By: Laurie Edwards for Back1In the world of pain relief, specialists aren’t the only ones providing patients with new alternatives. According to student-led research, when young patients engage in distractions like video games they experience significant relief from their pain.
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Managing Pain
Medicine isn’t the only answer – distractions like video games and virtual reality games help pediatric patients tolerate and manage their pain.
Advantages of distraction therapy are that it lacks the physical side effects of pain medications, is reusable and is non-intrusive in the hospital or doctor’s office environment.
There is a difference between managing pain and ignoring it. Often pain is a clue that something’s wrong, so don’t be hesitant to track and report your pain.
Consult a pediatric pain management specialist to formulate a plan that best suits your child’s needs.
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“Our students found that these gaming distractions may be most helpful in children and young adults undergoing painful procedures or suffering from chronic pain, as these individuals comprise the largest gamer demographics,” said Dr. Bryan Raudenbush, director of Undergraduate Research and associate professor of psychology at Wheeling Jesuit University.
The study, presented at the school’s Annual Student Research and Scholarship Symposium in April, found that those patients who played sports and fighting games were able to tolerate pain longer than control subjects or patients playing other types of games. In total, six types of games were played by participants: Action games, puzzles, arcade games, fighting, sports and boxing.
“There are implications here for children, adolescents and young adults, all of whom are the primary users of such video games. Physicians could possibly implement this in their office to aid in distraction during a painful procedure such as injection or dental work,” Dr. Raudenbush said.
“Video games could also be used in waiting rooms to distract patients from upcoming surgical procedures,” Raudenbush added.
In similar findings, researchers in Australia found that immersing pediatric patients in the world of virtual reality reduced their pain.
“This study provides strong evidence supporting virtual reality-bases games in providing analgesia with minimal side effects and little impact on the physical hospital environment, as well as its reusability and versatility, suggesting another opinion in the management of children’s pain,” wrote the author of the study.
The study was published in a recent issue of BMC Pediatrics.
Researchers followed pediatric burn patients, who experience severe pain when their dressings are removed and their burns are cleaned. All of the patients were given pain medication, whose unpleasant side effects include nausea and fatigue.
Some children were allowed to play virtual reality games while their dressings were removed; others played the games while their dressings were reapplied.
Using a “Faces Scale” – no pain at all is represented by a smiling face – the children reported an average pain score of 4.1 when using just pain medication. When combined with the virtual reality game, the pain score dropped to 1.3.
“Pain is an emotional and sensory experience. When you use distraction, people generally don’t feel their pain as badly. This is the wave of the future for pain management,” said Allen Lebovits, co-director of the Pain Management Center at New York University.
There is no simple solution to relieving pain. The answer lies in combining medication, distraction therapies and alternative therapies. In the meantime, experts urge parents to work with their child’s medical team in advance to settle on a plan for distraction. They also recommend bringing a favorite toy or stuffed animal along to the doctor’s office to help ease discomfort.
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