What’s the best method to treat severe burns?

a.) Apply a cool, damp cloth to the burned area

b.) Slather butter on the burn

c.) Play videogames.

If you picked "c" you might consider busting out your first-aid manual for a refresher course. That said, while videogames cannot actually treat burns, they can help make the treatments more bearable.

An article MedicineNet.com tells of young Nathan Neisinger who, at age six, spilled a pot of boiling pasta on himself, covering his chest and arms with serious burns. Nathan overcame a 60% chance of survival only to face three months of painful, daily wound cleaning and physiotherapy.

Pediatric burn patients often require non-medicinal pain control because drugs like morphine are too risky for use in young children. Nathan’s pain control came in the form of SnowWorld, a virtual reality game designed by Hunter Hoffman, the director of the University of Washington's Virtual Reality Analgesia Research Center, located in Seattle.

SnowWorld uses a VR helmet and a one-handed controller to immerse patients in an artificial world where they fly through canyons of ice and chuck snowballs at snowmen and penguins. This helps distract patients from the pain of cleaning and stretching of tender skin. Hoffman explains:

Pain is known to have a psychological component, and distraction has been known for years to reduce pain. Virtual reality just takes that to a whole new level.

Nathan’s mother, Heidi, has only kind words for the game:

It was truly a lifesaver. It doesn't totally take the pain away, but we know pain has a lot to do with your mind. And when your mind is centered on something else, it's as good as anesthesia.

SnowWorld is being offered for free to burn units across the United States but Hoffman says that VR game tech isn’t applicable only to burn treatments:

My team has used it to reduce pain during periodontal scaling for patients with dental fears, and it really reduced their pain and anxiety. We've also used it with kids during cerebral palsy rehabilitation after surgery. We're just scratching the surface.

Read more and see a video (free registration required) of Nathan's treatment while playing SnowWorld.

-Reporting from San Diego, GP Correspondent Andrew Eisen