First and second degree burns can effectively be treated by hyperbaric oxygen therapy, according to The Wound Center at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, New Jersey.

An article in Newsroom New Jersey, Feb. 8, 2010 explains that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a “proven medical treatment that uses high-oxygen-pressure to treat mild burns.”

The treatment floods the burned area with oxygen, which helps to quicken healing. The treatments typically last an hour to an hour and a half, daily for up to 30 days.

The oxygen treatment is administered in a chamber at an air pressure two to three times higher than that of the external atmosphere, according to the article.

“In this high-pressure, high-oxygen environment, the body's white blood cells significantly increase the body's ability to heal,” states the article. “As the patient breathes normally, the high pressure atmosphere forces pure oxygen into the bloodstream, increasing blood flow and creating new blood vessels. This increased oxygen delivery to all tissues improves the ability of the white blood cells to kill bacteria and helps boost the body's own natural healing process.”

First-degree burns usually involve only the outer layer of skin, causing redness and pain at the touch. Most sunburns are first-degree burns. Second-degree burns affect both the outerlayer and under lying layer of the skin and usually result in blistering, redness and pain.

According to the article, hyperbaric oxygen therapy can also be used to treat other conditions including diabetic ulcers, necrosis of soft tissue and bone due to radiation treatments as well as other non-healing wounds.