If you suffer from this condition talk to your physician and/or naturopathic doctor to see if music may help bring it down (in addition to lifestyle changes).

A 2008 study presented at the American Society of Hypertension’s Twenty-Third Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition reported that,

“The research, the first to examine the anti-high blood pressure impact of music listening on ambulatory blood pressure (ABP), documented that patients with mild hypertension who listened to just half an hour of classical, Celtic or Indian (raga) music a day for four weeks experienced significant reductions in 24-hour ABP.”

Fight Sickness with Sound

Music may boost your immune system. Specific, consistent musical tones could be a welcome addition to eating healthy and exercising to stave off illness.

Researchers at McGill University combined analysis of 400 studies showing that,

“…playing music, or listening to music, caused a boost in the production of the antibody immunoglobulin A and natural killer cells. Natural killer cells boost the effectiveness of the immune system and attack invasive viruses.”

Reduce Anxiety, Lower Pain

Children that were exposed to soothing music before surgical procedures had a significant reduction in pre-surgery anxiety as well as pain related to IV insertions and the like.

Lisa Hartling, PhD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta commented,

“There is growing scientific evidence showing that the brain responds to music in very specific ways. Playing music for kids during painful medical procedures is a simple intervention that can make a big difference.”

This effect has also been seen with adults suffering from not only surgical related anxiety and pain but also various psychological afflictions as well.

Your Music Personality

If you attach yourself to a favorite musical genre there may be a chance it is affecting your personality. In a study of 36,518 people performed by a researcher at Heriot-Wyatt University it was found that music taste can be linked to specific personality traits.

Here are a few results:

• Jazz, Classical, Opera – High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle, calm

• Country – Hardworking, outgoing

• Rock/Heavy Metal – Low self-esteem, creative, not hard-working, not outgoing

• Pop – High self-esteem, hardworking, outgoing, not creative, not at ease

If you continually listen to music, pay attention to how it makes you feel. You might feel more focused, open-hearted, dramatic, intimate, melancholy, creative, aggressive, or productive to name a few. Use music to your advantage by applying the way it makes you feel to tasks like your work or simply calming yourself down after a hard day. See if your musical choice may tap into these 5 significant health benefits of music and if you don’t have a choice, get listening to something today.