Who needs drugs when you have videogames?

We recently told you how videogames are being used to cure migrane headaches, and now it looks like a similar approach is being taken to chronic pain.

It seems that virtual reality can offer as much relief as pain meds, and a Simon Fraser University professor is working to find out why.

“Controlling pain through computerized VR and biofeedback meditation therapies has the promise of providing successful, cost-effective alternatives to pain medications,” said Diane Gromala, founding director of SFU’s BioMedia lab. “There is a real demand for this kind of therapy.”

Distraction is the name of the game here. Their controlled experiments show that subjects fully immersed in VR report less pain than their drug-using counterparts. Man, I’ve got to try this game!

Gromala says that this also gives patients a way to gain some control over their suffering while waiting for treatment.

[Via Canada.com – Thanks, JR]