Sustaining an injury of some kind if you’re very active can be distressing, not just from a physical pain perspective but also from a mental health viewpoint, as well.
When you can’t do what you love and when you feel restricted mobility-wise, it can quickly take its toll on your general mood, putting you at increased risk of mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.
Luckily, there are various avenues you can go down in order to restore physical function and recover from injury – and an emerging approach to sport rehabilitation in the 21st century is the use of virtual reality (VR).
When we injure ourselves, our ability to process sensory information can be disrupted, but VR is able to influence this processing and motor sensory integration, modulating how the body reacts to certain information from the external environment.
The technology has actually been in use for a fair few years now, with the University of Alabama starting to use VR as part of its rehab programme for American football players in 2017. Here, games like Stack, Jenga and Tilt Brush were used alongside external proprioceptive or strengthening components to help support recovery.
Basketball VR sports games have also been found to be particularly effective for treating ankle sprains, with players making three-pointers with ten basketballs. The difficulty can be increased by having people shoot while standing on unstable surfaces, enhancing the proproceptive and strengthening factors, as well as focusing on single-leg balancing.
Playing these games can also prove to be a vital distraction from pain and help alleviate anxiety and depression levels that can manifest after injury.However, it’s vital that these resources are used as part of a full rehabilitation therapy package – with physiotherapy forming a key part of the approach. If you’re currently dealing with an injury and need further help or advice, get in touch with the Clear Physio team today.
