Could Virtual Reality and Fine Art End The Opiate Crisis?
Why medical experts are swapping pixels for painkillers.
Every day, over 115 people die by overdosing on opiods. Plenty of experts predict that this trend will continue to get worse. Death notwithstanding, the odds are that you probably know someone (or know of someone) that has become addicted to opiates (I know I do).
While there’s a plethora of research aimed at ending opiate addiction, there’s one aspect scientists haven’t been able to solve — until now, perhaps: pain.
People who are in pain from medical treatments or illness often have no choice but to use opiates. And, once you start, it’s hard to stop, even if you haven’t touched drugs before.
There’s one unusual treatment that’s showing a quantifiable drop in patient pain, however, and it relies on pixels instead of painkillers.
It all starts with shooting teddy bears.
At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA, the gurney often comes with a set of virtual reality goggles. Brennan Spiegel, director of Cedars-Sinai Health Services Research, is one of an increasing amount of medical experts combating pain with VR — and it’s having massive positive effects.
Recently, for instance, someone came into the hospital chocking. As a Gastroenterologist, Spiegel was prepared to start surgery, but upon closer inspection, told the patient to put on VR goggles, and transported him to a serene Hawaiian landscape. The ailment turned out to be a panic attack, and within a few seconds, the patient stopped chocking and felt better. Tears came out of the patients face, and they said “I’ve been thinking about my whole life in there. I feel like it’s spinning out of control.”
This is just one example of Spiegel ending ailments through virtual reality. When it comes to opiates, the method is also showing signs of tremendous success. Using a game called “Bear Blast” Speigel is giving patients in a clinical trial a chance to curb pain without addiction potential. The game is pretty simple: you try to shoot teddy bears using red balls. The results however, are very compelling: patients reported a 25% reduction in pain in clinical trials.
So, how does it work? VR environments like this distract your brain. By grabbing all of its attention, the game closes down pathways that would transfer pain signals from your peripheral nervous system. The more immersed you are, the less pain you feel.
The hospital has teamed with Samsung on this project, and they will continue to test on larger scales, trying to tackle everything from PTSD to spinal cord injuries. “We just completed a randomized control trial that shows you can decrease pain with VR by 52 percent,” Samsung Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Rhew told MobiHealthNews.
The Use of Fine Art
On the other side of the country, Montefiore Medical Center, in Bronx NY, is attempting to pair fine art, VR and pain reduction. They’re playing on the immersion aspect in a very big and local way:
Through the The Virtual Reality Fine Art Program and artist Tom Christopher, they’ve created expressionist versions of The Bronx and The New York Botanical Garden that you can walk through and explore. It’s based on real-life sketches of the area (complete with hobos and arguing couples), but it is filled with bright colors and abstract brushstrokes.
Testing is underway, and the center hopes the famous environments will make patients feel at home while reducing pain at the same time. It also offers control, says Tom Christopher, “people in pain aren’t in control of their illness, and they’re at the whim of doctors and others — this environment allows them to feel in control of one aspect of their life.”
Although there’s still a ways to go, virtual reality seems like a promising cure to the epidemic sweeping the nation. With Trump declaring a war on opiates, and even the Pope calling for creativity in medicine, this could be the answer.
Do you think this could help the crisis? Please leave a comment with your thoughts!
Check out LTProject.com to learn more about virtual reality art and its applications.
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