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Pain Management
This unique and effective therapy is used in hospitals
and private practices around Australia. The system has been successfully
used in pain management across a wide range of conditions, including severe
burns patients, back injuries, migraine, shingles, general anxiety and
non specific pain syndrome.
Many people in trauma environments experience uncontrolled pain, despite
recent advances in pain management.1,2
During intense pain, opioid analgesia may not provide adequate relief,
so other pain management strategies need to be considered.
VRT has been used successfully in people with burn injuries , back injuries,
shingles, migraine, post surgical pain, neuropathic pain and other conditions
where pain is complicated by anxiety.
The system has been extensively tested and researched in clinical trials
and various studies in Australia and the USA, where it has shown a significant
reduction in pain perception, and reducing stress and anxiety levels.
The system has been in commercial use in medical practices across Australia
since 2005 and its use continues to grow.
Economic Consequence of Inadequate Pain Management
In clinical and trauma environments, many patients
experience or anticipate noxious stimuli from a variety of sources. For
example, burns patients exposed to short painful procedures associated
with daily wound care or dressing changes.
The pain sensation may cause or aggravate muscle spasm, constrict blood
vessels, and induce endogenous chemicals that cause or augment existing
pain.
According to Kestsumpun4,
the social and economic consequences of inadequate pain management are
considerable, since uncontrolled pain may interfere with a patient's ability,
or willingness, to resume daily activity.
Pain Exacerbates Disease Symptoms
Noxious sensations, or a feeling of imminent pain, will invariably cause
anxiety, so the patient develops an apprehensive uneasiness of mind that
exacerbates the pain sensation.
The way people cope with real or perceived pain, anxiety or stress has
a profound effect on immunity, wound healing, neuroendocrine and autonomic
activity,8 and personality factors, particularly coping mechanisms, may
exacerbate disease symptoms, perpetuate disability, and play a crucial
role in the progression and outcome of disease.
Cognitive factors are significant predictors of acute asthma mortalities,
and progression of viral and bacterial infections (e.g. AIDS), cancer,
heart disease and wound healing.9, 10,
11
Conventional pain management strategies
Opioid analgesia such as morphine provides a powerful, widely available
means of managing acute pain. However, drug addiction and adverse events
have been reported, including breathing and gastrointestinal problems,
nausea, vomiting, sedation and psychological disturbances.3,
4, 5
In addition, prescribing an accurate dose may be confounded by pharmacological
differences in the individual's response to opioids, and by the attitudes
of patients and health professionals towards pain management.6
During intense pain, opioid analgesia may not provide adequate relief2,
and other pain management techniques may be needed, such as sedatives,
analgesics, anaesthetics and nonpharmacologic strategies.7
In tubercular patients, many clinicians believe the prognosis is more
accurately predicted by psychological profiles (i.e. emotional, mental
and nervous states) than results of chest X-rays.12
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