Return to GrundCare Facilities page Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy "Hyper" means increased and "baric" relates to pressure. The Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) thus refers to intermittent treatment of the entire body with 100-percent oxygen at greater than normal atmospheric pressures. In the ambient atmosphere, people normally breathe approximately 20 percent oxygen and 80 percent nitrogen. While undergoing HBOT, pressure is increased up to two times in 100% oxygen. This increased pressure, combined with an increase in oxygen to 100%, dissolves oxygen in the blood plasma, body cells, tissues and fluids at up to 10 times normal concentration. HBOT is administered in a cylindrical chamber approximately 8 feet long and 3 feet in diameter. Patients can safely let themselves out of the chamber from the inside. This level of self-control helps to minimize anxiety. The patient rests on a cot-like stretcher and can see out through a transparent enclosure. The chamber is equipped with two-way microphones and speakers. The patient can listen to music, read, nap, or talk with the chamber operator, family, or whoever is in the room. During treatment, usually lasting an hour, the patient is surrounded by, and inhales, pure oxygen while pressure within the chamber is increased from 1-1/2 to 2 times the outside pressure. At the end of treatment, the patient is gradually decompressed to normal pressure and leaves the chamber. While some of the mechanisms of HBOT, as they apply to healing and reversal of symptoms, are yet to be discovered, it is known that HBOT: 1) greatly increases oxygen concentration in all body tissues, even with reduced or blocked blood flow 2) stimulates the growth of new blood vessels to locations with reduced circulation, improving blood flow to areas with arterial blockage 3) causes a rebound arterial dilation after HBOT, resulting in an increased blood vessel diameter greater than when therapy began, improving blood flow to compromised organs 4) stimulates an adaptive increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD), one of the body's principal, internally produced antioxidants and free radical scavengers 5) aids the treatment of infection by enhancing white blood cell action and potentiating germ-killing antibiotics While not new, HBOT has only lately begun to gain recognition for treatment of chronic degenerative health problems related to atherosclerosis, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, diabetic ulcers, wound healing, cerebral palsy, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, macular degeneration, and many other disorders. Wherever blood flow and oxygen delivery to vital organs is reduced, function and healing can potentially be aided with HBOT. When the brain is injured by stroke, CP, or trauma, HBOT may stimulate stunned parts of the brain to restore function. HBOT can be used in conjunction with EDTA chelation therapy when atherosclerosis and diseased blood vessels are causing blocked flow of blood as is often the case in stroke, slow healing wounds, and macular degeneration. Results can be dramatic. Patients with cerebral vascular disease commonly recover from complications of stroke more readily following HBOT. At the same time, EDTA chelation therapy can restore a more normal flow of blood and prevent future strokes. The same holds true for potentially gangrenous legs and feet caused by blocked circulation, and for slow-healing diabetic ulcers. HBOT relieves pain, helps fight infection, and keeps threatened tissues alive while chelation therapy gradually blood flow on a more lasting basis.