Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is used to treat some medical conditions. The treatment takes place in a chamber that you can see out of. You lay on a stretcher inside the chamber. You can watch TV. You can watch a movie. The chamber is pressurized. You breathe one hundred percent oxygen. Your blood carries the extra oxygen to your injured area.

HBOT helps the body’s oxygen-dependent, wound-healing mechanisms function more efficiently. While enclosed in a chamber at greater-than normal atmospheric pressure, patients breathe pure oxygen, saturating their blood plasma and allowing it to carry from 15 to 20 times the normal amount of healing oxygen to the body’s tissues. Another effect of HBOT is vasoconstriction, the benefit of which is a reduction in post-traumatic edema. In effect, HBOT maintains oxygen delivery while blood flow is improved in the microcirculation by the edema-reducing effect of vasoconstriction.

Up to 18 percent of wound care patients may require HBOT treatments, provided by physicians at the Wound Care Center®, who are specialty-trained in hyperbaric medicine, and our highly trained clinical hyperbaric technicians and staff.  HBOT is administered in a comfortable environment, attended by our skilled, experienced technicians. You will receive thorough instructions for your treatment and assistance with any insurance issues. Most health care plans reimburse for HBOT for currently approved indications.

How do I find out if HBO is for me?

If you have a wound that hasn’t healed in two to three weeks, ask your doctor. They will evaluate your wound and decide if HBO is for you.

The Center for Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine hours are 8 AM-4:30 PM Mon-Thu and 8 AM-12 PM on Friday.