ReviewEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2025
Harnessing the therapeutic effects of nature for chronic Pain: A role for immersive virtual reality? A narrative review.
Review in European journal of pain (London, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Immediate and Short-Term Effects of Nature-Based Immersive Virtual Reality During Dry Needling: A Single-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Experiences of Nature Through Immersive Virtual Reality Among People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- The Therapeutic Home Environment for Chronic Diseases: A Transdisciplinary Ecosystem for Achieving Migraine Freedom and Managing Comorbid Anxiety, Insomnia, and Chronic Pain.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Virtual reality enhances affective valence and attentional dissociation during exercise but not exercise-induced hypoalgesia.Virtual reality · 2026Article
- Barriers and facilitators to implementing immersive virtual reality in long-term care settings: an interdisciplinary partnership study exploring staff perspectives.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Nature exposure reduces self-reported pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nature. Mental health · 2026Article
- Commentary: Virtual reality as an intervention for adult burn patients: an integrative review.Journal of research in nursing : JRN · 2025Article
- Immersive Virtual Reality in Stroke Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Its Efficacy in Upper Limb Recovery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Harnessing the therapeutic effects of nature for chronic Pain: A role for immersive virtual reality? A narrative review.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveThere is a growing interest in the relationship between nature and pain relief. Evidence from environmental psychology, neuroscience and physiology-based studies point towards analgesic effects of nature being mediated through various cognitive, affective and/or autonomic factors. Being able to harness these therapeutic effects using immersive virtual reality (VR) could help to optimize and improve accessibility of nature-based environments as part of chronic pain management plans. In this narrative review, we present evidence supporting a new theoretical framework for nature-based analgesia and suggest ways for applying this through immersive VR. DATABASES AND DATA TREATMENT: We provide an overview of the evidence on (1) the therapeutic effects of nature on pain, (2) environmental psychology theory that underpins the health benefits of nature, (3) key mechanistic evidence from nature neuroimaging and physiology-based studies, (4) previous studies that have used VR-based nature in pain research and (5) how to design effective VR interventions that can be used to integrate nature into immersive 360 environments.
resultsWe have demonstrated how environmental psychology, neuroscience and physiology-based research can be used to form a novel theoretical framework for nature-based analgesia. Using this framework, we identify how key aspects of nature can act as analgesic and how this can be harnessed using immersive VR.
conclusionsThrough developing this theoretical framework, we have provided a foundation on which to guide future experimental and clinical studies as well as helping to improve the accessibility of nature for chronic pain patients through immersive VR technologies. SIGNIFICANCE: This review article summarizes key multidisciplinary evidence to help understand how nature exerts beneficial effects on pain processing. The use of this theoretical framework alongside advances in immersive VR technologies provides a springboard for future research and can be used to help develop new nature-based therapeutics using VR.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.