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An Introduction to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

(An Article by Brandi Schlossberg entitled “Under Pressure” that appeared in the March 2009 / Reno-Tahoe issue of “Your Health” magazine.)

Tapping into one of life’s most essential ingredients, oxygen, hyperbaric chambers aim to speed the bodies ability to heal by allowing a person to inhale 100-percent pure oxygen at more than twice the normal atmospheric pressure.

Known as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, this treatment is based on the concept that most disease conditions result from reduced oxygen levels. By boosting tissue oxygen to more than 10 times the normal amount, hyperbaric oxygen therapy aims to elevate the body’s ability to heal wounds, fight infections, reduce tissue inflammation and strengthen the immune system. The delivery method forces more oxygen into the bloodstream more quickly and stimulates small blood vessel growth, which speeds up healing. Often, the therapy is used as part of an overall treatment plan.

“Medicare and insurance generally cover (hyperbaric oxygen therapy for) 14 medical conditions, including diabetic and other problem wounds, complications from radiation therapy, bone infections, compromised grafts and flaps, gas gangrene, carbon-monoxide poisoning, limb salvage and diving injuries,” says Richard Flyer, president and clinic director of Northern Nevada Hyperbarics, where such treatment has been offered for nearly 10 years. “Some investigational areas include neurological conditions, such as stroke recovery, multiple sclerosis, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy, as well as Lyme disease and others.”

Business at Northern Nevada Hyperbarics is based on physician referrals, according to Flyer. An average course of treatment in a hyperbaric chamber occurs 90 minutes per day, five days a week, for six weeks.

“Patients usually watch a movie from our large selection or take a nap,” he says. “Even though a patient is in a chamber, you soon forget that you are enclosed—the clear acrylic tube allows patients to see and talk to the hyperbaric technician who is always present.”