Music Therapy Can Help Lower High Blood Pressure
Hypertension is often one of the main concern of adults and the elderly. Health insurance, blood pressure monitors and medication are our guarantee to prevent it, but there is a new alternative in sight: music therapy.
Extreme emotions are a trigger factor for high blood pressure.
This is something that doctors always emphasize. Given that this is eminently an emotional factor, diet and medication cannot do much about it.
However, if we want to work on the problem from a behavioral perspective, music may well be an option that many people haven’t yet explored.
How can music therapy help us control hypertension?
It has been scientifically demonstrated that certain kinds of music have the ability to regulate and influence systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
This way, it can help prevent problems like hypertension, cardiovascular ailments and pre heart attacks.
- Slow rhythms and harmonic music can improve vasodilation by 26%.
- This also helps prevent heart failures and cardiac disease, especially when they’re related to unexpected mood changes, anger or other emotional causes.
However, not all kinds of music have the same influence on human beings. This is something that we can demonstrate for ourselves by listening to different rhythms and musical genres.
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Classical music has demonstrated positive effects
According to specialists, the effect of classical music on vasoconstriction has been proven.
Many experiments have been carried out in relation to this genre of music, which has achieved the best effects for regulating tension.
Classic works like “Serenata No 13 in G Major” by Mozart and “The Four Seasons” by Vivaldi have been subjected to scientific tests and the results are astonishing.
Of course, other styles of music can also benefit our circulatory system.
In fact, meditation music has set a trend in this kind of experiences and has been designed to work on behavioral problems and generate benefits for the people who listen to it.
This is a specially created form of music therapy.
We can experience the effects of music therapy for ourselves
It has been shown that stimulation like laughing, the environment or music have a determining role in our emotional state and influence our blood pressure.
However, the best thing is that we can experience this for ourselves.
To try it, the simple act of listening to a song you like generates an emotional stimulus. Plus, the effect is noticeable from the moment you put your headphones on.
Of course, not all musical styles have the same effects.
The same thing happens when we listen to a guided meditation or relaxation. Many of these use natural, gentle sounds that make us feel as if we were in calm, pleasant places.
In contrast, when we listen to rock or dance music, the effect tends to be the opposite.
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The relaxation effect
There still isn’t complete knowledge of this subject. However, some researchers in the field call this phenomenon the “relaxation effect”.
Freeing ourselves from stress and psychological and emotional strain contributes to preventing increases in blood pressure.
Music therapy has the ability to create a relaxing sensation. However, it isn’t the only way of doing this. Breathing deeply, taking a trip on vacation or lying on the sofa have similar effects.
Nowadays, researchers believe that this relaxation effect is the fastest way to lower tension naturally and without turning to any kind of medication.
Believe it or not, the most optimistic researchers believe that music could substitute medical treatment for hypertension, at least for some patients.
Read also: 9 Ways to Relax in 5 Minutes
A recommended relaxation exercise
If you feel overwhelmed by a strong emotion, or if the blood pressure monitor shows an unusually high level, it’s important to remedy it.
- First, the correct thing to do is to put on gentle music that you like with slow rhythms.
- To do this, you can go to a more comfortable room or space.
- Then, the idea is to lie down in a comfortable place and start breathing deeply while you listen to the songs.
- You should also gradually decrease the intensity of your breathing.
This way, you can combine several relaxation techniques so as to avoid hypertension and its effects on your health.
Music allows you to control your blood pressure…with no side effects
There are many benefits to this discovery. First of all, this kind of treatment helps us get results without having to deal with the typical side effects of hypertension medication.
Implementing this kind of practice can also bring greater quality of life to patients. Plus, it gives us other tools for fighting stress and tiredness. In addition, it even gives us time to release tension.
The best thing of all is that you don’t need much money to carry out your own treatment with music therapy. An electronic device, headphones and a cozy space are more than enough to get started.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Bruscia, E. Definiendo musicoterapia. Salamanca: Amarú, 1997.
- Calderón, M. “Musicoterapia y salud mental: prevención, asistencia y rehabilitación.” Revista de Investigación en Musicoterapia 1 (2017): 151-153.
- Ortega, E., et al. “Aplicaciones de la musicoterapia en educación especial y en los hospitales.” European Journal of Education and Psychology 2.2 (2015).