What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy?

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a mode of therapy in which a person breathes 100% oxygen at a pressure greater than normal. It is proven effective in a variety of medical conditions, either as a primary health care, or in addition to other medical treatments such as antibiotics or surgery.  more

Oxygen plays a vital role in the healing process. For some patients, an insufficient oxygen supply keeps the body from healing. The Center for Hyperbaric Medicine at Virginia Mason provides hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help such patients heal and to alleviate some emergency medical conditions such as the bends or carbon monoxide poisoning. More information.  more

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy as Defined by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society as the treatment of a patient who breathes 100% oxygen intermittently, while inside a hyperbaric pressure chamber and the pressure of said chamber is increased to greater than one atmosphere absolute (atm abs). Current information indicates that pressurization should be at least 1.4 atm abs. This may occur in a single person chamber (monoplace) or multiplace chamber (hold 2 or more people at a time). Breathing 100% oxygen at 1 atm abs or exposing isolated parts of the body to 100% oxygen does not constitute Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. O.K., let’s get out of the dictionary. Basically, the treatment involves a patient breathing oxygen through one of a number of means, while they are completely enclosed inside of a recompression (hyperbaric) chamber. Like being in a land based submarine, that never leaves port. Just exactly the opposite of taking-off in an airplane. The sensations are similar, and the ...  more

The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) defines hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) as a medical treatment in which the patient is entirely enclosed in a chamber and breathes oxygen while the chamber pressure is increased to a pressure greater than one atmosphere. According to the UHMS, breathing 100% oxygen at one atmosphere of pressure or exposing isolated parts of the body to 100% oxygen does not constitute hyperbaric oxygen therapy; the patient must receive the oxygen by inhalation within a pressurized chamber.  more

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment in which a patient breathes 100% oxygen while the pressure of the treatment chamber is increased to greater than atmospheric pressure (one atmosphere absolute / one ATA). Under normal atmospheric conditions, (one ATA) we are subjected to approximately 14.7 pounds per square inch of pressure and the air we breathe is composed of 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. During HBOT the pressure can be increased up to three times’s normal atmospheric pressure (3 ATA) creating a higher partial pressure of oxygen.  more