Got a headache or low back pain? Before your reach for a painkiller, you might want to try putting on your favorite CD. New research suggests listening to music can ease physical pain.

The Northwestern University study found that children and teenagers who choose their own music or audiobook to listen to after major surgery experience less pain than those treated conventionally, NPR reports.

The study involved 60 patients between 9 and 14 years old who were divided into three groups after undergoing various surgical procedures. One group heard 30 minutes of music of their choice, one heard 30 minutes of stories of their choice, and one listened to 30 minutes of silence via noise-canceling headphones.

Children chose beforehand what they wanted to hear. For the book group, it was stories like James and the Giant Peach. For the music group, it included songs by Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber for the younger kids, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys for the older ones.

The results showed that after a 30-minute session, the children who listened to music or a book reported less pain — in an amount deemed to be the equivalent of taking an over-the-counter painkiller like Advil or Tylenol — on a standard measurement tests, compared to the those who listened to silence.