Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is an innovative and natural therapy with a rich history of successfully treating various medical conditions over the past 40 years. From stubborn infection to thermal burns or concussions to decompression sickness, this oxygen-based therapy has the power to restore optimal health and well-being.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy takes place in a pressurized chamber made of steel and acrylic . This hard chamber is then filled with 100% pure oxygen while the patient is lying down or sitting. The high-pressure oxygen hard chamber allows patients lungs to absorb pure oxygen and distribute it throughout the body to promote healing and recovery at the cellular level. HBOT can cause a wide range of changes not only at the cellular level but also biochemical and physiological levels in your body. Below we outline 5 benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
1. Stimulate New Blood Vessel Growth
One of the top benefits seen with HBOT is the ability to stimulate angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels) and accelerate chronic wound healing. This alone benefits a lot of patients including those that suffer from diabetic wounds, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or stroke.
The increased oxygen level in the bloodstream not only stimulates the release of various growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) that stimulate the formation of new blood vessels but also accelerates all stages of wound healing for faster patient recovery.
2. Reduce Inflammation
HBOT is known to have anti-inflammatory effects as it decreases the production of pro-inflammatory molecules (i.e., IL-6 and TNF-α) that cause inflammation and swelling in the body. For example, intense workouts are often accompanied by muscle fatigue, pain, and swelling in athletes. The intense workout-associated symptoms happen due to oxidative stress and increased inflammatory molecules in the body. The anti-inflammatory effect of HBOT reduces inflammation, improves muscle fatigue, and speeds up recovery.
3. Elevate the Body’s Natural Immune Defenses
When HBOT increases the oxygen concentration in the body, it exerts antimicrobial effects. The antimicrobial effect of HBOT helps to kill the bacteria that only grow and flourish in low-oxygen environments.
The increased oxygen concentration also enhances the immune response that weakens the infection-causing bacteria, and helps the immune cells to find and destroy invaders. In addition, the anti-inflammatory property of HBOT decreases further tissue damage and infection expansion.
HBOT is beneficial for people with deep and chronic infections such as necrotizing fasciitis, osteomyelitis, chronic soft tissue infections, and infective endocarditis.
4. Improves Brain Function and Cognitive Ability
Various studies have reported that HBOT has improved brain functions and cognitive abilities in patients with severe traumatic brain injury and stroke. The increased oxygen concentration in the blood not only stimulates the growth of new brain cells (neurogenesis) but also reduces inflammation (brain swelling), inhibits apoptosis (brain cell death), and repairs damaged brain tissues by improving blood flow.
Hence, HBOT helps improve motor skills, cognitive function, memory, and overall brain health in people with brain injury or stroke.
5. Antiaging Benefits through Increased Collagen Production
Another benefit of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is collagen reproduction. Collagen is an important protein that is important for your skin texture and elasticity. As you age, the production of collagen declines, and as a result, your skin loses its elasticity. This leads to the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines on your skin.
Research demonstrated that HBOT can boost collagen production and increase skin elasticity by forming new blood vessels. Biologically, at a cellular level, aging is characterized by the shortening of telomere length and cell senescence. HBOT has anti-aging effects that can reverse these two hallmarks of aging. For instance, a study on 35 healthy adults (age 60 years and older) revealed that HBOT significantly increases the telomere length and clearance of senescent cells in older populations. Similarly, another study has shown that HBOT has enormous potential in regenerative and anti-aging therapy.
Summary
HBOT has many benefits, from treating certain infections, inflammation, and traumatic injury to promoting wound healing, skin rejuvenation, improving athletic performance, and many MORE…
Treatment outcomes could differ for every individual, depending on the age, health status, site of injury, disease severity, and HBOT treatment commencement. The sooner patients start HBOT treatment the better the outcome.
If you're considering hyperbaric oxygen therapy at Revival Hyperbarics in South Jordan, Utah, book a FREE consultation with one of our expert team members. We are happy to provide more information around hard chamber HBOT and your specific condition.
References for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Benefit
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2. Ortega, M. A., Fraile-Martinez, O., García-Montero, C., Callejón-Peláez, E., Sáez, M. A., Álvarez-Mon, M. A., García-Honduvilla, N., Monserrat, J., Álvarez-Mon, M., Bujan, J., & Canals, M. L. (2021). A General Overview on the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Applications, Mechanisms and Translational Opportunities. Medicina, 57(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57090864
3. Leach, R. M., Rees, P. J., & Wilmshurst, P. (1998). ABC of oxygen: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy. BMJ : British Medical Journal, 317(7166), 1140-1143. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.317.7166.1140
4. Woo, J., Min, H., Lee, H., & Roh, T. (2020). Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Inflammation, Oxidative/Antioxidant Balance, and Muscle Damage after Acute Exercise in Normobaric, Normoxic and Hypobaric, Hypoxic Environments: A Pilot Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(20). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17207377
5. Memar, M. Y., Yekani, M., Alizadeh, N., & Baghi, H. B. (2018). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy: Antimicrobial mechanisms and clinical application for infections. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 109, 440-447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2018.10.142
6. Hu, Q., Manaenko, A., Xu, T., Guo, Z., Tang, J., & Zhang, J. H. (2016). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for traumatic brain injury: Bench-to-bedside. Medical Gas Research, 6(2), 102-110. https://doi.org/10.4103/2045-9912.184720
7. Hachmo, Y., Hadanny, A., Mendelovic, S., Hillman, P., Shapira, E., Landau, G., Gattegno, H., Zrachya, A., Daniel-Kotovsky, M., Catalogna, M., Fishlev, G., Lang, E., Polak, N., Doenyas, K., Friedman, M., Zemel, Y., Bechor, Y., & Efrati, S. (2021). The effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on the pathophysiology of skin aging: A prospective clinical trial. Aging (Albany NY), 13(22), 24500-24510. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203701
8. Fu, Q., Duan, R., Sun, Y., & Li, Q. (2022). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for healthy aging: From mechanisms to therapeutics. Redox Biology, 53, 102352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2022.102352
9. Gupta, M., & Rathored, J. (2024). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy: Future prospects in regenerative therapy and anti-aging. Frontiers in Aging, 5, 1368982. https://doi.org/10.3389/fragi.2024.1368982
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