Music Can Calm You Down or Pick You Up

April 26, 2010

Listening to music can calm you down or pick you up. Playing the piano or an

instrument you played as a child is a great way to spend time, but your hands

may not work as well as before. If your inner child has always wanted to play an

instrument, try one. If you are musically gifted and have a good voice, join a

choir or a music group.

The respected founder of The Center for Integrative Medicine, Weill,

M.D., recommends that you turn off the news once a week. He calls it a " news

fast. " Listen to music, buy flowers, read inspirational books, volunteer. These

ideas come from a Harvard Medical School graduate and a renowned doctor who

believes that wellness results when you make time for art, keep in touch with

nature, and take deep relaxing breaths. If you believe in alternative medicine,

hunker down with one of his books.

So yes, when your neuropathy is annoying you, turn off the news on TV for a day

and stop those yammering newscasters. Put on some music and the atmosphere in

your house will change. In How to Talk With Your Doctor, Hoffman, M.D.*,

writes about the value of calming patients with music—pre-surgery, during

surgery, and post-surgery. He says music reduces pain, lowers blood pressure and

heart rate, and lessens anxiety and stress.

- If your neuropathy wakes you up and you are unable to relax at night—which is

often the case—choose calming music, such as a soft classical piece. If you need

livelier music to pick you up during the day, choose something like jazz or

rock.

- It makes sense to listen to the sounds you love, but once in a while

experiment with change-of-pace music.

- Get your favorite CDs, divide them into categories—calming or lively—and keep

them together in a special spot, so that you won't have to hunt for them.

- Hospice recommends that if you are feeling down or depressed, leave music on

in your home most or all of the time. Sometimes too much silence can be

deafening, unless you're meditating.

* Hoffman, L., M.D, How to Talk With Your Doctor. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic

Health Publications, 2006.

365 Tips is a weekly e-mail service brought to you by The Neuropathy Association

in cooperation with DemosHealth publications and author Mims Cushing. It is

based on and features excerpts from the new book, You Can Cope with Peripheral

Neuropathy: 365 Tips for Living a Full Life, by Mims Cushing and Norman Latov,

M.D., Ph.D.

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