Need to Ease Pain? Try Listening to Your Favorite Music

Turn It Up: You don’t need a peer-reviewed study to tell you that listening to your favorite tunes puts you in a good mood or helps you run faster and lift heavier — though that phenomenon is indeed supported by science. Going further, a new study in PAIN Reports investigated how exactly music may reduce pain, looking for specific mechanisms that explain the positive effects.

The Study: Researchers analyzed data from 57 studies that looked at factors that could explain music’s effect on pain. They uncovered three key findings: listening to music you enjoy, listening to music you selected (rather than what someone else selected), and moving your body to the beat, such as engaging in the rhythm through tapping or drumming, all improved pain scores. Interestingly, they also found that listening to music you don’t like could make your pain worse.

Takeaway: Music appears to influence pain through multiple interacting brain and psychological pathways, but researchers say stronger causal studies — especially in people with chronic or clinical pain — are still needed.

Keep in Mind: Most of the studies reviewed involved healthy adults experiencing short-term pain in controlled environments, like submerging their hand in ice water. These results may not translate to chronic pain.