Sound Therapy Health Article

Definition

Sound therapy refers to a range of therapies in which sound is used to treat physical and mental conditions. One of these therapies is music therapy, which can involve a person listening to music for conditions such as stress and muscle tension.

Music is one component of this therapy. Others use sound wave vibrations to treat physical and mental conditions. In general, this therapy is based on the theory that all of life vibrates, including people's bodies. When a person's healthy resonant frequency is out of balance, physical and emotional health is affected.

Treatment by sound waves is believed to restore that healthy balance to the body. Healing is done by transmitting beneficial sound to the affected area. The healing sound may be produced by a voice or an instrument such as electronic equipment, chanting bowls, or tuning forks.

Origins

Indigenous societies around the world have traditionally used sound in healing ceremonies, including drumming, hand-clapping, singing, dancing, and pulsating. The broad spectrum of sound therapy includes chanting, an activity long connected to healing and religion, and sounds of nature. Different sounds have elicited a variety of emotional responses and altered mental and physical states in people. One recent brain-imaging study found that spine-tingling music "lights up" the same parts of the brain that are stimulated by food, sex, and certain types of drugs.

For example, the chimes of a church bell pealed for such happy occasions as weddings and harvest festivals, and tolled slowly to announce a death. The connection between sound and healing was chronicled in 1896 when American physicians discovered that certain types of music improved thought processes and spurred blood flow. More advances in sound therapy came after World War II. Music therapy began in the 1940s, when it was used as part of rehabilitation treatment for soldiers.

During the 1950s and 1960s, sound wave therapy developed in Europe. The British osteopath Sir Peter Guy Manners developed a machine that treated patients with healing vibrations. The machine is placed on the area to be treated and a frequency is set to match the cells of a healthy body. Advocates believe that the treatment makes the body's cells vibrate at a healthy resonance.

By the 1990s, Manners had developed a computerized system with about 800 frequencies used to treat a range of conditions. Similar therapies are also known by names such as bioresonance and vibrational therapy. This therapy is used to treat such conditions as cancer.

After Manners developed his therapy, two ear specialists in France developed therapies that focus on listening. Dr. Alfred Tomatis' method and Dr. Guy Berard's auditory integration training involve the patient listening to sounds through headphones. Currently, the Tomatis method is used to treat conditions ranging from learning disabilities to anxiety in both children and adults.

From the 1960s on, interest in alternative medicine and New Age healing has led to a wide variety of sound healing therapies. These range from the ancient practice of chanting and the use of singing bowls to vibro-acoustic furniture. A person sits or lies on a chair or bed and music is directed into the body. Benefits are said to include lowered blood pressure.

Benefits

Sound therapy focuses on balancing energy to treat a condition. Advocates maintain that sound therapy is effective in treating such conditions as stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, and autism. Chanting and overtone chanting are used in therapy with Alzheimer's patients. This form of sound therapy is said to help with memory function. Some researchers think that music

memories may outlast some other types of memories because music involves many parts of the brain.

A newer form of sound therapy that is used with Alzheimer's patients is called multisensory or Snoezelen therapy. The name "Snoezelen" comes from two Dutch words that mean "to sniff" and "to doze." It was originally developed to treat disabled children by stimulating all the senses. Snoezelen therapy takes place in specially constructed rooms in which patients can, for example, produce music simply by walking in front of a sound beam. The sound beam, which looks like a microphone, "translates" the patient's movements into music. Other Snoezelen devices include fiber-optic cables that glow when patients wrap them around their bodies, and a chair that vibrates as it plays music through internal speakers. In this way, even deaf patients can "feel" the music as it plays. Snoezelen therapy has been found to reduce pain in Alzheimer's patients without the need for extra medication.

Physical conditions treated by sound therapy include pain during labor, muscle and joint pain like arthritis, back pain, sports injuries, soft tissue damage, and cancer.

The Tomatis method is used for conditions including dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Down syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, autism, depression, and behavioral problems. The method, also known as listening therapy, is used to help older people with coordination and motor problems. Furthermore, performers take the therapy to refine their skills.