Musical Therapy’s Effects on Plasma Β-Endorphin Levels Post-Oral Surgery

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 4.7 million Americans rely on narcotic analgesics (NIDA).These pain killers are prominent in helping manage pain after surgery.Yet, current postoperative pain treatment is relatively expensive and has led to side effects and addiction.Thus, a more effective alternative treatment for post-operative pain management is needed, such as music therapy.This therapy includes a cheap, noninvasive, and non-pharmacological mediation that can lead to less reliance on narcotics for pain relief.Previous music studies relied on the VAS scale (i.e., scale of 1-10), an imprecise quantitative measurement of pain.However, a more appropriate quantitative measurement, plasma βendorphin levels, are unknown in quantifying the positive effects music therapy has on patients in post-operative pain.Our objective is to measure plasma β-endorphin levels following baroque music therapy and compare that concentration to patients' expressed pain levels following a third molar tooth extraction.An important variable that we will take into account is the amount of pain medication consumed following the tooth extraction in the control and treatment groups.By doing this, we will be able to quantitatively measure the aid music provides in reducing post-operative pain.This will lead to a safe and cheap nonpharmacological method that may complement narcotic consumption to better manage post-operative pain.