Maine Integrative Wellness | Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a method of increasing the transfer of oxygen into blood by using greater than atmospheric pressure in order to improve or correct certain health conditions. CFANM utilizes a "mild" hyperbaric chamber, using ambient air under a pressure of approximately 1.4 atmospheres. Studies at McGill University Medical School have shown that benefits realized in "mild" HBOT chambers are equal to 100% oxygen chambers without the hazards of pure oxygen. Patients lie in the chamber for 30 minutes to an hour and may read, listen to music, sleep or even talk on a cell phone. A series of twenty or more sessions is usually required to derive lasting benefits. The procedure is quite comfortable and will often leave the patient with an increased sense of well-being lasting for several days.

HBOT helps speed the body's healing process. Healing cannot take place without appropriate oxygen levels in the body's tissues. In many cases, such as those involving circulatory problems and strokes, adequate oxygen can't reach the damaged area and the body's natural healing process fails to function properly. Breathing ambient air under pressure can, at times, overcome this oxygen starvation.

Oxygen is essential to life for two reasons. First, oxygen is one of the body's most basic building blocks. All of the body's major components-- water, protein, carbohydrate, and fat - contain oxygen. Second, oxygen helps bring about certain chemical reactions within the body that result in energy production. Energy is needed for functions such as circulation, respiration, and digestion. Energy is also used to maintain a constant body temperature. HBOT forces the oxygen in air into the body under pressure, oxygen dissolves into all of the body's fluids, including the plasma, the lymph, the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. These fluids can carry the extra oxygen even to areas where circulation is poor or blocked, either by trickling past blockages or by seeping into the affected area.

This extra oxygen helps the healing process. It enhances the white blood cells' ability to fight infection. It can promote the development of new capillaries, the tiny blood vessels that connect arteries to veins. It helps the body build new connective tissue. And it helps the organs function the way that they should.