What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
Breathing 100 percent oxygen at increased atmospheric pressure is a painless, proven way to help the body heal. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) chambers work by surrounding the patient with 100 percent oxygen at higher than normal atmospheric pressure in sessions, or dives, that last 90 minutes to two hours. This increases the amount of oxygen in the patient's blood allowing red blood cells to pass more easily through the plasma into the wounds to heal them from the inside out.
Introduced in the mid-'60s, HBO chambers have evolved to treat patients suffering from diabetic ulcers, pressure ulcers, infection compromised skin grafts and flaps, and other wounds that haven't healed within 30 days.
Weighing more than one ton, the HBO chamber resembles a reclining bed encased in a clear acrylic shell nearly a yard in diameter. Patients can listen to music or watch movies on televisions and DVD players mounted above the chamber while remaining in constant contact with those outside the chamber through an intercom and private handset. The only physical sensation resulting from the treatment is a slight pressure on the eardrum, such as that felt when an airplane lands, as the air in the chamber is compressed.