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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)
HBOT involves breathing 100% (pure) oxygen while in a special space called a hyperbaric chamber. The air pressure inside is raised to a level that is higher than normal air pressure. The increased air pressure in the chamber helps the lungs collect more oxygen. In this article, we shall explore hyperbaric chamber therapy. Discusses how HBOT works and what it treats. We shall also explain the possible side effects of hyperbaric treatment and whether or not insurance covers it.
Hyperbaric chamber therapy is a noninvasive medical treatment that boosts your body’s oxygen levels. Known medically as hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), it treats carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, and slow-healing wounds.
HBOT involves sitting in a hyperbaric chamber—an enclosed space filled with high-pressure oxygen— and breathing. This allows your lungs to take in more oxygen, thereby increasing circulating oxygen in your bloodstream.
What Is a Hyperbaric Chamber?
A hyperbaric chamber is a high-pressurized, enclosed space filled with pure oxygen. There are two types of hyperbaric chambers:
- Monoplace hyperbaric chambers: Clear acrylic tubes are designed for one person to lie down or recline. High-pressure oxygen is delivered into the tube.
- Multiplace hyperbaric chambers: This is a small pressurized room (similar to an airplane cabin) with multiple chairs. A mask or a lightweight, transparent hood placed over the head delivers high-pressure oxygen to each individual.
The air pressure inside a hyperbaric chamber is two or three times greater than in a typical room. This improves oxygen absorption and speeds healing.
What Does a Hyperbaric Chamber Feel Like?
Most people find a hyperbaric chamber to be pleasant and relaxing. The increased air pressure may feel like you are in a plane climbing to a higher altitude and cause your ears to pop. You may feel lightheaded or dizzy during treatment. Afterward, it is common to feel like you completed a cardio workout.
How Does Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Work?
Hyperbaric chamber therapy, also known as recompression therapy, works by providing a controlled stream of oxygen, an essential element for human life. Oxygen is absorbed by the lungs, where it enters the bloodstream, travels to the heart, then circulates to all of the tissues in your body.
HBOT delivers pure oxygen under high air pressure, which helps the body take in more healing oxygen. This, in turn, allows for higher oxygen concentrations in the blood and other body fluids. Oxygen-rich fluids travel through different organ systems, helping to repair damaged tissues.
For example, higher levels of oxygen in cerebral spinal fluid—the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal column—may be helpful for regenerating neurons after a stroke. A greater concentration of oxygen in the lymphatic fluid may help to clear waste from lymph nodes and bolster your immune system.
How Long Is a Hyperbaric Therapy Session?
Each hyperbaric therapy session lasts about two hours. The number of treatments you may need depends on your condition. For example, carbon monoxide poisoning commonly requires one to three sessions.
Hyperbaric Chamber Benefits
Many injuries and illnesses result in a disruption of oxygen-rich blood, being able to travel to affected areas of the body. The body needs oxygen to heal itself.
For example, diabetes can cause poor circulation, which makes it more difficult for oxygen-rich red blood cells to reach damaged tissue. This results in slow-to-heal injuries and wounds that are at high risk of infection.
HBOT helps to boost oxygen levels in your blood, which is believed to assist the body in the following ways:
- Helps immune cells to kill bacteria
- Reduces inflammation
- Improves collateral circulation (the growth of new blood vessels that provide extra oxygen to affected tissues)
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be utilized as a stand-alone treatment or a procedure that can boost the action of medications, such as antibiotics.
Conditions Treated by Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
HBOT is used to treat many different medical conditions and injuries that benefit from increased oxygen levels in the tissues.
Some of the common uses for hyperbaric oxygen therapy that are often covered by insurance include:
- Arterial gas embolism (air bubbles in the blood vessels)
- Carbon monoxide poisoning (from breathing noxious fumes)
- Cyanide poisoning
- Decompression sickness (a common scuba diving condition, also called “the bends”)
- Specific types of non-healing wounds, such as diabetic wounds
- Gas gangrene (fast-spreading gangrene in infected wounds that gives off a foul-smelling gas)
- Intracranial abscess (originating from an ear infection, sinus infection, or another primary source of infection)
- Tissue damage from radiation therapy
- Osteomyelitis (long-term inflammation of bone or bone marrow)
- Compromised skin grafts or flaps
- Severe anemia
- Brain abscess
- Burns
- Crushing injury
- Sudden deafness
- Sudden, painless vision loss
Additional Conditions HBOT May Treat
Several other types of injuries and illnesses are said to benefit from HBOT. However, there is a lack of clinical evidence to back up many of these claims. Therefore, it is not usually covered by insurance when used to treat the following:
- Lyme disease
- Near drowning
- Recovery from plastic surgery
- AIDS/HIV
- Allergies
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Autism
- Bell’s palsy
- Brain injury
- Cancer
- Cerebral palsy
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Cirrhosis
- Depression
- Fibromyalgia
- Gastrointestinal ulcers
- Heart disease
- Heatstroke
- Hepatitis
- Migraine
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Spinal cord injury
- Sports injuries
- Stroke
- Traumatic brain injury
Side Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Although hyperbaric chamber treatment is considered a natural and relatively safe therapy mode, some side effects are involved. These are primarily due to changing air pressure and affect the ears, sinuses, and lungs.
Side effects of HBOT are usually mild and temporary and may include:
- Ear pain or pressure
- Ear popping
- Fluid buildup in the middle ear
- Lung collapse or barotrauma (rare)
- Ruptured eardrum
- Sinus pain or pressure
- Temporary vision changes causing nearsightedness
To minimize problems with ears and sinuses, try yawning or swallowing to pop your ears and prevent pressure. Ear tubes are sometimes placed to reduce pressure during treatment.
Inhaling high concentrations of oxygen can also lead to oxygen toxicity, which can cause:
- Fluid in the lungs
- Lung failure
- Seizures
Your healthcare provider will instruct you to take frequent breaks to breathe regular air to prevent oxygen poisoning.
Can Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Cause Heart Problems?
In general, heart problems are not considered a side effect of HBOT. However, there have been isolated reports of disturbances to electrical activity in the heart following hyperbaric chamber treatment.6 More research is needed before any clear link can be made.
I hope you find this article helpful.
