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 PAIN RELIEF WITH VIRTUAL REALITY




Imagine finding pain relief without ever reaching for a pill. That's the premise behind new research out of the University of Exeter, where scientists discovered that immersive virtual reality (VR) nature scenes can significantly reduce pain sensitivity—sometimes as effectively as medication.

The study, published in the journal Pain, involved healthy volunteers who were simulated to experience chronic pain using mild electric shocks on the forearm. Participants were then immersed in 360-degree VR films of forests and waterfalls, or shown the same scenes on a regular flat screen. The difference was striking: those who experienced the scenes through VR reported almost twice the pain relief compared to those who viewed the same scenes in 2D video, and the benefits lasted at least five minutes after the virtual experience ended.

The team, led by Dr. Sam Hughes, sought to determine if the well-known pain-reducing effects of being in nature could be replicated for individuals who can't easily access the outdoors—such as many living with chronic pain. "We've seen that nature exposure can reduce everyday pain, but there's less research on its impact for chronic pain," Hughes explained. "Not everyone can get outside, so we wanted to test whether a prolonged virtual nature experience could help."

Their results suggest that the more present and absorbed people felt in the VR environment, the stronger their pain relief. MRI brain scans confirmed this, showing that immersive nature scenes activated pathways in the brain responsible for modulating pain. In essence, feeling truly present in a virtual forest can coax the brain into dialing down pain signals.

The study involved 29 participants, each of whom underwent several sessions. In one, they developed pain sensitivity after electric shocks with no nature scenes. In others, they spent 45 minutes in VR exploring Oregon's waterfalls or watched the duplicate footage on a standard screen. After each session, they filled out questionnaires about their pain levels and how "present" they felt in the environment.

The findings were clear: VR nature scenes not only reduced the development of pain sensitivity, but the effect was most substantial in those who felt most immersed. The scans also revealed that people whose brains showed stronger connectivity between regions that regulate pain experienced greater relief.

Dr. Sonia Medina, a co-author, noted, "VR seems especially powerful because it's so immersive. The more someone felt like they were really in nature, the more their pain dropped. We hope this paves the way for more research, so one day, nature-based VR could help people manage pain in places like hospitals or care homes."

The paper, "Immersion in nature through virtual reality attenuates the development and spread of mechanical secondary hyperalgesia: a role for insulo-thalamic effective connectivity," is now available in the journal Pain.

This research opens up the exciting possibility that stepping into a virtual forest could be as effective as reaching into the medicine cabinet.

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