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Virtual reality and chronic low back pain.

Christopher Tack¹

¹Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

Disability and Rehabilitation. Assistive Technology

|November 21, 2019

Summary

Virtual reality (VR) offers a promising, non-opioid approach for chronic low back pain (CLBP) management. This technology may reduce pain through distraction, neuromodulation, and graded exposure, particularly for patients with fear of movement.

Keywords:

Virtual reality assistive technology back pain distraction graded exposure therapy neuromodulation

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Area of Science:

Rehabilitation Medicine
Pain Management
Digital Health Technologies

Background:

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a leading cause of disability, often unresponsive to conventional treatments.
Virtual reality (VR) presents an emerging, non-pharmacological strategy for pain management, including CLBP.
VR is a computer-generated simulation that alters users' perception of their environment.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the therapeutic potential of VR for CLBP.
To explore the mechanisms underlying VR's effects on CLBP.
To discuss clinical applications and ethical considerations of VR in pain rehabilitation.

Main Methods:

A narrative review of peer-reviewed literature.
Systematic search strategy employed for literature identification.
Data extraction conducted by a single reviewer.

Main Results:

VR has shown efficacy in reducing acute, experimental, and chronic pain.
Potential therapeutic mechanisms for CLBP include distraction, neuromodulation, and graded exposure therapy.
VR may be more effective for CLBP patients with kinesiophobia and higher immersion levels.

Conclusions:

Virtual reality is a viable alternative to opioids for managing acute and chronic pain.
The therapeutic mechanisms of VR for CLBP involve distraction, neuromodulation, and graded exposure.
VR's efficacy may be enhanced in patients with kinesiophobia and with greater immersion.