HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy also known as HBO is the use of oxygen under pressure to facilitate healing. It has typically been used in patients with diabetic food wounds that won’t heal and an illness often known as the “bends” in deep sea divers. In this case the divers come up too fast and the gases in the air they breathe come out of their blood stream in the form of bubbles causing the equivalent of a stroke in the nerve tissues among other places. By placing the divers into a chamber that places the oxygen they are breathing under pressure again, the oxygen can be “squeezed” back into the bloodstream lessening the damage it might do to the tissues while in bubble form.

New research is expanding the potential uses of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of disease. Recent research in animals has shown that hyperbaric oxygen will stimulate the release of stem cells into the blood stream seven fold! This has tremendous implications for the healing of one’s tissues. Additionally, hyperbaric oxygen stimulates the growth of new blood vessels in previously damaged tissues as well as lessening inflammation in others. This has tremendous implications for the treatment of stroke, traumatic brain injuries, cerebral palsy, dementia, and ulcerative colitis to name a few. To date, the consensus on the use of HBO in stroke is that larger controlled trials need to be performed, but the results in some cases have been promising.

The Center for Wellness now offers Hyperbaric Therapy. If you would like to learn more about the use of HBO you may be interested in reading Dr. Paul Harch’s book, The Oxygen Revolution available in most book stores. In layman’s terms, Dr. Harch clearly explains what HBO is and the tremendous results he has seen using this therapy in the treatment of various brain disorders.

We of course are happy to explain the use of this therapy in support of degenerative diseases as well. Please feel free to contact our office for an appointment. If you are not currently a patient with the Center for Wellness, an initial evaluation prior to starting this therapy is required. Hyperbaric treatment is available to those with a valid prescription for HBO from a certified physician. A brief safety assessment of 15 -30 minutes will be required prior to entering the chamber. Copies of medical records supporting treatment will be required.

You may want to review this video to see a case of dramatic improvement with the use of HBO in traumatic brain injury.

To see how one stroke victim achieved improvement using HBO watch this video.