Immersing in virtual reality (VR) nature scenes helped relieve symptoms that are often seen in people living with long-term pain, with those who felt more present experiencing the strongest effects.
Immersing in virtual reality (VR) nature scenes helped relieve symptoms that are often seen in people living with long-term pain, with those who felt more present experiencing the strongest effects.
A new study led by the University of Exeter, published in the journal Pain, tested the impact of immersive 360-degree nature films delivered using VR compared with 2D video images in reducing experience of pain, finding VR almost twice as effective.
Long-term (chronic) pain typically lasts more than three months and is particularly difficult to treat. The researchers simulated this type of pain in healthy participants, finding that nature VR had an effect similar to that of painkillers, which endured for at least five minutes after the VR experience had ended.
Dr Sam Hughes, Senior Lecturer in Pain Neuroscience at the University of Exeter, led the study. He said: “We’ve seen a growing body of evidence show that exposure to nature can help reduce short term, everyday pain, but there has been less research into how this might work for people living with chronic or longer-term pain. Also, not everyone is able to get out for walks in nature, particularly those living with long term health conditions like chronic pain. Our study is the first to look at the effect of prolonged exposure to a virtual reality nature scene on symptoms seen during long term pain sensitivity. Our results suggest that immersive nature experiences can reduce the development of this pain sensitivity through an enhanced sense of presence and through harnessing the brains in-built pain suppression systems’’
Read more at University of Exeter
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