Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is medicine’s most efficient method of transporting oxygen to cells throughout the body. When you breathe oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure (sea level), it is transported on the hemoglobin in your red blood cells. However, when under pressure, oxygen dissolves in the plasma, cerebrospinal fluid in the brain and spinal cord, lymph, and other body fluids. This means that oxygen is more easily delivered to all tissues, even areas with limited blood flow.
HBOT also curbs infection by providing a hostile environment to anaerobic bacteria, which thrive in the absence of oxygen. It promotes the growth of new capillaries and blood vessels to areas with poor circulation for cardiovascular support and boosts collagen formation for faster wound healing. It also mobilizes rejuvenating stem cells. A study published in the American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulation Physiology shows that after just one HBOT treatment, concentrations of circulating stem cells doubled, and after a full course, there was an eight-fold increase. The end result is dramatic benefits for stroke, head and spinal cord injuries, diabetic ulcers, slow-healing wounds, burns, autism, and a broad range of other conditions.
A typical HBOT session lasts approximately 60 – 90 minutes. During this time, you may sit, recline, or lay comfortably in a pressurized chamber while breathing 100 percent oxygen through a mask. You can listen to music, read, use your tablet or mobile device, or simply relax. As the chamber is pressurized, you may notice increased pressure in your ears—a feeling similar to that of a flight landing—but there is no other discomfort. When the session ends, the pressure is slowly returned to normal. Hyperbaric treatments are repeated for a number of visits depending on the condition.
Conditions FDA approved for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
- Air or Gas Embolism
- Carbon Monoxide Poisoning and Smoke Inhalation
- Clostridial Myonecrosis (Gas Gangrene)
- Crush Injury, Compartment Syndrome, and other Acute Traumatic Ischemias
- Decompression Sickness
- Diabetic Foot Ulcers
- Enhancement of Healing in Selected Problem Wounds
- Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections
- Osteomyelitis (Refractory)
- Radiation Tissue Damage (Osteoradionecrosis)
- Severe Anemia
- Skin Grafts and Flaps (Compromised)
- Thermal Burns
Other conditions that benefit from Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
- ADD/ADHD
- ALS
- Alzheimer’s
- Anoxic Brain Injury
- Autism
- Before and After Surgery
- Bell’s Palsy
- Brown Recluse Spider Bites
- Cancer
- Cerebral Palsy
- Chronic Fatigue
- Chronic Inflammatory Disease
- Crohn’s disease
- Decreased Immune Function
- Diabetes
- Fibromyalgia
- General Wellness and Prevention
- Heart Disease
- Infection
- Immune Dysfunction
- Lyme Disease
- Macular Degeneration
- Meniere’s Disease
- Migraines
- Mitochondrial Disorders
- Multiple Slcerosis
- Near Drowning
- Post Electrocution
- Raynaud’s Syndrome
- Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
- Retinitis Pigmentosa
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Severed Limbs
- Sickle Cell Crisis
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Sports Injuries
- Stroke
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Trigeminal Neuralgia
- Vascular Disease
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Research
Stem Cell Mobilization by Hyperbaric Oxygen
This is a research article done on humans and mice. With regard to humans, the authors concluded that HBOT mobilizes stem/progenitor cells (SPC) by stimulating nitric oxide synthesis and the SPCs remain elevated over the course of 20 treatments.
This is important because stem/progenitor cells (SPC) are used in healing. This research article shows that HBOT can mobilize SPCs and therefore increase healing potential in humans.
READ ARTICLE (PDF)