[Music for rheumatism--a historical overview]

The history of the use of music to lessen the pain of rheumatism is seen in the use of musical therapy in medicine as a whole. Sources citing the use of music specifically in rheumatism are rare; often, rather than rheumatism, terms like "gout (podagra)" or "joint-pain" are mentioned. This is connected with the obscure and pathognomic perceptions of rheumatism. In the archeo-medicine and for primitive cultures the considered potency of music was primarily dominated by animistic thinking. In antiquity humoral pathology developed a philosophy that tried to explain the benefits of music, even for rheumatism, but found little acceptance. In the Middle Ages and in the Baroque period iatromechanistic conceptions determined music as useful in fight against pain. In the Romantic period there was speculation about music as a causal therapy, but it was shortlived. In the 20th century music is applied as an active therapy in the care of persons suffering from rheumatism; its empiric success as a remedy in rehabilitative and palliative therapy is recognized.