There are many different use cases for virtual reality. Especially in the healthcare sector, a lot of options are being tested right now. There is a good chance VR therapy can effectively help pain management, rather than having to rely on marijuana and opioids. If so, that would be a major breakthrough for this technology.
Pain Management and VR
It is not the first time scientists consider using virtual reality to deal with pain management. So far, very few efforts have proven to be really successful, but the research is still ongoing as of right now. Samsung is one of the key players in this field of research, as the technology giant is looking for new ways to bring VR to the masses.
Many different potential applications for this technology are being considered. Multiple patient-centric applications exist already, and their results appear to be rather promising. Especially when it comes to serving as a replacement for opioids and marijuana, the progress appears to be rather impressive.
While removing the need for painkillers altogether will be a challenge, experimentation is proving relevant. There is an ongoing opioid crisis in the US right now, mainly because so many adults struggle with chronic pain. The main prescription still comes in the form of opioids, combined with medical marijuana. It now seems VR will be added to that list fairly soon.
In the end, it all comes down to distracting the patient’s brain. While drugs and opioids do the job just fine, they also have long-term side effects which should be avoided. With VR, the long-term effects remain a bit unclear, thus additional research is needed. Even so, there is a general optimism when it comes to using VR for pain management.
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