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Virtual Reality Therapy Is Feasible for Rheumatology Patients

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Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD, is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Medicine. She is a freelance medical and science writer living in Bloomington, Ind.

References

  1. Venuturupalli RS, Chu T, Vicari M, et al. Virtual reality-based biofeedback and guided meditation in rheumatology: A pilot study. ACR Open Rheumatology. 2019 Nov 11;1(10): 667–675.
  2. Ball EF, Nur Shafna Muhammad Sharizan E, Franklin G, Rogozińska E. Does mindfulness meditation improve chronic pain? A systematic review. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2017 Dec;29(6):359–366.
  3. Hoffman HG, Richards TL, Van Oostrom T, et al. The analgesic effects of opioids and immersive virtual reality distraction: Evidence from subjective and functional brain imaging assessments. Anesth Analg. 2007 Dec;105(6):1776–1783.
  4. Li A, Montaño Z, Chen VJ, Gold JI. Virtual reality and pain management: Current trends and future directions. Pain Manag. 2011 Mar;1(2):147–157. 
  5. Sharar SR, Miller W, Teeley A, et al. Applications of virtual reality for pain management in burn-injured patients. Expert Rev Neurother. 2008 Nov;8(11):1667–1674.

About Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD, was born and raised in eastern Kentucky, where she first cultivated her love of literature, writing and personal narratives. She attended Kenyon college, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, summa cum laude. She worked with individuals with psychiatric conditions and later in a neuroscience lab at the University of Illinois, Chicago, before graduating from Indiana University Medical School in 2011. Instead of pursuing clinical medicine, Ruth opted to build on her strength of clearly explaining medical topics though a career as a freelance medical writer, writing both for lay people and for health professionals. She writes across the biomedical sciences, but holds strong interests in rheumatology, neurology, autoimmune diseases, genetics, and the intersection of broader social, cultural and emotional contexts with biomedical topics. Ruth now lives in Bloomington, Ind., with her husband, son and cat. She can be contacted via her website at ruthjessenhickman.com.

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