[Boudica]

A new therapy, called EaseVRx that is used to treat chronic back pain, has been approved by the FDA (America's Food and Drug Administration).

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EaseVRx includes a VR headset and a device that amplifies the sound of the user’s breath to assist in breathing exercises. It uses principles from cognitive behavior therapy, which aims to help people recognize and understand various thought patterns and emotions. The program addresses pain through relaxation, distraction, and improved awareness of internal signals, the FDA said in its statement.

The FDA authorized EaseVRx based on data from an eight-week study in 179 people with low back pain that had lasted six months or longer. Half used the EaseVRx program and half participated in another, two-dimensional virtual reality program that did not use cognitive behavioral therapy methods. Around two-thirds of participants using EaseVRx said they had more than 30 percent reduction in pain, while only 41 percent of the control group had a similar reduction. The reduced pain lasted for up to three months after the study for people in the EaseVRx group but not for the control group.

The VR system could be an alternative option to opioid medications for back pain, Christopher Loftus, acting director of the Office of Neurological and Physical Medicine Devices at the FDA, said in a statement. Research shows that psychological approaches can be effective treatments for chronic pain for some people, and proponents stress that targeting those components to pain doesn’t mean the pain is any less real. Still, cognitive behavioral therapy for pain is sometimes controversial and efforts to integrate it into standard care have been met with worries that it’ll be used as an excuse to pull people off needed medications.

It looks like there could be a lot of pros and cons to this therapy. I would also question the study as the article describes the study in a way that implies the VR therapy used CBT and the 2D therapy did not. Perhaps the result differences could be attributed to the program for the therapy, moreso than the VR itself.

[mothered]

The FDA authorized EaseVRx based on data from an eight-week study in 179 people with low back pain that had lasted six months or longer.
Around two-thirds of participants using EaseVRx said they had more than 30 percent reduction in pain

It's good to read some relief has been experienced.

However, I can confidently say It will have very little to no effect on those with a herniated disc Impinging the nerve root In the L5-S1 region.

[Boudica]

The FDA authorized EaseVRx based on data from an eight-week study in 179 people with low back pain that had lasted six months or longer.
Around two-thirds of participants using EaseVRx said they had more than 30 percent reduction in pain

It's good to read some relief has been experienced.

However, I can confidently say It will have very little to no effect on those with a herniated disc Impinging the nerve root In the L5-S1 region.

Good lord. I can't imagine that pain.

[mothered]

The FDA authorized EaseVRx based on data from an eight-week study in 179 people with low back pain that had lasted six months or longer.
Around two-thirds of participants using EaseVRx said they had more than 30 percent reduction in pain

It's good to read some relief has been experienced.

However, I can confidently say It will have very little to no effect on those with a herniated disc Impinging the nerve root In the L5-S1 region.

Good lord. I can't imagine that pain.

It's probably the worst pain anyone can experience.

Surgery Is the only option - laminectomy or a microdiscectomy.

[Boudica]

It's good to read some relief has been experienced.

However, I can confidently say It will have very little to no effect on those with a herniated disc Impinging the nerve root In the L5-S1 region.

Good lord. I can't imagine that pain.

It's probably the worst pain anyone can experience.

Surgery Is the only option - laminectomy or a microdiscectomy.

Gosh, imagining the recovery time. I doubt VR would help with that, beyond relaxation and maybe assisting with any related psychological trauma?

[mothered]

Gosh, imagining the recovery time.

Nowadays, recovery Is a lot quicker compared to 30 years ago.

In terms of a microdiscectomy, It's only one day In hospital as an Inpatient and around 2 weeks of rehab thereafter. All In all, 4-6 weeks to recover. Of course, It depends on the patient's age, existing medical condition(s) etc.

I doubt VR would help with that, beyond relaxation and maybe assisting with any related psychological trauma?

Good point.

I'd assume VR would benefit psychologically.

[Drako]

I didn't think I would ever be hearing the words "VR" and "treatment of chronic back pain" in the same sentence. But I guess anything is possible nowadays.

Another interesting use of VR that's similar to this, is relieving the terrors of sleep paralysis. A Youtuber by the name of SomeOrdinaryGamers uses VR to go to sleep in Minecraft. And anytime there's an attack from sleep paralysis, he wakes up peacefully in Minecraft. Without a single demon in sight.

[Boudica]

I didn't think I would ever be hearing the words "VR" and "treatment of chronic back pain" in the same sentence. But I guess anything is possible nowadays.

Another interesting use of VR that's similar to this, is relieving the terrors of sleep paralysis. A Youtuber by the name of SomeOrdinaryGamers uses VR to go to sleep in Minecraft. And anytime there's an attack from sleep paralysis, he wakes up peacefully in Minecraft. Without a single demon in sight.

Wow that is seriously impressive. Thank you for sharing this. I've heard of scientists looking into the relationship between sleep issues (like sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming etc) and people who play video games. Strangely, there have been a number of studies to suggest video games help. I would never have guessed it would help in this way. What an idea!

[Drako]

I didn't think I would ever be hearing the words "VR" and "treatment of chronic back pain" in the same sentence. But I guess anything is possible nowadays.

Another interesting use of VR that's similar to this, is relieving the terrors of sleep paralysis. A Youtuber by the name of SomeOrdinaryGamers uses VR to go to sleep in Minecraft. And anytime there's an attack from sleep paralysis, he wakes up peacefully in Minecraft. Without a single demon in sight.

Wow that is seriously impressive. Thank you for sharing this. I've heard of scientists looking into the relationship between sleep issues (like sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming etc) and people who play video games. Strangely, there have been a number of studies to suggest video games help. I would never have guessed it would help in this way. What an idea!

I dream very frequently when I go to sleep at certain times of the night. When I go to sleep between 12 AM and 2 AM, I can have 2-3 dreams in a night. I've found that it's very hard for me to lucid dream though.

[Boudica]

I didn't think I would ever be hearing the words "VR" and "treatment of chronic back pain" in the same sentence. But I guess anything is possible nowadays.

Another interesting use of VR that's similar to this, is relieving the terrors of sleep paralysis. A Youtuber by the name of SomeOrdinaryGamers uses VR to go to sleep in Minecraft. And anytime there's an attack from sleep paralysis, he wakes up peacefully in Minecraft. Without a single demon in sight.

Wow that is seriously impressive. Thank you for sharing this. I've heard of scientists looking into the relationship between sleep issues (like sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming etc) and people who play video games. Strangely, there have been a number of studies to suggest video games help. I would never have guessed it would help in this way. What an idea!

I dream very frequently when I go to sleep at certain times of the night. When I go to sleep between 12 AM and 2 AM, I can have 2-3 dreams in a night. I've found that it's very hard for me to lucid dream though.

Interesting. So have you never had that feeling in a dream where you've been able to actually steer the direction of the dream, or control it in any fashion?

I don't have a single night of sleep without a dream. I often will forget a lot of it within 10 minutes of being awake, but in those first few moments, I can remember a lot. I have extremely vivid, and unsurprisingly strange dreams. I also revisit places over and over that I've invented in previous dreams. I've never really been able to wake myself up from a dream, or become 100% aware that I'm dreaming, but I often can control the dream, or "take charge" of the direction it's going in. If something bad happens in the dream, I'm now able to fight back.

This could be a natural development as I've got older, or it could be attributed to more video game playing as I started playing more in my 20s xD