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Can a Virtual Reality Headset Help Manage Pain?

written by zhara france Jan 28, 2024

Virtual reality has become increasingly popular for people looking to escape their normal daily life. Devices like Oculus and Meta dominate the virtual reality space, but there may be more to this alternate world than people are familiar with. For years, scientists and physicians have been forging studies and clinical trials to bring virtual reality to the forefront of healthcare. 

Virtual Reality Explained

Virtual reality (VR) is a 3D experience that allows users to participate in virtual scenarios that feel extremely realistic. There are five different types of VR, but the most common is semi-immersive, which consists of wearing headsets that completely block out the real world and transport the person into a seemingly alternate universe. 

VR scenes can range from floating in space to fighting monsters. The possibilities are endless. Currently, people can hear and see within VR, but new innovations are pushing the simulation toward being able to capture the senses of feeling and smell as well.

VR is typically associated with gaming, but the experience is shifting towards helping patients who experience high levels of pain. 

Severe and Sudden Pain Management

VR is currently used as an effective treatment for patients with burn injuries. Ordinarily, burn patients go through a painful and repetitive recovery process. Their treatments include dressing changes, wound cleaning, and skin stretching, which have all been reported to be some of the most intense types of pain one can experience.

More often than not, these patients withdraw from their treatment due to the amount of pain endured during recovery. A large number of these patients also end up with post-traumatic stress disorder, loss of faith in healthcare, or may end up committing suicide after being discharged from their hospital care. 

Although pain relievers and opioids are used in treatment, many find them ineffective as the success rate is only 25% with burn-injured patients. Pain relievers can also give troubling side effects like stomach upset, hallucinations, addiction, respiratory suppression, and more. Finding non-pharmaceutical solutions for managing the pain of burn-injured patients is an important task not only for the patients but for the success of the healthcare team as well. 

How Does Virtual Reality Ease Pain?

Recent studies show that psychological interventions may reduce pain just as effectively as pain relievers and may even eliminate the need for pain relievers in the future. Interventions like distraction can be a way to reduce pain by blocking your brain from receiving pain signals. 

Distractions such as singing, hypnosis, story reading, deep breathing, and bubble blowing have been useful in pain intervention. These types of distractions are a method of cognitive behavioral therapy that is shown to reduce pain by 85%. VR headsets in pain management aim to be calming and mindful while reducing feelings of stress, anxiety, fear, and depression. 

Although distractions are a large part of assisting with pain, they are not the only reason VR works. Studies with fibromyalgia showed that VR causes actual changes in the brain that increase pain tolerance and interfere with how pain is physically processed. In these studies, VR also decreased feelings of helplessness and improved time estimation, proving that VR is more than just a distraction.   

Chronic Low Back Pain Relief

Although most VR applications in medicine have been used to treat severe acute pain like that of patients with burn injuries, clinical trials have proven to the FDA that VR may be effective in reducing chronic low back pain as well. Chronic low back pain affects over 64 million Americans every day, and opioids are among the most common treatments for this long-standing pain. With opioid dependency still on the rise, physicians are determined to find new ways to treat chronic pain.

RelieVRx is the first FDA-authorized virtual reality system for chronic low back pain. Studies concluded that, by using the device for 6 minutes a day over 8 weeks, almost 46% of patients experienced, on average, a 71% reduction in pain intensity. The effects of the device lasted for up to 6 months after patients stopped use. The new program also reduced the use of over-the-counter pain medication by 18%.

RelieVRx reports no significant side effects other than nausea and motion sickness with the use of the VR device. The device is an immersive experience that uses body awareness, distraction, behavior modification, and relaxation methods. Headsets must be prescribed by a doctor for in-home use but are used as a self-guided tool. RelieVRx claims to be user-friendly, reducing pain and promoting new adaptations in the brain.

Future of Virtual Reality in Medicine

Virtual reality in healthcare has been studied for over 30 years, and finally made a huge breakthrough in 2021 for chronic pain. Reducing both chronic and acute pain makes a compelling argument that this immersive metaverse may be an effective alternative to painkillers and opioids. The future of VR in pain management is unknown, but ongoing trials, emerging data, and patient testimonials suggest this modality has great potential. Although RelieVRx is the first of its kind, many more virtual reality experiences for pain management, like XRHealth, may be coming to fruition soon.

 

Written by Zhara France.

Edited by Ali Aljassabi.

 

References

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  4. Garcia LM, Birckhead BJ, Krishnamurthy P, et al. An 8-Week Self-Administered At-Home Behavioral Skills-Based Virtual Reality Program for Chronic Low Back Pain: Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial Conducted During COVID-19. J Med Internet Res. 2022;23(2). doi:10.2196/26292.

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  6. Capobianco A. FDA Authorizes Marketing of Virtual Reality System for Chronic Pain Reduction. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Published November 16, 2021. Accessed January 22, 2024. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-marketing-virtual-reality-system-chronic-pain-reduction.

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