There are a number of preparations that are necessary before starting each treatment which will be discussed with you in detail by our hyperbaric medicine team.
Patients should eat and take medications as they normally would. Diabetics are encouraged to eat before entering the chamber in order to prevent the occurrence of hypoglycemia. To ensure your safety and maximum benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy, certain precautions are necessary. The following information summarizes these preparations.
Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of 14 approved indications. Although conditions outside of these approved indications are not covered by insurance in the United States and are not recognized by the UHMS or the FDA many patients have reported considerable improvement and benefits when using hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an adjunctive therapy for a wide range of conditions. This makes perfect sense to those in the field of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as most bacteria and viruses cannot survive in an oxygen rich environment. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy also stops the bodies inflammatory response and as we are learning more and more, most conditions effecting our society today are inflammatory in nature.
Your treatment protocol will be determined by the prescription given by your attending physician. Some cases require only a few treatments, while other wound-healing and neurological cases may require 20-40 treatments. If you do not have a prescription for HBOT, you may contact our facility and schedule a consultation with our Medical Director.
Optimal Hyperbarics uses a self-releasing seated monoplace hyperbaric chamber. The chamber allows our patients to remain comfortably seated, rather than lying flat, in their own private chamber. Sitting chambers provide more comfort to our patients, especially those who have difficulty breathing while lying down, claustrophobia, problems tolerating treatments in supine position, or for our pediatric patients requiring the presence of an adult. The chamber is considerable in size, and has a private entertainment system. The treatment is painless. At times you may experience a sensation of pressure in your ears similar to flying in an airplane.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (abbreviated HBOT) is a medical treatment that uses pure oxygen to speed and enhance the body's natural ability to heal. High dose oxygen therapy is an American Medical Association, FDA and Medicare approved modality. While sometimes used as a primary emergency treatment, it is more often used as a cost effective adjunct or enhancement therapy.
During therapy, the patient breathes 100% pure oxygen under increased atmospheric pressure. (the air we normally breathe contains only 19-21% of this essential element.) The concentration of oxygen normally dissolved in the blood stream is thus raised many times above normal – up to 2,000%. In addition to the blood, all body fluids including the lymph and cerebrospinal fluids are infused with the healing benefits of this molecular oxygen. It can reach bone and tissue which are inaccessible to red blood cells, enhance white blood cell function, increase circulating stem cells, stimulate the production of collagen and promote the formation of new capillary and peripheral blood vessels. This results in increased infection control and faster healing of a wide range of conditions including, but not limited to soft tissue injuries, skin grafts and reconstructive or plastic surgery.
When administered by highly trained professionals, HBOT is extremely safe and effective. It is normally used as part of an overall medical treatment plan for a variety of conditions.
• AIDS
• Amputation Prevention & Recovery
• Asthma
• Birth Injuries
• Cancer Treatment Recovery
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Dementia
• Enhanced Healing post Cosmetic Surgery
• Macular Degeneration (Wet & Dry)
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Near Drowning
• PTSD
• Stroke
1. Air or Gas Embolism
2. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Complicated By Cyanide Poisoning
3. Clostridial Myositis and Myonecrosis (Gas Gangrene)
4. Crush Injury, Compartment Syndrome and Other Acute Traumatic Ischemias
5. Decompression Sickness
6. Arterial Insufficiencies: Central Retinal Artery Occlusion and Enhancement of Healing In Selected Problem Wounds
7. Severe Anemia
8. Intracranial Abscess
9. Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections
10. Osteomyelitis (Refractory)
11. Delayed Radiation Injury (Soft Tissue and Bony Necrosis)
12. Compromised Grafts and Flaps
13. Acute Thermal Burn Injury
14. Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
• Alzheimer’s
• Arthritis
• Anti-Aging
• Autism
• Brain Injuries
• Cerebral Palsy
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Learning Disabilities
• Lyme Disease
• Migraine / Headaches
• Myocardial Infraction
• Parkinson’s
• Sleep Apnea
• TBI