Page 30 - Prevention (February 2020)
P. 30
W E L LN E S S
Natural Fixes
Sound Therapy for Pain
BY HANNAH CHENOWETH
ou’ve no doubt felt and frequencies has been
it: Whether it’s Bach growing. Essentially, sound
or Beyoncé, music and music are noninvasive,
Ycan elicit a variety simple, and cost-effective
of reactions in your body and therapeutic tools.
mind. Now some therapists
are using that concept to So what happens during
help patients combat pain. a typical session?
Here, Nada Milosavljevic, It varies according to the goal.
M.D., founder of the You might be asked to sit
Integrative Health Program or lie down in a quiet room
at Massachusetts General with soft, dim lighting. There
Hospital, CEO of Sage Tonic, are many ways to introduce
and author of Holistic Health sound—for instance, via live
for Adolescents, explains how musical devices, headphones,
sound therapy works. or Tibetan sound bowls. This
may be coupled with deep
First, what exactly is abdominal breathing, guided
sound therapy? imagery, yoga, or tai chi.
Sound therapy covers a range
of treatments, from music What kinds of
therapy to sound baths. Like sounds work best?
massage therapy, which deliv- It depends on the symptom or
ers healing through touch, it’s condition you want to target. If
a form of sensory therapy, and relaxation is the goal, the most
it has been used by various cul- beneficial sounds include ones
tural groups for centuries. The with depth and slow melodies
most prominent form practiced as well as songs with lower
in the U.S. is music therapy, but frequencies and slow transi-
the use of individual sounds tions. Nature sounds such as
26 PREVENTION.COM • F E B RUARY 2020
