Pain-free through virtual reality

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The applications of virtual reality are manifold and are now also benefiting our health. Virtual worlds are not only entertaining, they are also a wonderful distraction from reality, as some have already discovered. A few clever doctors are now taking advantage of the fact that our heads can be so easily distracted and put VR glasses on their patients during treatment. And lo and behold: it works.

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Pain is a matter of the head. If we are injured in one place, nerve cells receive the stimulus and send it via the spinal cord to our brain. Only there does the reaction occur and pain is felt as such. How much we suffer from something also has to do with our emotional state. If we are sensitised to pain beforehand, we also perceive it as worse. An experiment at the University of Jena shows how the perception of pain can vary.

[g1_quote author_name=“Thomas Weiß“ hide_author_image=“none“ author_description=“Professor am Lehrstuhl für Biologische und Klinische Psychologie der Universität Jena“ author_description_format=“%link%“ align=“none“ size=“s“ style=“solid“ template=“01″]

„Wir haben hier an der Universität Jena dazu ein einfaches Experiment gemacht: Studenten mussten sich Adjektive merken, danach haben wir sie mit einem schmerzhaften Laserhitzeimpuls stimuliert und ihre Schmerzwahrnehmung gemessen. Waren es positive Adjektive wie „freundlich“, „nett“, „angenehm“, dann waren ihre Schmerzempfindungen niedriger als bei neutralen Adjektiven wie „neutral“ oder „lang“. Studenten dagegen, die sich negative Adjektive wie „mörderisch“, „störend“ oder „brennend“ merken mussten, reagierten deutlich empfindlicher auf die Reize.“

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So how can virtual reality help us against pain? Quite simply, by providing our minds with strong, positive stimuli that not only distract but also change the emotional interpretation. It has been proven that this reduces our perception of pain by an average of about 24 percent, in some cases fear and pain even sing by a perceived 60 percent.

In the meantime, there are several companies that have specialised in reducing pain via VR. Apps are offered that have been specially developed for various treatments. While some focus entirely on immersion in a fun game world, others explain how the treatment works. At the Nationwide Children's Hospital, a special headset was even made for children in order to make it more comfortable for young patients to wear.

Sources: dasGehirn, SienceDaily, Applied VR, KHOU