Using virtual reality to view nature scenes brings a pain-reducing effect in symptoms experienced by people living with chronic pain, a trial has demonstrated.
Researchers from the University of Exeter say the effects are particularly notable in those who felt more present in the moment.
Their findings led the study authors to call for more research into how exposure to nature impacts pain responses.
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The trial explored the effects of immersive 360-degree nature films shown using virtual reality (VR), in comparison to 2D video images.
Healthy participants were simulated with the type of pain associated with chronic pain symptoms, with researchers finding VR was almost twice as effective in reducing experience of pain.
The effect of nature VR was similar to painkillers and lasted for at least five minutes after the scenes stopped playing.
Study lead Dr Sam Hughes, Senior Lecturer in Pain Neuroscience at the University of Exeter, said: “We’ve seen a growing body of evidence show that exposure to nature can help reduce short term, everyday pain, but there has been less research into how this might work for people living with chronic or longer-term pain.
“Also, not everyone is able to get out for walks in nature, particularly those living with long term health conditions like chronic pain. Our study is the first to look at the effect of prolonged exposure to a virtual reality nature scene on symptoms seen during long term pain sensitivity.
“Our results suggest that immersive nature experiences can reduce the development of this pain sensitivity through an enhanced sense of presence and through harnessing the brains in-built pain suppression systems.”
Participants were shown the VR and 2D footage after receiving electric shocks to the forearm, with pain sensitivity monitored by the team.
They found that the more present a person felt when viewing the VR nature scenes, the stronger the effect of the pain-relief.
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Brain scans revealed that VR nature scenes can alter how pain signals are transmitted in the brain and spinal cord during long-term pain conditions.
Author Dr Sonia Medina, from the University of Exeter Medical School, said: “We think VR has a particularly strong effect on reducing experience of pain because it’s so immersive. It really created that feeling of being present in nature – and we found the pain-reducing effect was greatest in people for whom that perception was strongest.
“We hope our study leads to more research to investigate further how exposure to nature effects our pain responses, so we could one day see nature scenes incorporated into ways of reducing pain for people in settings like care homes or hospitals.”
Read more in the journal Pain.
