98% of Us Have Earworms: How to Get Rid of Them

It happens to most of us at some point in our lives.

We get a song stuck in our heads, and it won't stop.  It just keeps playing over and over, sometimes making us crazy.

Usually, it's a segment of a song that is repetitive, and it can go on for hours or days. In extreme cases, it can take months to get it out of your head.  There's a medical term for this, and it's called "earworms".

Though it's not actually a worm, it's something that is stuck.  A melody, verse, or song hook can be associated with a positive mood, and every time you hear it, you focus on it, according to soundoflife.com.  However, earworms are more on the annoying side.

In fact, there's a streaming playlist called "Earworm Materials", with all the songs most often identified as earworms from various studies.

Earworms are not harmful and usually go away within 24 hours, but if the melody doesn't pass by then, you should seek a medical professional.

 There are ways to avoid earworms.  Try to listen to entire songs instead of pieces of songs over and over.  Chewing gum can help too, as unlikely as it seems.  Gum chewing can break the synapsis in auditory cortex of the brain.

Other studies, like kennedy-center.org, state that "people's memories for music are incredibly powerful".  For example, if someone said to you "Hey, Macarena", you would finish the song in your head and hum it.

Mindear.com reports that 98% of people have had earworms. Most of the time, they are benign, but distractions can help flush the earworms out.  Stress and anxiety can cause earworms, but managing your stress can help get that song out of your head.