Playing a wind instrument to control a breathing disorder seems a bit counterintuitive…that’s until you visit The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center. Experts there are showing patients just how therapeutic music can be for maintaining respiratory health.
According to Joanne Loewy, DA, MT-BC, LCAT, Director of the Center for Music and Medicine, music therapy uses the connection between music and mood to help regulate a patient’s heart rate and blood pressure, by stabilizing the breath through increasing a relaxation response.
“Music therapy treats the medical symptoms that come with poor pulmonary function and, at the same time, enhances adherence to awareness of those symptoms. Music therapy also naturally and creatively addresses the emotional components of healing, such as resilience and coping,” she says.
How music heals
People suffering from chronic lung conditions, whether it be asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema have one commonality: breathing can be difficult. Music therapy can be helpful for patients with respiratory complications in two ways:
- Patients who learn to play wind instruments can build lung capacity and gain better awareness and control of their breathing.
- Organized sound and rhythm can relax the body and, in turn, stabilize breathing rates and reduce anxiety.
“Rather than confining treatment to using an inhaler or taking medicine, we’re using music therapy to teach people how to use their breath when they start to have symptoms,” explains Bernardo Canga, Coordinator of the Advances in Respiration (AIR) Program. Here’s an example:
Rachel has chronic asthma and often relied on a quick-relief inhaler to deal with shortness of breath. Twice per week, she attends a music therapy session at the Center for Music and Medicine where she practices playing a few notes and then an Irish folk melody on a recorder with guidance from a music therapist. Each note she plays requires her to inhale and exhale at different intervals.
After several sessions, Rachel learns how to control her breathing rhythm without the instrument. Now, when she feels short of breath, she uses the breathing techniques learned in music therapy to stay calm and draw in oxygen rather than reach for her inhaler.
“When you blow into a wind instrument, you’re integrating your breathing with your heart rate, not to mention creating something beautiful with your air,” Loewy says. “Soon after these patients begin playing music, they feel more in control, which is something they often feel they have lost when they have trouble breathing.”
What you can expect
The Center for Music and Medicine offers sessions where you can learn the technique and get feedback from a music therapist. Once you learn how to use the breathing techniques effectively, you can try it whenever it’s convenient. Typical sessions might involve music listening, guided visualization, structured songs, song writing or music-assisted relaxation.
Although music therapy doesn’t require a doctor’s referral, Loewy says it can be integrated as part of a traditional treatment plan set by the patient’s primary care team. “Our goal as part of the care team is to keep the lungs healthy and strong and avoid a crisis,” Loewy says.
Learn more about music and medicine by visiting MusicandMedicine.org, or visit us on Facebook at The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine. You can also find a doctor who can evaluate your respiratory symptoms by visiting chpnyc.org or calling 1-855-411-LWNY (5969).
Find out how you can enroll in music in medicine research studies by following the links below:
- Asthma Initiative Program for children and teens with asthma.
- Music for AIR for adults with COPD.
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