There have recently been studies on virtual reality and its ability to reduce pain in Physical Therapy patients who have suffered from blunt force trauma injuries. Patients wear a virtual reality helmet and noise cancelling headphones to block their view and play computer generated noises and sounds. The patients then perform range of motion exercises.
In a case study, a man hit by a semi-truck was asked to perform his range of motion exercises without the use of virtual reality. While performing these exercises he experienced severe pain. The next day he was asked to perform those same exercises again, but this time with the use of virtual reality. The patient then rated his experiences; he rated using virtual reality as significantly less painful than the therapy without the use of virtual reality.
This article was interesting to me because it discusses a different type of pain medication. Although regular pain medications were still given to the patient, the virtual reality was still able to reduce his symptoms while trying to improve his range of motion. If the patient experiences less pain he can heal quicker than if he had to wait for the pain to subside. I’m curious if virtual reality will become a main form of pain management during physical therapy treatment in the future.
Author: Hoffman, Hunter G.
Title: Virtual Reality Pain Control during Physical Therapy Range of Motion Exercises
Database: Lexus Nexus
I thought that this article was really interesting, especially when the article talks about the patient experiencing less pain and healing quicker. However, i also wonder if this type of treatment will work for everyone and if it will be expensive? Hopefully they will offer payment options or maybe it will even be covered by insurance.
ReplyDeleteThis article was interesting to read because if you think about it, regular physical therapy focuses so much on where the pain is and trying to make it better. Having the virtual reality would take the mental focus out of the pain and into the virtual reality. Having a distraction from the pain always tends to help.
ReplyDeleteThis seems pretty cool. I wasn't able to find the original article, so I couldn't research it further, but I am curious as to how it actually works. Why would they feel less pain doing the exercises in a virtual environment? I suppose it would have to be based on the state of mind it puts one into, unless they simply aren't performing exercises the same way. Regardless, if it works, this could prove much more effective in the field of physical therapy.
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