Virtual Reality and Pain Perception During Exercises for Patients With Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain

The Influence of a Virtual Reality Environment on Pain Perception During Exercises for Patients With Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Immersion in a virtual reality environment has been shown to reduce pain during a variety of painful medical procedures, such as wound care for burn patients and dental care. Often, serious games are used to distract patients from this painful procedures. Recently, serious games have also been developed for patients with low back pain. Because patients with low back pain frequently experience pain during exercises, the investigators hypothesize that exercising with serious games can reduce the pain intensity and the time spent thinking of pain during exercises. To test this hypothesis, the investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial where two groups will be compared: the experimental group will perform one session of exercises with serious games, while the control group will perform one session of the same exercises without the serious games.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Chronic non-specific low back pain, with or without referred pain to the legs
• Age 18-65
• Able to understand Dutch
• A minimum pain intensity of 3/10 on the numeric pain rating scale at the time of the test
• Being familiar with pelvic tilt exercises

Exclusion Criteria:

• Spinal surgery in the past
• Pregnancy
• Serious underlying pathologies (e.g. multiple sclerosis, tumors,…)
• Signs or symptoms of nerve root involvement
• Known skin-allergy for tape