| Description |
Pain is ubiquitous in sport. Prolonged or reoccurring pain can lead to a host of negative consequences (e.g., isolation from teammates, feelings of anxiety, decreases in motivation). Previous research has examined how to decrease the perception of pain through psychological interventions (i.e., imagery, relaxation, and goal-setting). However, sport medicine professionals have indicated time constraints and lack of proficiency as barriers when implementing psychological interventions in the scope of a practice. Therefore, alternative techniques may be necessary. Research suggests that music is a safe, convenient, and easily implemented intervention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of music as a pain management intervention with collegiate athletes during an icing exercise. Using a repeated measure within subjects design, 50 athletes underwent an icing exercise once with preselected music and once without music. Perceptions of pain were measured prior to the application of ice, at five minutes, and at eight minutes after the application of ice. Additionally, assessments of relaxation, attentiveness to pain, and music enjoyment were collected at the end of both sessions. Hypothesis one stated that pain in the music condition would be less than pain in the no-music condition. No differences in pain emerged between conditions. Hypothesis two stated that athletes' pain in the no music condition would increase across time and athletes' pain in the music condition would decrease across time. There was a significant difference in baseline to 5 min pain scores within the no-music condition (2 (2) = 8.011, p = .018). Relaxation and attentiveness to pain scores had relatively low impact on pain perception (R2 = .034). Based on the results, there are no distinct conclusions as to which variable contributed most to the prediction of pain. Previous research has indicated that participants' enjoyment of music is a key factor when assessing pain. Consistent with previous research, a supplemental data analysis revealed significant impact of music enjoyment for the prediction of pain accounting for 10.6% of the explained variance ( = -.325, p = .021). These findings generate limited support for the use of music as a pain management intervention with athletes. |
