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Music can help ease anxiety at doctor's office

Undergoing a painful medical procedure is not a pleasant experience for most people, but it is even more trying for a child who doesn't understand why such an uncomfortable procedure is being done. Therefore, the child not only feels pain but is also scared and anxious.

One of the most common procedures that children undergo are venipunctures to obtain blood for various laboratory tests. In order to relieve some of the discomfort associated with a venipuncture, an anesthetic ointment or salve can be applied.

In a recent article another method was described that not only helped relieve the discomfort but also decreased the amount of anxiety. It's the use of music and a musician.

In this study, a group of children - before, during and after they were having a venipuncture performed - had a musician provide music and interact with them. In the second group, the venipuncture was done without the musician.

Both groups of children were observed to determine their level of distress and discomfort.

Results of the study showed that the distress and pain were significantly less in the group in which the musician was involved.

In the study, the musician did more than just provide music. The musician also talked to and interacted with the children, presumably making the youngsters feel more comfortable.

It's not realistic to have a musician present whenever a venipuncture is being done on a child. However, this study shows that at least one type of distraction - music - is helpful in making the child more comfortable.

Now we need to devise other more available and practical methods or distractions to ease the discomfort and stress that children undergo during painful procedures.

For starters, an explanation of what is going to be done and the reason for it should be given to the child. Granted, most younger children will not be able to understand these explanations, but they should still be informed.

However, even an informed child will become anxious when seeing a person they don't know approach them with a needle.

Therefore, although it is a daunting task, ways must be found to help alleviate the pain and anxiety associated with the performance of medical procedures - even if requires the services of a musician.

Dr. Murray Feingold is the physician in chief of the National Birth Defects Center, medical editor of WBZ-TV and WBZ radio, and president of the Genesis Fund. The Genesis Fund is a nonprofit organization that funds the care of children born with birth defects, mental retardation and genetic diseases.