Overview: How Does Virtual Reality Help Rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation is one of the many fields that Virtual Reality facilitates.

Virtual reality technology helps in various ways to assist patients undergoing rehabilitation.

General Pain Relief

One of the issues that patients experience is physical pain. Virtual Reality immerses the patient into an environment that discourages pain and encourages recovery and improvement. Virtual Reality provides motivational feedback to the patient and helps them rise above their limits. Patients can also use Virtual Reality from their home, so they don't have to feel the stresses of being in a hospital. Another appreciated benefit in Virtual Reality treatment is reducing the dependence on opioids. Opioids have a detrimental reputation of being an addictive drug. This causes more harm than good.

Cancer Rehabilitation

In Cancer Rehabilitation, chemotherapy can invoke distress in some patients. Virtual Reality is capable of distracting the patient with visual and auditory elements. Virtual Reality also alleviates the discomfort by encapsulating the patients' mind in a positive environment. This leads to the patient's focus turning away from negative thoughts.

Parkinsons Disease

Virtual Reality is also helping patients with movement disorders like Parkinsons Disease. For example, Immersive Virtual Reality-based games are used to help people with impaired trunk control. The games adjust themselves to the patients, so it encourages the patients to keep trying to move the affected area. Ordinary Parkinsons medications and other rehabilitation techniques have a possibility of becoming obsolete in the future, due to the profound advancements of Virtual Reality.

Neurological rehabilitation

In neurological rehabilitation, Virtual Reality technology improves motor skills and balance in patients' postures. Neurological rehabilitation can be used to take care of patients who suffer from damages to the brain and spinal cord. Virtual Reality also helps with cognitive rehabilitation. Patients with cognitive impairments are treated through Virtual Reality technology. This can improve the patient's cognitive skills like problem solving.

Works Cited:

Kelley, Jeff. “VCU Researchers Are Using VR 'Games' as Exercise Therapy for Individuals with Parkinson's.” VCU News, 16 Aug. 2021, news.vcu.edu/article/2021/08/vcu-researchers-are-using-vr-games-as-exercise-therapy-for-individuals-with-parkinsons.

ScienceSoft. “Home.” Virtual Reality for Rehabilitation: Tech Overview, 2021, https://www.scnsoft.com/virtual-reality/healthcare/vr-rehabilitation#:~:text=How%20Virtual%20Reality%20for%20Rehabilitation%20Works%20VR%20system,rehabilitation%2C%20recovery%20from%20brain%20and%20spinal%20cord%20damages.

“Using VR in Rehabilitation - Benefits and Use Cases.” COGNIHAB, 2021, www.cognihab.com/blog/using-vr-in-rehabilitation-benefit/#:~:text=%20Benefits%20of%20VR%20In%20Rehabilitation%20%201,3%20%E2%97%8F%20VR%20In%20Cancer%20Rehabilitation%20More%20.

Hassan, Mohamed. "Doctor Injury Man." Pixabay, 10 May 2022, pixabay.com/vectors/

doctor-injury-man-patient-7186468/. Accessed 24 May 2022.