HBOT involves breathing pure oxygen into a pressurized chamber, which helps your lungs gather more of this essential molecule before it enters your bloodstream and reaches damaged tissues.
Patients typically hear a hissing sound when their chamber is being pressurized (descent). Additionally, they may feel warm and experience pressure in their ears similar to flying on an airplane.
Intensive Treatments
If you are suffering from severe injuries or infections, hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions could be invaluable. This treatment involves breathing 100% medical grade oxygen inside an attractive chamber at pressures higher than atmospheric level to increase oxygen levels in both your bloodstream and tissues, thus improving healing capabilities and speeding recovery time.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy works by dissolving carbon monoxide from hemoglobin and increasing oxygen availability to cells and tissues. It also increases growth of new blood vessels and fibroblasts to support tissue repair while decreasing swelling; and can increase stem cell mobilization eight-fold!
HBOT can treat various conditions, such as decompression sickness (DCS), arterial gas embolisms (AGE), and carbon monoxide poisoning. DCS occurs when nitrogen bubbles form in the bloodstream that block off vital organs resulting in discomfort and potential permanent damage; hyperbaric oxygen therapy works to dissolve these bubbles to restore proper blood flow, alleviating symptoms while also protecting long-term health effects.
Additionally, athletes are turning to HBOT as a means of increasing performance by improving the body’s ability to heal itself and decrease lactic acid buildup that causes muscle fatigue and soreness. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy promotes new blood vessel growth that boosts circulation while simultaneously decreasing inflammation levels and speeding recovery times for damaged tissues.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions generally last 60-90 minutes and allow the patient to relax comfortably in the chamber. A technician will be present throughout the treatment to guide you as you descend to your prescribed depth, playing music or movies to keep you occupied while waiting. They are also on hand to answer any queries or address concerns as well as take vitals measurements.
There is no single answer when it comes to determining the optimal frequency and dosage for hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions, depending on each individual’s goals and conditions. Listening to your body and listening closely for its signals are both key parts of finding your HBOT “sweet spot.”
Chronic Treatments
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can be an effective means of treating both systemic illnesses (like air or gas embolisms, carbon monoxide poisoning or clostridial gas gangrene ) as well as localized wounds or injuries such as arterial infarctions, diabetic foot ulcers and polytrauma. Treatment takes place either inside a large chamber pressurised with pure oxygen, or through smaller devices that provide it via mask, head tent or endotracheal tube. For chronic conditions such as carbon monoxide poisoning and vascular air embolisms regular treatment is key for success.
Patients enter a chamber filled with pure oxygen at higher than usual atmospheric pressure and take in pure oxygen at an increased pressure for approximately 20 minutes, during which a hyperbaric medical technician instructs patients on how to ease pressure on their ears that may feel similar to riding in a descending airplane or submersion underwater. Once pressure reaches its prescribed level, slowly decreasing pressure is used until patients can leave the chamber.
Chronic conditions often require daily sessions for several weeks or months before any results can be seen. While patients typically see improvement after one or two sessions, chronic wounds typically require multiple HBOT sessions before any noticeable healing takes place.
Depending on the condition being treated, sessions and depth of pressure vary – some conditions requiring only one or two appointments while others benefiting from ongoing treatments. Studies have revealed that hyperbaric oxygen therapy works best when administered regularly over an extended period of time.
At its core, HBOT treatments boil down to dosage. Different conditions respond differently to various HBOT dosages – similar to different medications – with length, depth and frequency determined by your healthcare team and physician as part of an agreed upon plan.
Henry Chiropractic of Pensacola, Florida provides tailored hyperbaric oxygen therapy plans to patients of all ages. Our focus is to enhance health and restore quality of life; therefore, we help you find balance in your HBOT schedule. Come visit us today to discover more of how Henry Chiropractic services can benefit your wellbeing!
Tailored Treatments
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy frequency should depend on your unique needs and treatment goals, whether that means anti-ageing benefits or improving athletic performance. Regular treatments help achieve results, though the number of sessions may differ based on how well they respond; so monitoring progress is an integral part of optimising session schedule.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing 100% pure oxygen at pressures higher than ambient air in order to provide your tissues with enough pure oxygen for healing and regeneration. Usually this form of therapy is applied systemically with patients inside an oxygen therapy chamber, although topical use (for instance using an inflatable bag placed over an injury or compromised skin graft) is also possible.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy offers many advantages beyond treating carbon monoxide poisoning and decompression sickness. It can also be used for wound care by stimulating new blood vessel growth to deliver fresh nutrients to wound sites for healing, as well as treating certain infections by strengthening immunity systems against harmful microbes and killing off harmful pathogens.
Based on your medical condition and response to HBOT therapy, doctors may advise daily sessions for several weeks or months. Some medical conditions respond best when more sessions are attended than other. It all depends on your unique biological chemistry and response to therapy.
For instance, multiple HBOT sessions per day may help speed healing of acute injuries or severe conditions; however, this approach might not be advised when treating chronic diseases that take longer to resolve such as COPD, fibromyalgia or Crohn’s disease.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can improve mental clarity by increasing oxygen availability in your brain. This increased cognitive function makes overcoming challenging tasks at work more manageable, as well as helping develop new blood vessels throughout your body, which deliver more oxygen directly to organs and muscles for healthy cell repair and growth.
Schedule Your Consultation
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) may provide the solution if your acute injury or chronic condition does not respond to conventional treatments, like medications. While the number of sessions needed depends on both your condition and goals, typically 2-3 weekly treatments usually suffice to achieve optimal results. In severe cases such as infection or radiation damage, more intensive sessions may be needed in order to avoid long-term complications.
Each treatment session begins by lying on a special bed inside a clear 7-foot-long acrylic chamber that’s slowly pressurized with pure oxygen at 2.5 times normal air pressure. You can relax during your two-hour appointment by watching TV or listening to music; for those who may feel restricted by claustrophobic feelings, its spacious domed shape makes staying comfortable easier.
HBOT can bring many health advantages. For instance, it reduces inflammation and edema around wound sites to provide more conducive conditions for healing cells to reach damaged tissues more easily. Furthermore, HBOT combats hypoxia – oxygen deprivation which inhibits natural healing processes in the body – as well as stimulating angiogenesis – the formation of new blood vessels which improve circulation to damaged tissues.
Choose an experienced HBOT provider for optimal results. Their facility should feature clean, well-kept spaces with licensed medical staff who adhere to stringent safety guidelines, with history review and physical exam procedures conducted prior to beginning treatments. It’s essential that they accept your insurance provider; Bay Area Hyperbarics works directly with insurers so as to maximize coverage of sessions through your plan.
At an experienced HBOT provider, treatment can usually begin within 24 to 72 hours after scheduling. Sessions generally last 60-90 minutes. Prior to starting therapy, all electronic devices – like watches and phones – must be left behind in the waiting room and monitored by an experienced hyperbaric technician.
