Apr 24 2019
Virtual Reality Therapy for Fear of Flying

Is your fear of flying preventing you from that vacation you’ve been dreaming of, or have you been unable to move up in your job because you refuse to travel on an airplane?  Virtual Reality Therapy may be the solution you’ve been looking for!

Amazingly up to 20% of Americans suffer from aerophobia, or the fear of flying. Some symptoms may include a racing heart, increased sweating, shaking, flushed skin, feeling disoriented, and an inability to concentrate. You may even have had an anxiety or panic attack when you were just thinking about flying. In fact, some individuals refuse to go to the airport to pick up friends or loved ones because of this phobia.

Whether you are a first-time flyer who is considering taking a trip, or you’ve tried to fly in the past and been unable to before due to your flying phobia, many individuals are finding help in the form of a virtual world.

Virtual Reality therapy exposes you to flying scenarios in the safety and comfort of the therapist’s office. Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, President of the Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) in La Jolla, California has been practicing Virtual Reality (VR) therapy for over 2 decades. She completed the first randomized controlled clinical trial in 1996 using Virtual Reality and biofeedback to treat patients with a fear of flying.  And the VRMC has been successfully performing VR therapy now for 23 years!   With a new set of skills on how to react differently and think differently about flying, followed by gradual exposure through VR, you can be taking flight in no time!  Most individuals with a specific phobia require on average one clinical intake session and 10 treatment sessions.  If you live in the San Diego area, you can choose to come once a week or twice a week.  If you are coming from out of the area, we can accommodate “condensed treatment” where you will experience one VR session per day, each day, Monday-Friday.

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Nov 10 2018
Top 10 Developments as We Move into Third Decade of Virtual Reality…

https://healthmanagement.org/c/healthmanagement/issuearticle/virtual-reality-clinic-a-case-study

 

The growing role of VR in healthcare.

How has VR developed and what potential does it have for future healthcare?

In the 1990s, there were no resources dedicated to virtual reality (VR) and behavioural healthcare – no journals, no clinics, no conferences, no training programmes and only few advanced technologies. Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a new exciting and challenging era of technology-enhanced behavioural healthcare…

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Nov 10 2018
Top 10 Developments as We Move into Third Decade of Virtual Reality…

https://healthmanagement.org/c/healthmanagement/issuearticle/virtual-reality-clinic-a-case-study

 

The growing role of VR in healthcare.

How has VR developed and what potential does it have for future healthcare?

In the 1990s, there were no resources dedicated to virtual reality (VR) and behavioural healthcare – no journals, no clinics, no conferences, no training programmes and only few advanced technologies. Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a new exciting and challenging era of technology-enhanced behavioural healthcare…

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Mar 18 2018
New Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Study Shows Oska Pulse Significantly Reduces Pain

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-randomized-double-blind-clinical-study-shows-oska-pulse-significantly-reduces-pain-300594128.html

CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Oska Wellness, a technology company committed to developing consumer health and wellness products, has released the results of a randomized double-blind placebo study showing significant results in pain reduction by using Oska Pulse.

The clinical trial was completed at the Virtual Reality Medical Center, Scripps Memorial Hospital, in La Jolla, Californiaand conducted by a respected team of doctors: Dr. Joseph Shurman, Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold, Dr. Roger Kasendorf, Dr. John Qian, and Dr. Mark D. Wiederhold.  The detailed findings have been published here, the Practical Pain Management Journal website, which offers current, useful, and practical information for patients living with chronic pain, and for the medical professionals who treat them.

“We were very encouraged with this trial and it has provided valuable information on how PEMF therapy can treat chronic pain,” said Dr. Brenda Wiederhold. “With the opioid epidemic, it is really timely to find other non-narcotic pain relief solutions for patients.”

“I am very excited as the study confirms that using the Oska Pulse is a true pain relief device regardless of the user(s) background.” Greg Houlgate, President and CEO of Oska Wellness. “Oska Pulse is providing relief for many early users of the product by helping to reduce back, shoulder, knee, ankle, and foot pain, as well as chronic pain issues. The feedback from this double-blind study confirms that Oska Pulse can really help people dealing with pain.”

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Mar 18 2018
New Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Study Shows Oska Pulse Significantly Reduces Pain

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-randomized-double-blind-clinical-study-shows-oska-pulse-significantly-reduces-pain-300594128.html

CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Oska Wellness, a technology company committed to developing consumer health and wellness products, has released the results of a randomized double-blind placebo study showing significant results in pain reduction by using Oska Pulse.

The clinical trial was completed at the Virtual Reality Medical Center, Scripps Memorial Hospital, in La Jolla, Californiaand conducted by a respected team of doctors: Dr. Joseph Shurman, Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold, Dr. Roger Kasendorf, Dr. John Qian, and Dr. Mark D. Wiederhold.  The detailed findings have been published here, the Practical Pain Management Journal website, which offers current, useful, and practical information for patients living with chronic pain, and for the medical professionals who treat them.

“We were very encouraged with this trial and it has provided valuable information on how PEMF therapy can treat chronic pain,” said Dr. Brenda Wiederhold. “With the opioid epidemic, it is really timely to find other non-narcotic pain relief solutions for patients.”

“I am very excited as the study confirms that using the Oska Pulse is a true pain relief device regardless of the user(s) background.” Greg Houlgate, President and CEO of Oska Wellness. “Oska Pulse is providing relief for many early users of the product by helping to reduce back, shoulder, knee, ankle, and foot pain, as well as chronic pain issues. The feedback from this double-blind study confirms that Oska Pulse can really help people dealing with pain.”

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Mar 2 2018
The Power of Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety

http://pain-practitioner.aapainmanage.org/doc/american-academy-of-pain-management/the-pain-practitioner—aug17/2017080801/#20

 

The Pain Practitioner interviewed Professor Dr. Brenda K Wiederhold, Chief Executive Officer of the Interactive Media Institute, a 501c3 non-profit, and President of the Virtual Reality Medical Center.  Please click on Pain Practitioner link above to read the 3-page interview.

 

Contact Information:

Email:  frontoffice@vrphobia.com

Wiederhold’s clinic uses the technology for medical therapy to help patients deal with PTSD, anxiety, phobias (like fear of flying and fear of driving), pain during medical procedures and chronic pain. She predicts more clinics using VR will pop-up in California and across the country within the near future.

 

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Mar 2 2018
28th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Integrative Pain Management

On Friday, October 20, Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold was an invited speaker at the Academy of Integrative Pain Management’s 28th Annual Meeting. As the “largest network of pain care professionals”, this conference exhibited the best practices and latest advancements in integrative pain management. Recent attention on the opioid crisis in America has heightened the awareness for nonpharmacological adjunctive pain care techniques. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as an innovative technological application for pain distraction.

Dr. Wiederhold’s presentation focused on the use of virtual reality as an adjunctive pain management tool. With twenty-one years of clinical virtual reality (VR) experience, Dr. Wiederhold shared her VR research in dental pain management, surgical pain distraction, and chronic pain management. Referencing less medication, less pain, and lower physician stress, Dr. Wiederhold cited recent surgical pain distraction publications that highlight the significance of VR’s health care capabilities. “In both gynecological surgery and endoscopic procedures, physiological indicators of pain were reduced in patients using VR distraction”, Wiederhold noted. The presentation concluded with a brief question and answer.

Contact:  frontoffice@vrphobia.com

Visit our YouTube channel for more information:  www.Youtube.com/VirtualMedical

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Jan 7 2018
Virtual Reality for the Attenuation of Pain and Anxiety

The Virtual Reality Medical Center and nonprofit affiliate, Interactive Media Institute, recently published the article, “Using Virtual Reality to Mobilize Health Care: Mobile Virtual Reality Technology for Attenuation of Anxiety and Pain” in the January Issue of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine. The article summarizes the use of virtual reality as a tool for pain distraction and stress reduction in patients. This tool has been used to treat phobias, stress disorders, distract from surgical pain, and help overcome chronic pain. As a mobile healthcare platform, virtual reality and related technologies are changing the face of healthcare services by increasing access, efficiency, and effectiveness.

For the full text, please visit: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8197481/

Please direct any questions regarding this article to Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold at frontoffice@vrphobia.com

 

 

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May 4 2017
Virtual Reality Assisted Anesthesia During Gastrointestinal Surgery

Surgical Research Updates journal recently published “Virtual Reality Assisted Anesthesia (VRAA) during Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy: Report of 115 Cases— Analysis of Physiological Responses.” The second report of this study focused on patients’ physiological responses to stress and pain during gastrointestinal surgery. Researchers from Interactive Media Institute, Virtual Reality Medical Center in San Diego, and the Alberto Pisanty Clinic, and Panamerican University in Mexico City participated. Results indicate lower heart rate and respiration rate (physiological indicators of stress) in patients using VR than those who did not.

These findings support a previous publication of self-report pain scores and highlight the usefulness of VR to reduce physiological responses to stress and decrease pain without medication. These findings have large implications in surgical practice moving forward. Reduced need for medication like anesthesia help lower medical costs, reduce the risk complications, and reduce patient recovery time.

 

Contact author:

Brenda K. Wiederhold

Virtual Reality Medical Center

frontoffice@vrphobia.com

 

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