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Baylor receives grant to study music as treatment for chronic back pain

Baylor
Posted at 4:52 PM, Jun 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-11 17:52:38-04

WACO, TX — Baylor University is receiving a grant to research music as a therapy for chronic back pain.

The Mind Body Medicine Research Lab is set to receive a $97,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Telemedicine will be used to study 66 patients who are over the age of 50 and suffer from chronic back pain.

"What we're looking for is to establish if music can be an effective treatment for chronic pain. What sort of drives this is most people are aware there is an opioid crisis in the United States and that individuals are encouraged to find alternatives to opioid therapies for management of chronic pain," said Gary Elkins, Director of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory.

The study is expected to last two years. Baylor University is matching the $97,000 grant to the lab to help pay for the study.