The Effect of Binaural Beats on Pain Perception and Analgesic Medication Use in Patients Suffering From Chronic Pain

Aristotle University Of Thessaloniki

Status: Completed

Conditions: Chronic Pain

Treatments: Device: Music; Device: Music with Binaural Beats

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03160300

Binaural Beats Pain

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study evaluates the effect of binaural beats on pain perception and subsequent need for analgesic medication use in patients suffering from diseases causing chronic pain. All patients will receive two consecutive interventions: binaural beat signals embedded in relaxing music and placebo (relaxing music without the binaural beat component), in random order.

Full description

Binaural beats consist of two artificially produced sound waves, differing in wave frequency, presented simultaneously and separately to each ear. The brain, following binaural beat processing, synchronizes to the frequency difference between the two waves. Therefore, using a 5 Hz frequency difference (theta rhythm), which promotes relaxation, we could alleviate pain perception and subsequent analgesic medication use.

Patients suffering from chronic pain will receive two consecutive interventions: binaural beat signals embedded in relaxing music and placebo (relaxing music without the binaural beat component), in random order.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings will be used to confirm brain frequency synchronization, whereas pain severity scales and a diary recording analgesic medication use will be used to identify differences between intervention and placebo arms.

Enrollment: 21 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Chronic pain
• Regular analgesic medication use

Exclusion criteria

• Malignant pain
• Headache as the cause of chronic pain
• Hearing disability
• Neuropsychiatric disease
• Previous experience with binaural beats

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Quadruple Blind

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21 participants in 2 patient groups

Binaural Beats

Experimental group

Description:

Music with Binaural Beats: Binaural beat signals embedded in relaxing music, in a crossover design

Treatment:

Device: Music with Binaural Beats

Placebo

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Music: Relaxing music without the binaural beat component, in a crossover design

Treatment:

Device: Music