If you live with chronic pain, you may already follow a comprehensive pain management regimen that you and your doctor have mapped out. However, you may find that the treatment is not enough to give you relief and are looking for other types of therapy so that you do not have to increase your dosage of painkillers.

One type of treatment that you may want to consider is managing your pain with virtual reality (VR). There are a couple of benefits that come with incorporating at-home therapeutic VR into your existing chronic pain management plan.

1. Keeps You from Focusing Solely on the Pain by Distracting Your Mind

One benefit of using therapeutic VR to help with your chronic pain symptoms is that it helps to distract your mind. When you are immersed in the virtual world filled with soothing images and themes, it keeps you from focusing solely on your pain.

Understandably, when you have pain, you will notice it and concentrate on how it feels. This causes your muscles to tense up, which can make your symptoms worse. When you use VR therapy, your mind is occupied elsewhere, allowing your body to relax to relieve the tension that contributes to the pain.

2. Helps Trigger Feel-good Hormones That Serve as Your Body's Natural Painkillers 

Another benefit of using virtual reality as a pain management technique is that it helps trigger your brain's release of feel-good hormones. When you see and experience sights that make you happy, your brain sends a signal to your body to release endorphins into your system.

Not only do these endorphins increase your feelings of well-being and happiness, but they also act as natural painkillers when they stimulate the receptors of your nerves. This stimulation of the nerves by the hormones helps to lessen the pain that you are feeling while also helping your mind and body relax.

When you use virtual reality therapy to help manage your chronic pain, the life-like images and themes help distract your mind from focusing on the pain while triggering hormones that act as natural painkillers. With repeated use, you may even find that you need to take prescription pain relievers less often than you did before. If you are interested in learning more, speak to a doctor in your area about the benefits and process of adding in-home therapeutic virtual reality to your chronic pain treatment regimen. 

Reach out to a company like AppliedVR to learn more.