Chronic pain sufferers are being offered virtual reality headsets in a UK first.
Around 50 patients with long term conditions have been using immersive therapy to step into another world where they are not concentrating on their pain.
Specially created simulation programmes that involve catching meteors, flying a kite or playing volleyball with a dolphin can be used by people wearing the VR headsets.
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And it has been so effective that some patients have been able to reduce their reliance on painkillers such as codeine, as reported by Need To Know.
Patient Emma Stevens said using the VR headsets has helped her manage her debilitating pain condition.
“When I was working with the headset and doing my therapy I wasn’t thinking about the pain,” she said.
“It just took me somewhere else where I could do things without discomfort.
“It is just so helpful.”
The software has been available in other countries since 2017 but physiotherapist Phillipa Newton-Cross, service lead for the Pain Rehabilitation Team at Torbay Hospital, Torquay, Devon, said her team is the first to use it in the UK.
She said: “We are the only NHS Trust in the country who are using CUREO VR therapy software to offer patients an alternative solution to chronic pain rehabilitation.
“For the past two years we have been exploring how we can improve the lives of patients using methods that avoid medication and promote movement and wellbeing by using VR immersive therapy.
“We have run one-to-one VR clinics with patients and have found some incredible results and benefits to health, including alternatives to medicated pain relief, and how new technology can help patients suffering from chronic pain, long-term health conditions, anxiety and low mood in new and innovative ways.
“This is bespoke software and we feel very fortunate to be the only NHS Setting in the UK that is using this particular therapy software to help people living with chronic pain.
“Working with pain is like trying to work with a central nervous system that is on high alert and hot-wired and alarmed all the time.
“It’s really difficult to move when you are like that.”
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust Chairman Chris Balch called the healthcare “cutting-edge” and said it will help medical professionals exam how people can tackle pain and anxiety through non-medicated pathways.
He added: “I am so proud of the Pain Rehabilitation Team for their energy and passion in driving this technology forward for the good of our patients.”
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