04-19-2011, 10:24 PM
Pain relief â it is just an illusion
It was supposed to be a trick of the mind to entertain the crowds.
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent 7:00PM BST 14 Apr 2011 8 Comments
But a visual illusion that gives the impression your hand is being massaged could actually turn out to be an effective treatment for arthritis.
Researchers at the University of Nottingham demonstrating the trick at an open day were amazed when a number of pensioners told how it had miraculously reduced the pain in their joints.
The computer simulation was later tested on a sample of sufferers and in 85 per cent of cases it reduced their pain by 50 per cent.
The discovery was made by chance during a community open day at the university when visitors were invited to experience some of the body distortion illusions used in every day research.
A person places their hand inside a box containing a camera, which then projects the image in real-time onto a screen in front of them.
The subject then sees their fingers being apparently stretched and shrunk by someone gently pushing and pulling from the other side of the box.
It is supposed to just trick the mind into thinking your hand is being massaged â but it had the added bonus of relieving the pain of arthritis.
Dr Catherine Preston, co-researcher who is now at Nottingham Trent University, said an elderly woman tried out the illusion.
"We were giving her a practical demonstration of illusory finger stretching when she announced: 'My finger doesn't hurt any more!' and asked whether she could take the machine home with her!", she said.
"We were just stunned â I don't know who was more surprised, her or us!"
Twenty elderly osteoarthritis sufferers with pain in their hands or fingers and not using medications were then recruited to test the machine, called Mirage, and asked to rate their pain on a 21-point scale, with 0 indicating no pain and 20 representing the most unbearable imaginable.
The results, to be published in the journal Rheumatology, showed a marked reduction in pain â on average halving the discomfort for 85 per cent of volunteers.
Around one million people consult their GPs about osteoarthritis every year â mostly people aged over 50 who are more prone to developing the disease.
There is currently no cure for osteoarthritis but the symptoms can be managed by a range of treatments including painkillers and physiotherapy â although pain can be a barrier to sufferers trying to exercise and keep joints mobile.
The researchers are hopeful their finding could be the first step towards new technologies for physiotherapy, allowing health professionals to reduce the pain for sufferers while exercising their joints.
Arthritis Research UK said a simple optical illusion that can halve pain without the need for drugs has "a lot of potential".
The charity's medical director Professor Alan Silman said: "Although this research is in the very early stages and further work needs to be done, it's clearly an area with a lot of future potential and one which we're also investigating."
X Share & bookmark
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz What are these? Share: Share
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8451857/Pain-relief-it-is-just-an-illusion.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... usion.html</a><!-- m -->
Telegraph
Health News
News »UK News »Science »Science News »Health »In health
Pollen grains up close
Wolf child
From Drugs to Mugs
The end of BSE
Amazing dog smells diabetic emergencies X Share & bookmark
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz What are these?
It was supposed to be a trick of the mind to entertain the crowds.
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent 7:00PM BST 14 Apr 2011 8 Comments
But a visual illusion that gives the impression your hand is being massaged could actually turn out to be an effective treatment for arthritis.
Researchers at the University of Nottingham demonstrating the trick at an open day were amazed when a number of pensioners told how it had miraculously reduced the pain in their joints.
The computer simulation was later tested on a sample of sufferers and in 85 per cent of cases it reduced their pain by 50 per cent.
The discovery was made by chance during a community open day at the university when visitors were invited to experience some of the body distortion illusions used in every day research.
A person places their hand inside a box containing a camera, which then projects the image in real-time onto a screen in front of them.
The subject then sees their fingers being apparently stretched and shrunk by someone gently pushing and pulling from the other side of the box.
It is supposed to just trick the mind into thinking your hand is being massaged â but it had the added bonus of relieving the pain of arthritis.
Dr Catherine Preston, co-researcher who is now at Nottingham Trent University, said an elderly woman tried out the illusion.
"We were giving her a practical demonstration of illusory finger stretching when she announced: 'My finger doesn't hurt any more!' and asked whether she could take the machine home with her!", she said.
"We were just stunned â I don't know who was more surprised, her or us!"
Twenty elderly osteoarthritis sufferers with pain in their hands or fingers and not using medications were then recruited to test the machine, called Mirage, and asked to rate their pain on a 21-point scale, with 0 indicating no pain and 20 representing the most unbearable imaginable.
The results, to be published in the journal Rheumatology, showed a marked reduction in pain â on average halving the discomfort for 85 per cent of volunteers.
Around one million people consult their GPs about osteoarthritis every year â mostly people aged over 50 who are more prone to developing the disease.
There is currently no cure for osteoarthritis but the symptoms can be managed by a range of treatments including painkillers and physiotherapy â although pain can be a barrier to sufferers trying to exercise and keep joints mobile.
The researchers are hopeful their finding could be the first step towards new technologies for physiotherapy, allowing health professionals to reduce the pain for sufferers while exercising their joints.
Arthritis Research UK said a simple optical illusion that can halve pain without the need for drugs has "a lot of potential".
The charity's medical director Professor Alan Silman said: "Although this research is in the very early stages and further work needs to be done, it's clearly an area with a lot of future potential and one which we're also investigating."
X Share & bookmark
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz What are these? Share: Share
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8451857/Pain-relief-it-is-just-an-illusion.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... usion.html</a><!-- m -->
Telegraph
Health News
News »UK News »Science »Science News »Health »In health
Pollen grains up close
Wolf child
From Drugs to Mugs
The end of BSE
Amazing dog smells diabetic emergencies X Share & bookmark
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz What are these?