For decades, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has been recognized as a non-invasive way to accelerate oxygen within the body to aid multiple conditions.

What started as a full-proof method to help deep-sea divers combat decompression sickness soon found its way to treat ailments like carbon monoxide poisoning, gas embolism, gangrenes, diabetic foot ulcers, traumatic brain injury, and even autism in some cases.

Given the ongoing COVID-induced pandemic, the need for hyperbaric oxygen chambers has once again come to the forefront. Reportedly, in severe cases of COVID where ventilators were the last resort, HBOT has been able to restore patients to normalcy.

As an individual breathes pure, unadulterated oxygen over repeated sessions, it leads to faster cell regrowth and transfers oxygen to deprived tissues.

In this post, we mull over several benefits of this alternate medicine, including hyperbaric chamber cost and everything else in between.

Read on.

HBOT And Rising Public Awareness

In a typical HBOT session, individuals are supposed to breathe pure oxygen (generally at 3 ATM) within a pressurized chamber. This helps the oxygen dissolve faster into blood plasma and reaches deprived cells and tissues.

Theoretically speaking, when you breathe in pure oxygen within a pressurized chamber, it gets directly picked by your bloodstream to deliver almost twelve times more oxygen right into bodily fluids and tissues compared to any other medication.

The underlying principle behind HBOT is to accelerate the availability of oxygen to boost energy release from cells. This is exactly what brings down the inflammation level and further boosts stem-cell circulation by eight folds, and remarkably enhances the immunity forming new blood vessels.

Currently, the FDA has given the official nod for not one but thirteen different medical conditions where HBOT can be used as an adjunct therapy.

Reportedly, the use of hyperbaric chambers has also gained ground in the army to treat war-related wounds that otherwise won’t heal any faster and include:

  • Crash injuries
  • Excessive blood loss
  • Hypovolemia
  • Other traumatic injuries
  • Severe burns

Interestingly, a good number of people knew absolutely nothing about hyperbaric oxygen therapy until COVID emerged.

Moreover, the long-term COVID symptoms have further contributed to the need for hyperbaric chambers. Notably, long before COVID, several athletes and sports personalities, and people suffering from serious ailments have already been using hyperbaric chambers.

Famous sports personalities like LeBron James, Tiger Woods, and even artists like Justin Bieber are known to use hyperbaric chambers at home to beat stress and anxiety and heal wounds faster on a case-to-case basis.

HBOT, as presented across multiple research studies, has helped several young patients fight symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder as well.

Anecdotal Evidence To Establish The Efficacy Of HBOT

Take the Soviet Union for instance, which has been liberal in allowing extensive research into determining the potential of HBOT for obstetrics. Reportedly the oversight and legislation were far more outstretched than others in the row.

Furthermore, the world of sports as touched upon before has already embraced the use of hyperbaric chambers to deal with a multitude of conditions:

  • Building endurance
  • Dealing with impact injuries
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle strain
  • Recovery from accidents

Also, for high-contact games, like American soccer and boxing where injuries are waiting to happen at any point in time.

What About Safety?

Although HBOT is a non-invasive and generally the safest process to administer pure oxygen to your body, some might encounter certain side effects. These include

  • Minor injury to the middle ear, like ruptures in the eardrum which is mainly due to change in air pressure
  • Temporary myopia caused by a change in the eye lens
  • Seizures as a direct result of oxygen toxicity

Such side effects are mostly mild and rare occurrences. Besides, HBOT would only be prescribed by the attending medical professional if there’s a need for the same and traditional medicines don’t deliver the desired effect.

Plus, it takes a trained professional to administer HBOT who will ensure you stay comfortable throughout the treatment process.

One must know that the safety guidelines of HBOT are largely derived from strict standards followed by commercial diving and tunneling industries.

Sure, there has been steadfast democratization of industry knowledge and expertise, but its basic safety standards are still intact.

Wrap Up

What was reserved solely for treating decompression sickness disorders in deep-sea divers is now a widely recognized form of alternative medicine.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has not only depicted great potential for several ailments but also given a new ray of hope to deal with the current pandemic situation. To date, there is no cure for COVID, except for preventive measures like vaccines which are not hundred percent effective.

At such a crucial juncture, hyperbaric chambers are certainly the best line of defense in offering relief to severe symptoms.

However, HBOT is one such treatment that is not widely available and is restricted to specialized clinics only. Thus, anyone, who wants to avail HBOT, or has been prescribed so, is advised to get one at home. As far as hyperbaric chamber cost goes, it ranges anywhere between $4,995-$17,495 and comes in different sizes (26-60 inches in diameter).