Exploring the 'Pain-Dial' - A Virtual Reality Pain Reduction Technique

“疼痛拨号”是一种心理干预，旨在通过暴露、分散注意力和降低疼痛预期来“降低”慢性疼痛（CP）的痛苦体验。由于CP被认为是流行病，缺乏促进积极功能的干预措施，尽管疼痛是积极生活质量的障碍。允许远程访问的数字技术可能有助于克服这一点，并对个人产生更大的影响。催眠疗法中使用了“疼痛刻度盘”的概念，但其作用的确切机制仍然难以捉摸。这项建议有三个目标：（1）了解“疼痛拨号”减轻疼痛的机制，并讨论虚拟现实（VR）是否增强其功效。(2)通过实验诱导疼痛，在健康样本中测试“疼痛拨号”机制，通过四种传递方式，想象，VR，基于屏幕，模拟，加上控制。(3)了解一项随机对照试验检查“疼痛拨号”对纤维肌痛患者的疗效是否可行，并探索该技术的接受程度。这种方法的目的是被纳入现有的CP治疗，由NHS疼痛诊所认可，并作为进一步验证的基础，作为一种干预本身，同时支持VR治疗CP的未来发展。

The 'pain-dial' is a psychological intervention that aims to 'dial-down' the harrowing experience of chronic pain (CP)through exposure, distraction, and lowering pain expectancy. Since CP is considered epidemic, a lack of access tointerventions that promote positive function despite pain is a barrier to positive quality of life. Digital technologieswhich allow remote access may help to overcome this and make greater impact to the individual. The concept of a'pain-dial' is utilised within hypnotherapy, but the exact mechanism underlying its effect remains elusive. Thisproposal has three aims: (1) To understand the mechanisms of the 'pain-dial' to reduce pain and discuss whethervirtual reality (VR) enhances its efficacy. (2) To test the 'pain-dial' mechanisms within a healthy sample byexperimentally inducing pain, across four means of delivery, imagination, VR, screen-based, analogue, plus acontrol. (3) To understand if a randomised controlled trial examining the efficacy of the 'pain-dial' is feasible amongfibromyalgia patients and explore the acceptance of the technology. It is the intention for this method to beincorporated into existing CP treatments, endorsed by NHS pain clinics, and be the basis for further validation asan intervention in its own right, whilst supporting future developments in VR to treat CP.