Games ease pain

cheezwizz2000

I don't know how many people are aware of this, but I found this while procrastinating at work and thought "who better to appreciate this than the guys at Penny Arcade". So check this out:

Easing pain for burns victims using virtual reality.

Cool, huh?

Edit: Are there any other stories like this? Better question: Anyone have any experience of this or anything similar? I know this post really doesn't have much more than a "hey look at this", but it's kind of an important leap forward for pain management, rather than a picture of a cat with a melon on its head.

Bacon-BuTTy

I saw this today (also while procrastonating at work) and I think it's pretty smart and actually seems like it makes a lot of sense. It seems almost too obvious to work, but a snowy, icy enviroment in VR to distract the mind from burns pain? Makes a lot of sense to me.

I've recently suffered really badly with an abcsess in my gum and the pain was rediculously intense. To the point where taking pain killers did next to nothing. But I found that if I took pain killers and then played a videogame that required my concentration (in this case it was Counter-Strike source with some friends of mine) I forgot about the pain, forgot about the painkillers, stopped waiting for them to work and eventually I wasn't in any pain before I even realised it.

Mr Pink

Thats really cool. I know there have been times when I'm playing a 'snow level' in a game and felt chilly.

TheOtherHorseman

thought, mood, and imagination definitely have a huge impact on pain because of the way that the brain's pain pathways are wired up

which is another reason why child's play is so rad:

it isn't just a nice thing to do, it isn't just a way to give kids a method to pass the time while they're stuck in the hospital so they don't have to obsess over their problems

you give that kid a game and you're literally making them hurt less by cheering them up

Alfred J. Kwak

I imagine it has also something to do with taking your attention away from what occupies your mind.

Bacon-BuTTy

Apparently a large amount of pain reaction is down to pain related anxiety.

people who are allergic to anesthetics and the like are often just given lots of mood calming drugs and anti anxieties and nothing else, and it has nearly the same effect.