Listening to your favourite music can ease the pain of a needle, Swiss study finds

Patients who listened to their own favourite music while having a needle put in their arm felt less pain than those who heard no music, relaxation music or Mozart, according to a study of 204 patients at University Hospital Zurich, published in Frontiers in Pain Research.

Four groups, one small needle

All patients were having a routine MRI scan that required a contrast agent through an intravenous cannula, a small but sometimes painful procedure. A quarter heard no music, and the rest listened to either their own chosen song or artist, music designed for relaxation, or Mozart's Sonata KV448, which earlier studies linked to reduced pain and stress.

Patients rated their pain from one to ten before the procedure, during it, and 30 seconds and two minutes afterwards.

“From the four conditions we examined, only favorite music and Mozart showed a positive effect.” — Dr Meritxell Garcia Alzamora, University Hospital Zurich, senior author

Favourite music helped everyone; Mozart helped some

The favourite-music group reported less pain both 30 seconds and two minutes after the needle went in. Mozart only reduced pain in patients who were already in pain before the procedure. Relaxation music and silence made no difference, perhaps because relaxation music is slow and quiet and easy to tune out, the authors suggest.

The hospital plans to use music more often for needle procedures before scans, especially for anxious or claustrophobic patients.

Short pain, small study

Lead author Dr Andrei Cristinel Dragnea cautioned that the needle caused only brief pain, and that a technician talking to patients could also have had a calming effect, although all groups had the same conditions. The team says longer and more painful procedures should be studied next.