Are hyperbaric chambers really a fountain of youth?

The treatment they perform isn’t the HBOT that’s proven to be effective for wound healing and decompression sickness. HBOT typically involves a hard-shelled chamber, pure oxygen, and between 1.5 and three times the air-pressure of our atmosphere. Most hyperbaric spas have what amounts to a bag which they pressurize very slightly—1.2 or 1.3 times the air-pressure of our atmosphere,...

 What to Know Before Receiving Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber Therapy

Before entering the pressurized oxygenated room or tube, here’s five things you can expect.

Despite New Research, Scientists Want More Proof That Hyperbaric Oxygen Treats Alzheimer's

The Mayo Clinic lists hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a well-established treatment for some conditions, though holds its ground that more research is needed before declaring HBOT a long-term treatment for Alzheimer’s and a host of other diseases.

Diving deep into hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Hyperbaric medicine has its roots in underwater construction and diving, with many parallels between the two. Most significantly, both diving and HBO2 therapy increase the pressure on the body. Although a complete description of hyperbaric physics and physiology is beyond the scope of this article, an explanation of some physical principles is helpful in understanding how HBO2 therapy works.

Doctors Reverse Girl's Brain Damage Using a Hyperbaric Chamber

A two-year-old girl severely brain damaged after nearly drowning has shown remarkable signs of recovery thanks to an experimental oxygen treatment.

Does hyperbaric oxygen therapy improve the survival and quality of life in patients with traumatic brain injury?

The effectiveness of HBOT on the recovery of brain-injured patients is uncertain. There is also concern regarding potential adverse effects of the therapy, including damage to the ears, sinuses and lungs from the effects of pressure, temporary worsening of short-sightedness, claustrophobia and oxygen poisoning.

FDA Cautions Consumers About Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

The device has been approved for treating decompression sickness, but not for the universal treatment for which it’s often promoted. The FDA, according to the consumer alert, “is concerned that some claims made by treatment centers using HBOT may give consumers a wrong impression that could ultimately endanger their health.”

HBOT “Hope for the Hopeless”

Documentary Short exploring the breakthrough of Hyperbarics and the lives that it has changed for the better.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Decompression Illness in Divers

Divers can develop DCI on very short dives or in shallow water, even when adhering to protocols. DCI should be strongly considered when divers experience pain after diving. Any neurologic symptoms after a dive are abnormal and should be attributed to DCI.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Gets More Popular as Unapproved Treatment

Use of HBOT to Treat Autism, Brain Injury Is Growing Despite a Lack of Conclusive Evidence.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: What to Know

High-pressure oxygen treatment, once reserved for deep sea divers suffering from “the bends,” is increasingly being tested to remedy other conditions. WSJ's Joseph Walker explains.

Hyperbaric Oxygen: A Spectrum of Emerging Treatments

The discovery of HBOT’s physiological benefits has demonstrated implications for treating the most prevalent ailments in the US. Thus, the newly-proposed, broadly-reaching benefits of HBOT applications beyond diving injury treatment merit deeper investigations. Indeed, with so many potential treatment functions, HBOT has earned its reputation as “a therapy in search of diseases”

Tennis Players Get an Oxygen Fix

To aid recovery, tennis pros in Melbourne rent hyperbaric chambers.

What is a Hyperbaric Chamber and What Does it Do?

All hype aside, for many people, hyperbaric chambers have made the difference between living a normal life and being disabled for the rest of their days. Not only can hyperbaric chambers speed up the body’s healing process, they can also improve circulation, help fight infection and treat various neurological disorders.

What the *Bleep!* is Going on With Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

When I meet with friends, relatives and work colleagues, I get asked about what I do. When I explain my job, I always get asked, “Does hyperbaric oxygen therapy really work for traumatic brain injury?” I know many of those who are reading this blog have the same question in mind. It’s a pretty important question for a person that has a TBI. So – does it work or not? In my opinion, yes.

A General Overview on the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Applications, Mechanisms and Translational Opportunities

The first documented use of hyperbaric medical therapy was in 1662 by Henshaw, a British physician who placed patients in a container with pressurized air. Interestingly, it was conducted before the formulation of the Boyle-Mariotte Law, which described the relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas, and prior to the discovery of O2 by John Priestly over 100 years later.

Emergency Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy – A Service in Need of Resuscitation

A minority of the patients who need this lifesaving HBO2 therapy are within the immediate catchment area of a major hospital with a 24-hour emergency hyperbaric facility. Despite the urgent need for treatment, most hyperbaric chambers will decline to accept emergent patients at present. Patients may eventually receive HBO2 but after a significant delay and a transfer of several hundred miles. Many never receive indicated HBO2, often resulting in poorer patient outcomes.

Hyperbaric chamber therapy: I’m under a lot of pressure – and I love it!

I’m basically inside a balloon, breathing 100% oxygen through a mask. I fall into a deep, restorative nap and awake hungry for more.

Multiple sclerosis survivors swear by hyperbaric oxygen – but does it work?

Until we understand more at the molecular level about how oxygen under pressure can make sustained changes to various biological processes in the brain, people with MS will continue to use the treatment and the majority of the medical community will remain unconvinced of its merits.

Oxygen Therapy Is Valuable, Sometimes

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was long called a treatment in search of diseases. But in recent years, laboratory and clinical studies have found more than a dozen serious diseases for which it is considered a valuable and sometimes life-saving treatment. Although the administration of pure oxygen in a high-pressure chamber has been around as a therapy for more than 300 years, it is only now beginning to reach its potential, according to a report in the November issue of the journal Emergency Medicine.