{"id":12682,"date":"2025-06-26T13:22:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T13:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=12682"},"modified":"2025-06-30T11:05:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T11:05:55","slug":"managing-chronic-pain-with-the-help-of-an-immersive-vr-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/chronic-conditions\/managing-chronic-pain-with-the-help-of-an-immersive-vr-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing chronic pain with the help of an immersive VR experience\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-12683\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/06\/26131419\/vicky-1750943659-Niall-ODriscoll-credit-Emily-Quinn-Photorgaphy.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/06\/26131419\/vicky-1750943659-Niall-ODriscoll-credit-Emily-Quinn-Photorgaphy.jpg 400w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/06\/26131419\/vicky-1750943659-Niall-ODriscoll-credit-Emily-Quinn-Photorgaphy-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Niall O\u2019Driscoll<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">CEO, ShineVR<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Virtual reality (VR) therapy provides a promising, cost-effective way to support patients with chronic pain issues, according to Niall O\u2019Driscoll, CEO of <a href=\"https:\/\/shine-vr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">immersive therapeutic platform ShineVR.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-can-you-put-ireland-s-chronic-pain-crisis-into-perspective\"><strong>Can you put Ireland\u2019s chronic pain crisis into perspective?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One study, involving our partner Professor Brian McGuire of the Centre of Pain Research in Galway, says that chronic pain affects 35% of the population at an annual cost of \u20ac5.34 billion, which is more than cancer and heart disease combined. This isn\u2019t unique to Ireland. Globally, chronic pain is a huge, complex, debilitating challenge. Plus, long-term treatment with opioids is problematic.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-are-there-other-pain-management-options-nbsp\"><strong>Are there other pain management options?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Already approved by the FDA in the US, studies have shown that VR can reduce a person\u2019s perception of pain and the level of pharmacological input they need. So, we are launching the world\u2019s first scalable, personalised, <a href=\"https:\/\/shine-vr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AI VR therapy platform <\/a>specifically to support people living with chronic pain. This Chronic Pain Distraction programme, which follows our Stress Reduction programme, is designed to give immediate relief to patients suffering from chronic pain; this will be followed by CBT-based programmes for longer-term relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-does-vr-therapy-work-nbsp\"><strong>How does VR therapy work?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s simple to use. <a href=\"https:\/\/shine-vr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wearing a VR headset<\/a>, patients can choose from different immersive environments, such as a lakeside scene, a meadow and a forest. They can then join various activities, including diaphragmatic breathing exercises \u2014 where patients can see a visual representation of their own breath \u2014 to reduce the physiological signs of stress. Essentially, the part of the brain that would normally be receiving pain signals is distracted by an immersive audiovisual experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Globally, chronic pain is a huge, <br>complex, debilitating challenge.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-have-the-results-been-nbsp\"><strong>What have the results been?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We piloted the technology with a chronic pain patient. It resulted in no pain perception during use and an average of 33% reduction in pain perception after use over a year. We\u2019ve also been working with Ann Marie Kiernan, a pain management expert, on a VR therapy institutional trial with around 400 patients, where we are seeing pain scores reduce by nearly 50% as measured before and after use.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-are-the-cost-benefits-nbsp\"><strong>What are the cost benefits?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Healthcare providers can offer access to <a href=\"https:\/\/shine-vr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VR therapy<\/a> for \u20ac1.88 per week, versus \u20ac8.16 per week for standard medication. To complement our inpatient use of a VR headset, we\u2019ve also designed a cost-effective \u2018Smartphone VR\u2019 version for outpatient use.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-the-future-of-vr-therapy-for-chronic-pain-nbsp\"><strong>What is the future of VR therapy for chronic pain?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re creating a series of VR cognitive behavioural therapy-style courses that train people to manage pain more effectively. We\u2019re also using AI to personalise the VR experience for each patient. As we roll the solution out, we work closely with healthcare providers to find ways to improve it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><div style=\"text-align:center\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-button ab-block-button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/shine-vr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"ab-button ab-button-shape-rounded ab-button-size-medium fb-pixel\" style=\"color:#ffffff;background-color:#eb9d2b\">Learn more about Shine VR<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virtual reality (VR) therapy provides a promising, cost-effective way to support patients with chronic pain issues, according to Niall O\u2019Driscoll, CEO of immersive therapeutic platform ShineVR. Can you put Ireland\u2019s chronic pain crisis into perspective?\u00a0 One study, involving our partner Professor Brian McGuire of the Centre of Pain Research in Galway, says that chronic pain &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/chronic-conditions\/managing-chronic-pain-with-the-help-of-an-immersive-vr-experience\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":12685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5977],"tags":[5978],"class_list":["post-12682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chronic-conditions","tag-chronic-conditions-2025"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/06\/26132135\/vicky-1750944094-AdobeStock_1491016987-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/06\/26132135\/vicky-1750944094-AdobeStock_1491016987-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"henryphillips","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/henryphillips\/"},"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12686,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12682\/revisions\/12686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}