What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)
Over the past several years it has become the Standard for treating several debilitating conditions. The patient is placed in a pressurized chamber while breathing 100% oxygen. Through a series of daily treatments, the building of new blood vessels into damaged tissue is enhanced. Daily treatments usually take two hours. The patients watch DVD’s, TV, listen to music or sleep during their daily treatments. The condition for my treatment was incision that popped open in the middle and was not healing. They called it a flap wound. The first 3 or 4 times I was rather paniky as I believe I may be claustrophobic, the time passed ever so slow. Knowing you are trapped for 2 hours does funny things to your mind and body. It gets easier each time, as I am learning to relax and watch a movie and move around as much as possible knowing the technician is watching should I really have a problem. I have found it has already helped me with a knee problem that was bothering me before the cancer surgery. I hope that I am getting younger with all the oxygen!
HBOT is effective for traumatic brain injury, strokes of all types, cerebral palsy, autism, near drowning, near hanging, birth injury, toxic brain injury, ischemic/anoxic/hypoxic brain injury and encephalopathy, coma, persistent vegetative state (the apallic state), genetic disorders such as mitochondrial disease, multiple sclerosis, lyme disease, reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), acute and chronic tinnitus or hearing loss or vertigo, chronic fatigue, prevention of brain injury from cardiac surgery, fibromyalgia, sports injuries, immune system disorders, oral infections and non-healing sockets, chronic brain decompression illness, and others.
The more typically situations include: crush injury, osteoradionecrosis and soft tissue radionecrosis (brain, rectum, bladder, etc.), gangrene, compromised flaps and grafts, carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, air embolism, the flesh-eating bacteria, burns, acute bone infections in immunocompromised patients, brain abscess, cyanide poisoning, plastic surgery failures, non-healing wounds, diabetic ulcers, osteomyelits (chronic refractory bone infection), limb salvage, peripheral vascular disease, arterial insufficiency ulcers, venous stasis ulcers that have failed standard therapy, vasculitis ulcers, severe acute blood loss, and acute traumatic ischemia (damage to blood vessels).
How does it work?
The patient breaths 100% oxygen while the entire body is totally immersed in 100%oxygen. Increased pressure combined with the increase in oxygen content dissolves oxygen into the blood and all other body tissues and fluid at up to 20 times the normal concentration-high enough to sustain life with no blood at all and even with the heart stopped.
Hyperbaric treatments are painless, but the patient may experience a sensation of “fullness” in the ears, similar to driving down a mountain, flying, or scuba diving.
Once a patient is in the chamber and the door closed, the oxygen begins to circulate. This starts a gradual increase in pressure-called compression. There may be some slight warmth, but that is temporary.. Near the end of the treatment, the technician will gradually decrease pressure that was added at the beginning. This is decompression, which generally lasts 10-15 minutes. There may be a slight “popping “sensation in the ears adjustment. It is usually easier to equalize ear pressure during decompression than during the compression phase.
Preparations before HBO Therapy.
Some medications are not compatible with HBO. Important to notify HBO technician should symptoms of cold,flu etc. occurs. Nicotine is not compatible with HBO. The patient will have to stop the use. Cosmetics, hair spray, nail polish, perfume, or shaving lotion containing petroleum, alcohol or oil base are not allowed while in the HBO chamber. Patients are provided with 100 % cotton gowns to wear during treatment.
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