Pain-relieving games

Playing games against toothache

For many people, a visit to the dentist is like going to hell. In addition to conventional anesthetics, painkillers or even hypnosis, a new, harmless remedy is emerging: As a US experiment shows, pain can be switched off by video games.

An experiment at Wheeling Jesuit University with 30 college students suggests that distraction through computer games makes pain more bearable. The participants in the experiment had to place one hand in ice water while playing various games with the other. The fascinating result: those students who played an action game in which they had to shoot zombies were able to endure the pain for a whole minute longer than those without distraction. Even the PC board game "Mahjongg" did not alleviate the pain. The psychology professor believes that the results could revolutionize treatment in medical practices.