Music may be the new painkiller: study tests tunes against cold water pain
NCT ID NCT07515196
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tested whether listening to different types of music can reduce pain and anxiety from a cold water challenge in 40 healthy young adults. Participants immersed their hand in cold water while in silence or while listening to music with different emotional tones and rhythms. The goal is to find which musical features—universal, cultural, or personal—work best to calm pain, with hopes of using personalized music in dental care.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- music listening
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a simple, drug-free way to ease pain and anxiety during medical procedures like dental work.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early study in healthy volunteers, not patients. The pain is from cold water, not real medical pain, so results may not apply to clinical settings.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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40 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Nov 2025
- Finished
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Jan 2026
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 35 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Healthy volunteers aged 18 to 35 years. * Ability to provide written informed consent. * Willingness to comply with the study protocol and attend the session. Exclusion Criteria: * Participants with acute or chronic pain. * Participants with a history of cardiovascular disorders. * Participants currently taking analgesic medications. * Participants with a recent wound on either hand. * Participants with a history of hand fracture. * Participants with dermatological conditions affecting the hand. * Participants with a history of frostbite. * Participants currently taking neuropsychiatric medications. * Participants able to keep their hand immersed for 4 minutes during the silence (control) phase of the cold pressor test.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Antonine University
Baabda, Lebanon