HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is the medical use of oxygen at a higher than atmospheric pressure.

The therapeutic principle of HBOT lies in a drastically increased partial pressure of oxygen in the tissues of the body. While under normobaric conditions (i.e. under atmospheric pressure), oxygen transport is limited by the oxygen binding capacity of red blood cells, HBOT makes use of oxygen transport by blood plasma. The increased overall pressure is of therapeutic value when HBOT is used in the treatment of decompression sickness.

The main indications (some controversial) for HBOT are:

• Carbon monoxide poisoning
• Decompression sickness
• Severe infection by anaerobic bacteria
• Air or gas embolism
• Enhancement of healing in problem wounds
• Severe uncorrected anemia
• Osteomyelitis

HBOT is recognized by conventional medicine (in the USA) as an appropriate treatment for about 10 conditions. However, alternative healing advocates of many stripes believe it is useful for many many additional conditions. Among the "off label" uses of HBOT are use as a therapy for brain healing (as in stroke, dementia, cerebral palsy, etc), and for some infectious conditions (such as lymes disease, post polio syndrome, etc.)

HBOT is usually done in a "hard shelled" pressurized chamber. Such chambers can be run at various levels of pressure. Pressure is measured in ATA which corresponds to the number of "atmospheres" of pressure. There are also soft sided HBOT chambers, which are often used for home treatment. (Some of these are also used in clinics.) These are usually referred to as "mild chambers", which is a reference to the lower ATA capacity of soft sided chambers. (The ones commercially available in the USA go up to 1.3 ATA only.)

Some hospitals have HBOT chambers. There are also HBOT chambers that run at stand-alone facilities. The application of HBOT requires a prescription (in the USA).

HBOT is quite expensive, with a session costing $100 to $200 in the USA. In the UK there is are non-profit HBOT chambers, which are run by the Multiple Sclerosis society.

HBOT is often done in a series of 40 treatments, but not always.

External links

Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine Society