Virtual Reality and Chronic Pain: The Future has Arrived

Virtual reality (VR) has been used as a pain treatment technique in some settings for decades. However, the cost of the technology has traditionally been out of reach for almost all practitioners. This has changed in the last year as the hardware has become affordable and the possibility of using VR in the treatment of pain in additional settings is now a possibility. This session will review the existing literature on the use of VR for pain. Then we will present the results of a recent clinical trial in the use of VR for chronic pain conditions. Finally, we will review some of the hardware and software options now available, and discuss the emerging options for frontline practitioners to help patients deal with pain without opioids. (Recorded at PAINWeek 2016)