Is mirror therapy all it is cracked up to be? Current evidence and future directions.

Despite widespread support of mirror therapy for pain relief in the peer-reviewed [2,4,12,19,23,24,25,30,33,35], clinical (e.g. [20] (and popular (e.g. [5]) literature, the overwhelming majority of positive data comes from anecdotal reports, which constitute weak evidence at best. Only two well desc...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Moseley, G, Gallace, A, Spence, C
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2008
_version_ 1797092824720605184
author Moseley, G
Gallace, A
Spence, C
author_facet Moseley, G
Gallace, A
Spence, C
author_sort Moseley, G
collection OXFORD
description Despite widespread support of mirror therapy for pain relief in the peer-reviewed [2,4,12,19,23,24,25,30,33,35], clinical (e.g. [20] (and popular (e.g. [5]) literature, the overwhelming majority of positive data comes from anecdotal reports, which constitute weak evidence at best. Only two well described and robust trials of mirror therapy in isolation exist, on the basis of which we conclude that mirror therapy per se, is probably no better than motor imagery for immediate pain relief, although it is arguably more interesting and might be helpful if used regularly over an extended period. Three high quality trials indicate positive results for a motor imagery program that incorporates mirror therapy, but the role of mirror therapy in the overall effects is not known. Obviously, more robust clinical trials and experimental investigations are still required. In the meantime, the relative dominance of visual input over somatosensory input suggests that mirrors might have utility in pain management and rehabilitation via multisensory interactions. Indeed, mirrors may still have their place in pain practice, but we should be open-minded as to exactly how. © 2008 International Association for the Study of Pain.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T03:51:33Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:c173053a-4757-47cd-aaa6-efe435af7b2b
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T03:51:33Z
publishDate 2008
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:c173053a-4757-47cd-aaa6-efe435af7b2b2022-03-27T06:01:32ZIs mirror therapy all it is cracked up to be? Current evidence and future directions.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c173053a-4757-47cd-aaa6-efe435af7b2bEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2008Moseley, GGallace, ASpence, CDespite widespread support of mirror therapy for pain relief in the peer-reviewed [2,4,12,19,23,24,25,30,33,35], clinical (e.g. [20] (and popular (e.g. [5]) literature, the overwhelming majority of positive data comes from anecdotal reports, which constitute weak evidence at best. Only two well described and robust trials of mirror therapy in isolation exist, on the basis of which we conclude that mirror therapy per se, is probably no better than motor imagery for immediate pain relief, although it is arguably more interesting and might be helpful if used regularly over an extended period. Three high quality trials indicate positive results for a motor imagery program that incorporates mirror therapy, but the role of mirror therapy in the overall effects is not known. Obviously, more robust clinical trials and experimental investigations are still required. In the meantime, the relative dominance of visual input over somatosensory input suggests that mirrors might have utility in pain management and rehabilitation via multisensory interactions. Indeed, mirrors may still have their place in pain practice, but we should be open-minded as to exactly how. © 2008 International Association for the Study of Pain.
spellingShingle Moseley, G
Gallace, A
Spence, C
Is mirror therapy all it is cracked up to be? Current evidence and future directions.
title Is mirror therapy all it is cracked up to be? Current evidence and future directions.
title_full Is mirror therapy all it is cracked up to be? Current evidence and future directions.
title_fullStr Is mirror therapy all it is cracked up to be? Current evidence and future directions.
title_full_unstemmed Is mirror therapy all it is cracked up to be? Current evidence and future directions.
title_short Is mirror therapy all it is cracked up to be? Current evidence and future directions.
title_sort is mirror therapy all it is cracked up to be current evidence and future directions
work_keys_str_mv AT moseleyg ismirrortherapyallitiscrackeduptobecurrentevidenceandfuturedirections
AT gallacea ismirrortherapyallitiscrackeduptobecurrentevidenceandfuturedirections
AT spencec ismirrortherapyallitiscrackeduptobecurrentevidenceandfuturedirections