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Can Sound Healing Help Reduce Chronic Pain?


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Chronic pain — pain lasting longer than three months despite treatment — affects around 1 in 4 people in the UK. For those living with it, it can be exhausting — it doesn’t just affect the body, but also sleep, mood, and quality of life. While many people turn to medical treatment, others also explore complementary practices for extra support. One of these is sound healing.


What the research is showing

Studies suggest that sound-based practices may help ease pain & the perception of pain. Scientists think this may be linked to deep relaxation, changes in brainwave activity, and the nervous system moving out of “fight-or-flight.”

Alongside this, the British Academy of Sound Therapy (BAST) conducted a two-year observational study involving 120 people living with chronic pain. I was fortunate enough to be part of the study team conducting this research. Participants attended either group sound baths or one-to-one sound healing sessions. My research was primarily focused on one-to-ones.


Reported outcomes from the whole study included:

  • 24% no longer experienced continuous pain

  • 12% reported complete relief of pain within 2–4 sessions

  • 18% reduced their use of baseline pain medication

  • 20% said they were better able to cope with daily tasks

These results are observational and reflect client experiences, highlighting that sound can be supportive — but not a substitute for medical treatment - and more research needs to be done, but this is promising.


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What our clients share

In our own sessions, clients living with chronic pain return regularly and report feeling improvements in comfort, sleep, and their ability to cope day-to-day, particularly when gongs have been used in the session. While each person’s experience is unique, these personal accounts echo the research suggesting sound can be a nurturing complement to conventional care. By lowering stress, creating space for rest, and encouraging relaxation, it may help people feel more at ease in body and mind.

Other research in music therapy and sound-based interventions is also showing encouraging results for people living with chronic pain — for example, studies in Frontiers in Psychology (2022) and Frontiers in Pain Research (2022) highlight how sound and music can influence pain perception, stress, and wellbeing.


If you’d like to explore sound healing in a supportive setting, you can see our upcoming group sessions here, or get in touch to arrange a one-to-one: foundinsoundappointments@gmail.com/ 07429 803097



References (click on the link to go to the source) :



 
 
 

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