Immersive virtual reality can help manage chronic pain – evidence review

What is immersive virtual reality?

Immersion into virtual reality is a perception of being physically present in an artificial environment. The user of the virtual reality system is surrounded by images, sound or other stimuli that provide an engrossing environment.

How can virtual reality help people in pain?

Chronic pain is very difficult to treat and long-term reliance on painkillers is far from ideal. Virtual reality technology is an up-and-coming approach. The new studies in this area (17 in total) found that virtual reality was able to reduce pain intensity in people with phantom limb pain, chronic headache, chronic neck pain and chronic low-back pain. The group that reviewed the evidence write in a leading journal that “virtual reality, especially immersive virtual reality, improves pain outcomes.” PS Did you know that Arthritis Digest Magazine is labelled the best UK Arthritis blog from thousands of blogs on the web ranked by traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness?