Using video games to treat burn victims
There is ever more evidence that video games are great pain management tools. The latest: Snowy Game, a “basic 3D environment where the players move along a snowy path and fire snowballs at nonmoving targets. They wear a virtual reality headset that ensures the patients aren’t viewing their therapy, and the challenge focuses their mind on aiming instead of the physical discomfort. The cool imagery takes their mind away from the burning pain, and the “shooting” keeps their minds occupied. This sort of pain management benefits not only the patients, but the staff dealing with burn victims. (Emphasis on the last sentence is mine. BTW, for a fascinating insight into burn-related pain and the way it causes psychological pain to both victim and hospital staff, I refer to Dr. Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational, who wrote a remarkable paper about his own experience as a burn victim.)
