Hyperbaric oxygen can be used to treat all conditions which benefit from increased tissue oxygen availability.
It can be helpful for anyone who is suffering from a wound that is slow to heal. Diabetic ulcers are prime examples of such wounds. They are graded in terms of their severity, which is usually related to the length of time the ulcer has existed. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can be useful for all grades of ulcer, by speeding healing and preventing the ulcer from deteriorating. This helps decrease the risk of unnecessary surgery or amputation. It also reduces long term costs such as the use of expensive dressings, and frees up hospital beds and staff.
In the UK, we follow similar guidelines to those used in the USA as to what HBOT cases we treat and that the NHS will fund.
These include:
- “the bends” in divers
- carbon monoxide poisoning
- bubbles in the brain or arterial circulation
- gangrene
- retinal artery occlusion
- burns
- problem wounds
- radiation tissue damage
- soft tissue infections and ulcers as found in diabetic feet
There are many more conditions that HBOT is used to treat in other European countries, which are still seen as “off-label” in the UK.
Examples are:
- Sudden deafness
- Stroke
- Traumatic brain injury
- Parkinson’s disease
- Cerebral Palsy and Autism
- MS
- Placental insufficiency
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
Oxygen Healing will only recommend HBOT chambers where the doctors there make sure there is enough evidence supporting the use of HBOT for a particular problem.
