Virtual Reality--an adjunct treatment in pain management?

For anyone who has suffered pain--chronic or acute--at least some of us would admit that medications do not necessarily take care of all the pain, all the time. For that reason, many adjunct and/or alternative treatments have become known; there are still new ones being discovered all the time.

I never thought I'd be writing about virtual reality in the context of pain management--but it has become a reality! Several articles on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking website report that researchers have found that pleasant virtual reality experiences have actually been of benefit for patients with conditions such as chronic regional pain syndrome and fibromyalgia.

In thinking about this a few minutes, it actually makes sense--the virtual reality experience is truly a form of distraction technique. Who knew that SuperMario Brothers or Pac Man would actually become therapeutic? The good news is that once again, we see that pain management can truly be enhanced by incorporating non-pharmacological methods into treatment.

Sources: news-medical.net;liertpub.com; wikimedia,

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Everyday pain management ideas

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