What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is the process of breathing 100% oxygen while under increased atmospheric pressure. A treatment that can be traced back to the 1600s, hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been around for centuries. A British clergyman by the name of Henshaw is credited to be the first to build and run the first well-known hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

A well-established treatment for scuba diving risks and also for decompression sickness, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is on the cutting edge of treatments for a variety of injuries and illnesses. Some of the other conditions hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been known to help are anemia due to blood loss, gas gangrene, radiation injuries, carbon monoxide poisoning, and much more.

The air pressure in a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber is increased by two to three times. This improves your lungs’ ability to take in higher amounts of pure oxygen than is possible under normal pressure conditions. This allows your lungs to distribute extra oxygen throughout your body, helping to fight bacteria and prompt the release of growth factors and stem cells to promote healing.

How Does Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Work?

• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy brings oxygen-rich plasma to tissue that is starving for oxygen, thus aiding in healing wounds. Inherently, wounds damage a body’s blood vessels. Those damaged blood vessels (because of the wound) release fluid that leaks into the surrounding tissue causing issues with swelling. The tissue begins to die because the swelling is preventing oxygen from getting to the damaged cells. Elevated pressure in the hyperbaric chamber increases oxygen in the bloodstream, aiming to stop the inevitable cycle of swelling, oxygen depletion, and the death of the tissue.
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy strengthens the body’s immune system by blocking the actions of harmful bacteria. It aids in strengthening the immune system at the same time.
• The toxins of some bacteria can be disabled via the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers. Oxygen concentration in tissue can be increased which helps them become resistant to infections. Not only that, but the hyperbaric oxygen treatment helps in improving white blood cell’s ability to seek out and destroy unwanted invaders.
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy also encourages the formation of new blood cells, thus aiding in the formation of all new collagen and skin cells.

5 Ways HBOT Can Change Your Life or The Life of Someone You Love

1. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Treats Air and Gas Embolism

A bubble moving in the bloodstream could obstruct the flow of blood to the body’s vital organs and tissues. This is called an air or gas embolism. The primary treatment for an air or gas embolism is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). HBOT increases atmospheric pressure and therefore reduces the air or gas bubble size. This helps it dissolve easily into the bloodstream.

2. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Helps With a Lack of Oxygen

Long periods of remaining in a state of low oxygen can be the key feature in several disease states. Providing more oxygen to the patient where this is an issue would help alleviate the oxygen deficit. The method of getting oxygen to the hypoxic tissue is important to consider and that’s where HBOT comes in. The use of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber helps adjust the levels of oxygen in the plasma. This assists hemoglobin to reach maximum capacity in oxygen-carrying.

3. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Heals Brain Infections

One of the most serious conditions of the central nervous system is an intracranial or brain abscess. A potentially life-threatening condition, it is an infection in the brain that creates an
encapsulated area of pus. This condition is more prevalent in children between the ages of 4 and 7 and also in men who are under the age of 30. Treatment for this condition can be a medical challenge and many patients do not survive at all.

The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (in addition to the traditional treatments) for brain infections often helps reduce the duration of the antibiotic treatment, can reduce hospitalization, and even increase the chances of survival. HBOT is FDA-approved as a treatment for this condition.

4. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy For Traumatic Injuries

Traumatic injuries such as concussions that are caused by an external force, wounds that penetrate the skull, and even other closed-head injuries can be treated by hyperbaric oxygen treatments. A hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatment can be used on patients who have received a traumatic injury to help relieve symptoms, speed up recovery, and more by encouraging the repair of damaged tissues, angiogenesis, and blood vessel growth.

5. Skin Grafts

When an external wound needs to have skin transplanted from one place to another in order to cover a wound, this is called skin grafting. A transplant of not only skin, but also deeper tissues like blood vessels, muscle, or even bones, is called a skin flap.

Both skin flaps and skin grafts need a healthy, highly oxygenated transplant site in order to be successful. To promote optimal healing and to prepare the wound site before transplantation, a hyperbaric oxygen chamber is used. This helps encourage the increase of blood flow and oxygen to the affected areas.

Contact NexGen Hyperbaric to Learn More

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has become a useful treatment for many different diseases and injuries. This is due to HBOT’s ability to help counter large deficits in oxygen, promote faster healing and angiogenesis, help fight off infections, and keep inflammation controlled. There are many technological advances that are helping hyperbaric oxygen therapy accelerate its unlimited potential to fight against different wound-related conditions.

Contact us today to learn about treatment options near you. We’d be glad to help you learn more about hyperbaric oxygen therapy.