Images to Reduce Pain

from Mind Bluff


Staring at peaceful scenes of nature creates a calming, pain-reducing effect in viewers. According to studies:
  • The researchers measured the levels of pain felt and found that those subjected to the peacefulness of nature experienced less pain.

  • The findings prove that it is not necessary just to distract a patient to alleviate pain but that the distraction must have a calming effect.

  • It also gives hope to sufferers who have tried other techniques which have failed to reduce pain, such as hypnosis or sedation.
These studies continue to implicate the calming effects of Mother Nature on human nature. The potential impact of this research on pain management requires further exploration, but for the time being, selected here is a collection of images fitting the criteria of pain reduction.

Chronic sufferers:
Test the effects of these pain-reducing nature scenes.

Also:
Religious images of the Virgin Mary have been found to reduce pain in Catholics: "Roman Catholics felt less pain than atheists and agnostics when they were shown a painting of the Virgin Mary." The assembled collection here also includes a picture of the Virgin Mary.

Finally:
Viewing pictures of a romantic partner has also been found to reduce pain, but personal images of romantic partners could not be included here (for obvious reasons!)



REFERENCES

Lechtzin, N., Busse, A., Smith, M., Grossman, S., Nesbit, S., & Diette, G. (2010). A Randomized Trial of Nature Scenery and Sounds Versus Urban Scenery and Sounds to Reduce Pain in Adults Undergoing Bone Marrow Aspirate and Biopsy The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16 (9), 965-972 DOI: 10.1089/acm.2009.0531

Younger, J., Aron, A., Parke, S., Chatterjee, N., & Mackey, S. (2010). Viewing Pictures of a Romantic Partner Reduces Experimental Pain: Involvement of Neural Reward Systems PLoS ONE, 5 (10) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013309

Wiech, K., Farias, M., Kahane, G., Shackel, N., Tiede, W., & Tracey, I. (2008). An fMRI study measuring analgesia enhanced by religion as a belief system PAIN, 139 (2), 467-476 DOI: 10.1016/j.pain.2008.07.030

Picture Source:
Pixabay Nature Art



The collection is presented below...


Contemplate these pain-reducing scenes and be mindful of the soothing & healing effects of nature...



Image Gallery

Click on any picture to enlarge it in a new window...









































The pictures chosen for this collection are listed as: Free for commercial use / No attribution required. Picture License: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en


Bio

John DiPrete is a Web designer with a passion for neuroscience, art, and business. His work has appeared in MacWorld, Perceptual and Motor Skills, Medical Hypotheses, Speculations in Science and Technology, among other outlets. His Web site (www.MindBluff.com) has been recommended by PC World Online. Readers can subscribe to his free email updates at http://mindbluff.com/subscribe.htm