What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized environment. This treatment is common for treating decompression sickness, a potential risk of scuba diving. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can also treat serious infections, bubbles of air in blood vessels and wounds that are not healing due to diabetes or radiation therapy.
In the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, the air pressure is increased 2 to 3 times higher than normal air pressure. When this happens, your lungs can gather much more oxygen than would be possible when breathing oxygen at a normal air pressure.
Who needs hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
Your body’s tissues rely on an adequate supply of oxygen to function. When a tissue is injured or fighting infection, it requires even more oxygen to survive. Oxygen therapy helps to increase the amount of oxygen your blood can carry, promoting normal tissue oxygen levels.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used to treat a wide variety of medical condition, including:
- Anemia.
- Brain abscess.
- Bubbles of air in your blood vessels.
- Burns.
- Carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Sudden deafness.
- Decompression sickness.
- Gangrene.
- Infection of skin or bone resulting in tissue death.
- Wounds that won’t heal due to conditions like diabetes or radiation therapy.
- Sudden vision loss.
What are risk factors of hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
Although oxygen therapy is a generally safe procedure, there can be certain risks associated with it, including:
- Middle ear injuries, including leaking fluid or eardrum rupture.
- Temporary nearsightedness.
- Lung collapse cause by air pressure changes.
- Seizures because of too much oxygen.
- Lowered blood sugar in people with diabetes.
What should I expect during hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
Prior to your procedure, you will be instructed to remove any items that are at risk of catching fire, including lighters, battery-powered devices or petroleum-based hair and skin products. Your provider will provide additional details on preparing for therapy.
During therapy, the air pressure in the room is increased to about 2 to 3 times higher than normal air pressure, causing a temporary feeling of fullness in your ears. This feeling is similar to what you might experience on an airplane at high altitudes. In most cases, the therapy lasts approximately two hours.
After therapy, your provider will look in your ears and take your blood pressure and pulse. This therapy is done outpatient, so you are able to go home the same day and resume normal activity.
To feel the benefits from hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you will likely need more than one session, depending on your medical condition. Some conditions require as little as three, while others may require 40 treatments or more. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is normally used in addition to other forms of treatment that are designed to fit your healthcare needs.