What it Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)?
It is increasing the concentration of just the same oxygen we breathe normally in air. A hyperbaric chamber is needed to allow the pressure around the body to be increased. We all live under the pressure of the atmosphere and the extra pressure required for this treatment is small. The technology is very well established, as all commercial aircraft are hyperbaric chambers equipped with oxygen breathing systems! High Dosage Oxygen Treatment, (HDOT) often called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, has a hundred year history, but doctors have only recently recognised that even when the level of oxygen in the blood is normal there can be a severe deficiency in the tissues. Now the science is understood this use of oxygen is expanding rapidly around the World. The treatment involves breathing pure oxygen in a chamber at 1.5 to 2.5 times normal atmospheric pressure for an hour a day.
The air that we breathe usually provides enough oxygen for both normal body metabolism and the repair of tissue damage after injury or illness. However, tissue damage or disease also involves the blood vessels within the tissue and this may reduce blood flow. So, just when more oxygen is needed, the supply is reduced and recovery may be limited or even prevented. By increasing the concentration of oxygen in the blood more can be delivered to damaged tissue to establish normal oxygen values and so allow recovery to take place.
Oxygen is transported dissolved in the blood and also in combination with haemoglobin in the red blood cells. Although haemoglobin carries most of the oxygen, it is only the dissolved oxygen that passes into the tissues. Breathing high levels of oxygen under hyperbaric conditions dissolves more in all of the body's fluids and so more can reach areas where the circulation is diminished or blocked and so improve recovery. The extra oxygen has additional benefits because it greatly enhances the ability of white blood cells to kill bacteria. It also reduces swelling and allows new blood vessels to grow more rapidly into the affected areas.
