Virtual reality (VR) workouts have the potential to be quite efficient. Recent research has detailed how VR fitness sessions can help people with endometriosis deal with the discomfort associated with their condition.
Exercise sessions in virtual reality can be quite effective. A recent study highlighted the manner in which VR workout sessions can help endometriosis-affected women relieve their pain on a temporary basis. The study was released in the “Caring Futures” publication.
Roughly 10% of reproductive-age women worldwide suffer from the devastating condition known as endometriosis. The use of pharmaceuticals and surgical procedures is standard in pain management, but there is growing recognition that physical activity might help alleviate pain for many women. Dr. Joyce Ramos, an exercise physiologist and senior lecturer at Western Colorado University’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences, along with researchers from Flinders University’s Caring Futures Institute, the SHAPE Research Centre, College of Medicine and Public Health, and Western Colorado University, evaluated the efficacy of self-managed exercises delivered via virtual reality technology in light of the difficulties Australians face in gaining access to immediate face-to-face exercise sessions.
22 Australian women with endometriosis were placed into three groups for the study: a virtual reality exercise group, a telehealth exercise group, and a control group. Using a visual analogue scale, the intensity of their pelvic pain was determined (VAS). The results imply that both digital health interventions may alleviate the pelvic pain experienced by women with endometriosis, as the pain increases felt by telehealth and VR participants may not be as pronounced as those felt by the control group. According to Dr. Joyce Ramos, this is the first randomised, controlled study comparing the potential benefits of a single telemedicine consultation. It also includes a VR-delivered pelvic pain workout session for ladies with mild to moderate endometriosis.
According to Dr. Ramos, the research findings suggest that a single session of self-managed virtual reality (VR)-delivered exercise may be just as effective as a single session of monitored telehealth-delivered exercise for providing rapid relief from endometriosis-related pelvic discomfort. Consistent with the findings of a prior study, the new study’s findings indicate that a 10- to 20-minute VR session can relieve pain in those with chronic pain and endometriosis.
Based on the previous study’s findings, the VR group’s global pain scores went down by 36.7% compared to those of the control group over the intervention period. But it should be mentioned that in the study, there was no statistically significant difference in the levels of discomfort between the three groups. However, this pilot trial offers crucial data on the potential advantages of these digital health interventions and the viability of a bigger, more costly full-scale study evaluating potential future treatment choices, according to Dr. Ramos.
The ability of virtual reality and telehealth-delivered exercise therapies to modify pain processing in the central nervous system may account for their analgesic effects (CNS). Consequently, the brain’s ability to process pain is diminished when an activity that requires a lot of focus and energy is performed, such as strenuous physical exercise. Having a good digital health tool that people can use on their own is very important for people who have busy lives or who don’t have easy access to real-time medical care.
