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charlene · 12-13-2009, 05:50 PM

"Years can go by when you're just making the same model over and over again, because that's what people want," says Duggan-Smith. "I knew this instrument was going to a special guy who can't just go out and get one like it at any old music store. It was a rich, deep relationship I developed with the guy, beyond just a customer. I contributed to him being able to play music again."

Over the past few years, Sihvo has had to contend with chronic pain, at least some of it neuropathic. (Neuropathic pain is thought to be caused by damaged nerves sending incorrect signals to pain centres. It's common in cancer patients as a result of a tumour having compressed peripheral nerves or as a side effect of chemotherapy.)

Music, he confirms, plays a role in managing that pain.

Many of us have found that listening to, or creating, music can help in troubling times. But modern science has increasingly found empirical evidence to back up music's effect on health.

Among other research, a 2008 Spanish study showed that listening to music prior to surgery reduced anxiety, heart rate and levels of the stress hormone cortisol as effectively as an anti-anxiety drug. And proving that playing music can be as important as listening, Parkinson's sufferers who took part in group music sessions involving pianos, drums and xylophones had greater improvement in their motor control than those in conventional physiotherapy.

Recently, Sihvo has needed music more than ever. In the spring, a CAT scan and subsequent biopsy revealed the cancer had returned after four years, and he began radiation treatment. He finished it in the summer, and so far the prognosis is promising. As usual, he regularly turns to music for both strength and solace.

"Music is definitely therapeutic," he says.

"I can play for three hours and it feels like I've been at it for five minutes. I don't think about the pain in my hands or my feet or pressures at work or anything else. If I didn't have that, I wonder what I would be doing.

"Music has been an absolute godsend."

12-13-2009, 05:50 PM	#2
charlene Moderator Join Date: May 2000 Posts: 16,004	Re: The Healing Power of A Good Guitar "Years can go by when you're just making the same model over and over again, because that's what people want," says Duggan-Smith. "I knew this instrument was going to a special guy who can't just go out and get one like it at any old music store. It was a rich, deep relationship I developed with the guy, beyond just a customer. I contributed to him being able to play music again." Over the past few years, Sihvo has had to contend with chronic pain, at least some of it neuropathic. (Neuropathic pain is thought to be caused by damaged nerves sending incorrect signals to pain centres. It's common in cancer patients as a result of a tumour having compressed peripheral nerves or as a side effect of chemotherapy.) Music, he confirms, plays a role in managing that pain. Many of us have found that listening to, or creating, music can help in troubling times. But modern science has increasingly found empirical evidence to back up music's effect on health. Among other research, a 2008 Spanish study showed that listening to music prior to surgery reduced anxiety, heart rate and levels of the stress hormone cortisol as effectively as an anti-anxiety drug. And proving that playing music can be as important as listening, Parkinson's sufferers who took part in group music sessions involving pianos, drums and xylophones had greater improvement in their motor control than those in conventional physiotherapy. Recently, Sihvo has needed music more than ever. In the spring, a CAT scan and subsequent biopsy revealed the cancer had returned after four years, and he began radiation treatment. He finished it in the summer, and so far the prognosis is promising. As usual, he regularly turns to music for both strength and solace. "Music is definitely therapeutic," he says. "I can play for three hours and it feels like I've been at it for five minutes. I don't think about the pain in my hands or my feet or pressures at work or anything else. If I didn't have that, I wonder what I would be doing. "Music has been an absolute godsend."