Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a treatment in which the patient is placed in a pressurized room or tube where they can breathe in pure oxygen. This treatment is offered as a means of addressing decompression sickness (also called “the bends”) in scuba divers, eliminating air bubbles within the blood vessels and speeding the healing of severe infections and wounds related to diabetes or radiation burns. In addition, patients with severe anemia, failing skin grafts, carbon monoxide poisoning, sudden deafness or a crushing injury may benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The procedure helps stimulate the body’s own ability to combat infections and heal by elevating the amount of oxygen carried in the blood. Treatment is typically provided on an outpatient basis and lasts approximately two hours at a time. Most patients require multiple sessions to achieve the desired results, with 20 or more treatments often needed for those suffering from wounds that refuse to heal.