Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) helps the body heal from conditions in which low oxygen in the tissues inhibits or complicates the healing process. HBOT does not replace traditional therapies but is used in conjunction with and to enhance these therapies.
Background
Benefits
Techniques
Background
The Gas Laws of Physics state that more gas will dissolve in a liquid in the presence of pressure. A can of soda is a vessel that contains a sweetened liquid. When held under pressure, the gas (CO2) dissolves in the liquid, producing soda.
This concept may also be applied to HBOT in that the hyperbaric chamber is the pressurized vessel. The body’s fluids become the liquid and the dissolvable gas is oxygen. When oxygen dissolves in the blood stream, it travels wherever the blood travels, effectively saturating all tissues. The delivery of oxygen using pressure does not require the use of red blood cells. As pressure increases, more oxygen is pushed into the tissues.
Inside a pressurized chamber the body begins to receive a healing dose of oxygen through the body’s fluids and plasma even if the blood vessel system to the needed tissue is compromised and/or constricted.
Medical insurance, Medicare & Medicaid do not reimburse for many diagnoses for which there is strong evidence of benefit with HBOT. Sara’s Garden is dedicated to providing quality services to those who are under insured, medically limited and/or financially unable to acquire services elsewhere. Clients are treated for elective, scheduled treatment rather than emergency treatment.
Benefits
HBOT saturates the circulatory system with oxygen, resulting in an increase in oxygen to tissues. It assists in dissolving increased amounts of oxygen into the blood plasma. It increases oxygen tension in oxygen deprived tissues, enhances white blood cell activity at the wound site and reduces edema through vasoconstriction.
Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy include:
- Enhances white blood cell activity.
- Boosts the immune system, bringing T and B cells within normal limits.
- Increases the production of stem cells by eight fold.
- Decreases inflammation and edema (swelling).
- Helps the body heal from conditions in which low oxygen inhibits or complicates the healing process.
- Accelerates the formation of blood vessels and nerve endings.
- Increases metabolism.
- Stimulates cell growth and regeneration.
- Acts as an anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent.
- Displaces toxins and impurities.
- Reduces scarring.
- Reverses tissue damage.
- Acts synergically with chemotherapy.
- May be chemoprotective against cancer recurrence.
- Reverses the negative effects of radiation therapy.
- Raises Ph levels in the body.
Sara’s Garden has and/or will treat the following FDA approved and often insurance reimbursable conditions:
- Acute Traumatic Ischemia
- Air or Gas Embolism
- Anemia
- Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
- Chronic Wounds
- Compartment Syndrome
- Crush Injuries
- Decompression Sickness
- Diabetic Ulcers
- Gas Gangrene
- Intracranial Abscess
- Necrotizing Infections
- Osteomyelitis
- Radionecrosis
- Skin Grafts and Flaps
- Thermal Burns
HBOT is often commonly used to treat these FDA non-approved, insurance non-reimbursable conditions:
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Autoimmune Disorders
- Bacterial/Fungal Infections
- Bell’s Palsy/Cerebral Palsy
- Cancer
- Hypoxic/Anoxic Brain Injury
- Insect Bites
- Lyme Disease
- Meniere’s Disease
- Migraine
- Mitochondrial Disorder
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Near Drowning
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Pre/Post Surgical Healing
- Problematic Circulation
- Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
- Scleroderma
- Seizure Disorder
- Skin Disorders
- Spinal Injury
- Sports Injury
- Stem Cell Transplantation
- Stroke
- Tinnitus
- Traumatic Brain Injury
Techniques
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is the administration of 100% oxygen in the presence of pressure. The word “hyper” means “increased” and “baric” refers to “pressure.” Oxygen is essential for life. Typical breathing air contains 21% oxygen.
At Sara’s Garden, oxygen is administered through a hood in a multi-place chamber. The number of treatments, length of treatment time and amount of pressure is dependent on the individual diagnosis. Treatments may vary from 60-90 minutes each, once or twice per day at pressures equal to 17 to 45 feet below sea level, for 5 to 40 treatments or more.
The principle of HBOT is simple. Increase the atmospheric pressure and get a directly proportional increase in available oxygen. In other words, a two fold increase in pressure would equal twice the available oxygen molecules to breath.
Our hyperbaric chambers provide a spacious interior to relieve any possible claustrophobic anxieties and allow clients the freedom of mobility. Clients can adjust their position as needed throughout the treatment to meet their specific needs for comfort.
If you have specific questions regarding hyperbaric treatments that you do not see addressed here please visit our FAQs page.