Music serves to soothe the pain

No child likes needles, and coaxing kids to remain calm while receiving Botox injections to relax tight muscles caused by cerebral palsy was stressful for parents in Bloorview’s spasticity clinic.

But an innovative program that combines music, visual arts and medicine is reducing children's anxiety, helping them find creative ways to cope, and cutting procedure times in half.

Armed with a guitar and a variety of drums, rattles and art supplies, Bloorview music therapist Andrea Lamont (above) and artistic co-ordinator Sarah Dobbs meet with families before the procedure to “assess what type of music will work well to distract this child and what pieces are soothing – whether there's a familiar lullaby mom and dad sing at home,” Andrea says.

Dr. Darcy Fehlings, the developmental pediatrician who leads the clinic, says the music intervention reduces anxiety in most children before the procedure and decreases injection pain in about 50 per cent.

Before the procedure, “they have fun, find instruments they like, make choices, make mom and dad play, conduct the music, and feel more in control,” Andrea says.

Children then take the instruments as companions when they get up onto the clinic bed and lie down to receive injections. “We let them know that it's okay to bang the drum hard when they hurt,” Sarah says. “Normally when a child is in a medical environment and makes a lot of noise, they're told it isn't good behaviour.”

Andrea, who sings and plays the guitar during the procedure, matches the child's emotions in her music. “I watch Dr. Fehlings and as the needle goes in, I increase the tension by going from regular sounding music to something like the Spanish or Middle Eastern idiom, or adding volume or texture and more tension in my voice. From a therapy point of view, when you're willing to match the child where they are, they feel the music is a partner through the procedure. It's telling the client 'I hear you and I recognize your pain, and I'll scream along with you.' When the needle is removed I bring down the tension and sing soothing, calming pieces and the parents give the child a hug.”

While Andrea sings, Sarah supports children by offering them ways to express themselves with a drum or rattle. “A child may feel trapped by their vision of how the procedure will be," Andrea says. “They may tell themselves: ‘It was terrible last time and I'm going to be in pain and there's nothing I can do about it.’ We help open the blinders by offering creative activities that promote problem-solving: ‘I can't do anything about the pain, but Sarah is offering me the shaker. I can do something. I can hold onto something and I can make the bells go.’”

Megan Perron, a nurse in the clinic, says the procedure time of 10 minutes has been cut in half since the introduction of “the music ladies. When the anxiety level is down and the child is cooperating and less scared, we can get the injections done in five minutes. They can hit the drum or bang the symbol to get their frustration out, and they know it’s acceptable to be upset by the whole process. They may still scream, but with the music, they lie still. The parents see the difference. When the child is calmer, everyone is calmer.”

A favourite instrument is a large ocean drum with a pattern of fish on the outside fabric and a clear plastic top. Inside are ball-bearings that move and swish as if in water when the drum is moved. “You can increase or decrease the intensity, so it sounds like a soft lapping of water or a big rush of waves,” Sarah says.

She notes that the arts are accepted as “an integral medical tool” at Bloorview and are increasingly used alongside traditional medicine and therapies. “In the 1950s the World Health Organization said that health had to do with the wellbeing of body, mind and spirit. The clinicians on the medical side can take care of the body, the child's physical needs. But the mind and spirits, those are fed by the arts.”