what is hbot?
It is a fundamental fact that oxygen is a key element of life. The body uses oxygen for all of the vital processes that we take for granted, including the healing of damaged tissues. In some specific situations, the body is unable to supply the needed levels of oxygen to the injured tissues and healing can be impaired. The goal of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is to force more oxygen into the blood and tissues and boost the natural healing processes of the body in order to restore good health. Usually the blood carries oxygen by binding it to a substance called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is like a cart that can carry only a few oxygen molecules at a time. Once that cart is full there is no way for it to carry more. To get more oxygen into the body, we have to make the oxygen go into the blood fluids around the hemoglobin, or the plasma. To do this we have to apply some pressure to the body’s oxygen gathering organs, the lungs.
The absorption of oxygen by the lungs is limited by several factors. One important one that we can manipulate is the pressure gradient across the membranes of the lungs. By increasing the pressure of the gas that we breathe, we promote the passage of oxygen through the lungs, and into the blood, forcing the body to absorb extra oxygen by dissolving it in the plasma. Typically this pressure is 1.5 times the normal atmospheric pressure or an increase of 7.5 psi over what we typically experience at sea level. This is the pressure equivalent of diving under water to a depth of about 20 feet. We accomplished this by putting a person inside of a chamber and increasing the pressure in the chamber to the desired level. A hood is worn which is ventilated with 100% oxygen. The net effect of this is a marked increase in the amount of oxygen dissolved in the blood and delivered to all of the tissues of the body. The expired gases and extra oxygen from the hood are exhausted outside of the chamber keeping the concentration of gases inside the chamber the same as room air, thus reducing risks. Treatments usually take 80 minutes, consisting of 10 minutes of pressurization, 60 minutes of treatment and 10 minutes of depressurization. These are repeated daily or twice daily as indicated.
Currently the indications for hyperbaric oxygen are expanding. There is much research being done on the effects of HBOT on neurodevelopmental disorders but it is currently believed to be a successful and promising treatment option. Many different medical problems can show benefits with hyperbarics and specifically children with autism, cerebral palsy, near-drowning, carbon monoxide poisoning, and other anoxic insults can show tremendous improvements in function and cognitive processes. There are many other problems treated with HBOT and more information regarding these can be found on the website for the International Hyperbaric Association.