At Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, we use state-of-the-art virtual reality to help patients who are experiencing pain and fear. Using virtual reality (VR) for managing pain has been shown to significantly reduce both how much pain people feel and how often they focus on their pain, especially when compared to using medication alone.

VR can help make a child’s health care experience more pleasant, especially in a clinical setting where they may only be expecting medication, tubes and needles.

What is Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is a computer-made digital world that includes sights, sounds and touch. It creates a space for fun, learning and communication online. With VR, patients can step into a digital environment where they feel fully involved and can interact with a world that looks like ours or is completely different.

VR helps to change how our young patients experience their time in the hospital. We are also involved in research on VR and how well it works for patients and how it can be best used in the hospital setting.

What to Expect

At Johns Hopkins All Children’s, we use virtual reality headsets to create engaging and realistic experiences. These help to distract patients from their pain and encourage relaxation, working alongside regular pain relief methods.

Patients can use VR while sitting or standing, and can choose how much they want to get involved. They can wear the headset to enjoy some fun visuals, or use handheld devices to move around in the virtual space they are exploring.

Please note there are several medical conditions where the use of VR is not recommended, including but not limited to history of motion sickness, acute or active headache or migraine, history of seizures, acute trauma, or eye, head or facial abnormalities. If your child is interested in using VR as part of their pain management plan, your child’s providers will work with you to determine if VR is appropriate for your child.