What Is a Hyperbaric Chamber?
A hyperbaric chamber is a medical unit that maintains hundred percent medical oxygen under pressure. It is used for conducting hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Hyper means high, and baric means pressure. Hence, this treatment is all about providing oxygen at high pressure. Earlier it was used to treat medical complications among those who go mountain hiking and deep-sea diving. Later on, it was discovered that hyperbaric oxygen has a wide range of scope in the healing process of the body. This implies that it can be used to heal and revive many oxygen-deficient areas in the body.
How Does a Hyperbaric Chamber Help With Faster Healing?
Under normal conditions, the atmospheric air has only twenty-one percent breathable oxygen present in it. Inside a hyperbaric chamber, the level of oxygen concentration is maintained at a hundred percent. This means there is a huge increase in the level of oxygen one inhales inside the chamber. The oxygen is pushed into the blood, from where it reaches every tissue and cell in the body. This helps in faster healing or reversal of an infection.
The body tries to recover or recuperate from an injury by increasing the number of blood vessels in that area as they try to re-oxygenate the injured part. Factors like old age, poor nutrition, sluggish blood flow, and infections impair the body’s natural healing process. Inhaling hyperbaric oxygen enhances the body’s capability of inducing angiogenesis, which means the formation of new blood vessels. This way, more and more blood and healing factors flow into the concerned area where there is a lack of oxygen. This mechanism is proven to have miraculous effects on healing.
What Are the Conditions That Are Treated With a Hyperbaric Chamber?
Following are the common conditions where hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used to improve healing:
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Long-standing non-healing wounds which may be related to diabetes, such as; a diabetic ulcer foot or a non-healing diabetic ulcer.
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Open fractures, with exposed wounds that got infected and progress to form gangrene (necrotizing tissue injuries)
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Chronic osteomyelitis (where the infection reaches the bone and it is not healing at all).
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Failing skin grafts or flaps are surgically placed.
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High-level carbon monoxide poisoning and cyanide poisoning.
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Smoke inhalation from fire accidents.
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In individuals with severe anemia (low iron levels in the blood).
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For faster healing after surgical attachment of severed body parts.
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Osteoradionecrosis and all post-radiation injury or late radiation effects on the body. Widespread use of radiation therapy for cancer may have a few side effects like a bladder infection and other recurrent infections which are hard to heal. For instance, one may suffer osteomyelitis of the jaw, where the jaw bone may get infected.
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In conditions like decompression, illness (pain caused by nitrogen gas bubbling up inside the blood), and gas embolism (air bubbles entering the bloodstream).
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In treating patients with severe loss of blood due to trauma, where blood transfusion is not an option.
How Long Should an Individual Stay Inside the Hyperbaric Chamber to Promote Healing?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not a treatment that can be given at home. It is purely hospital-based and involves a huge machine. It can be a single-person chamber or an entire room maintained in a hundred percent oxygen saturation with multiple beds. A person trained in hyperbaric oxygen therapy will be present to monitor the treatment. One can lie down or sit back inside the chamber and breathe in the oxygen. Undergoing one-and-a-half-hour sessions daily, five to six days a week for 30 days to 40 days, may bring wonderful results.
The doctor assesses the patient initially and prescribes the therapy in a guided way on a day-to-day basis. Response to the treatment may be unique for each and every individual. The wound should be clear of dead tissues, loose skin, pus, or infectious material. One should undergo standard wound care therapy before entering the hyperbaric chamber. Any factor that may slow down the healing, such as diabetes, should be brought under control for optimum results. The doctor will evaluate the wound periodically to check for signs of healing and the level of treatment progress.
What Are the Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
Many times, in a long-standing non-healing wound, the last option left may be chopping off the limb (amputation). But hyperbaric oxygen might be able to prevent that situation if it is taken on time. Even in a progressed stage of the wound, hyperbaric oxygen therapy aids healing to a great extent. Additionally, it enhances the effects of antibiotics that are given to control the infection. Researchers claim that new microscopic blood vessels were found to grow in as early as six to eight sessions. With improved circulation, there will be a considerable reduction in swelling and fluid collection around the wound.
What Are the Risks Involved With Hyperbaric Chambers?
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Since it is a closed chamber, some individuals may suffer claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces).
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One may get headaches, vomiting, and fatigue.
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Temporary changes in eyesight.
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Due to the high pressure inside the chamber, one may suffer pain inside the ears and hearing problems. Rarely may one suffer ear damage, middle ear rupture, or sinus problems.
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Rarely do some individuals have problems in the lungs, such as fluid collection or internal bleeding.
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The high concentration of oxygen may cause seizures or altered behavior in some.
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As oxygen gas in high concentration is highly combustible, one should be very much alert to the possibility of fire accidents, which is why any metallic or electronic devices that can create a spark are not allowed inside the chamber.
Conclusion:
For individuals suffering from chronic non-healing wounds, waiting for the wound to heal on its own takes a longer duration than expected. Additionally, one may require daily dressing and repeated hospital visits, and more. Apart from this, one has to meet the expense of long-term treatment as well. In case the wound gets worsened by an infection spreading to the deeper bones, one may have to remove the limb to prevent the infection from entering the bloodstream. Undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides faster and better recovery in such individuals. Starting the treatment early can avoid all these complications and make the patient as independent as possible.
