Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy—The Advanced Therapy Everyone Needs to Know About

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May is Hyperbaric Awareness month. 

This is year two of the awareness initiative that the team at CūtisCare launched a year ago today, to elevate awareness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) as an effective healing option for many different chronic conditions. Still, many patients go without this treatment because they are unaware of treatment indications, benefits, and the patient selection criteria of hyperbaric medicine. 

We’re turning on the pressure to make our communities hyperbaric aware, but we need your help. We’ve come a long way toward creating more awareness for this life-changing therapy and we won’t stop until every doctor, patient, and clinical decision-maker is aware of the potential positive impact of HBOT as part of a comprehensive wound treatment plan.

In this post, we’ll cover the basics of HBOT in treating several chronic illnesses and conditions that have become way too widespread, including: 

  • Radiation-Induced Late Side Effects
  • Lower Extremity Wounds Including Foot Ulcers
  • Arterial Insufficiencies and Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)
  • Osteoradionecrosis
  • Chronic Radiation Tissue Injury (CRTI), aka Soft Tissue Radionecrosis (STRN)

HBOT can be a game-changing treatment for these and many other illnesses. And In many cases, the treatments are approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

What’s the one common denominator behind the diverse etiologies of most chronic wounds? As stated by our partners at Hyperbaric Aware, “HBO2 has been used to treat a variety of different diseases that all have hypoxia – a lack of oxygen – as a common denominator.

So what exactly is HBOT, and what is the primary benefit of the treatments for patients? Johns Hopkins Medicine sums it up:

HBOT helps wound healing by bringing oxygen-rich plasma to tissue starved for oxygen. Wound injuries damage the body's blood vessels, which release fluid that leaks into the tissues and causes swelling. This swelling deprives the damaged cells of oxygen, and tissue starts to die.

HBOT entails breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized environment, usually in a hyperbaric treatment room or individual chamber. 

As the lungs take in large amounts of pressurized oxygen, the patient’s blood becomes more highly oxygenated. Hyperbaric oxygen increases the dissolved oxygen in the blood and increases the amount of oxygenated plasma dissolved in tissue. 

The treatments can also stimulate the release of substances known as growth factors and stem cells, which promote healing and the growth of new blood vessels and cells. HBOT can also help to fight bacterial growth. All of these treatment benefits promote healing.  

What are the specific benefits of HBOT to patients with chronic wounds?

See what patients are saying about the life-changing value of these treatments

It’s the second year of recognizing the month of May as Hyperbaric Awareness Month. And awareness is growing. Let’s all do our part to make sure we’re changing lives one patient at a time, whenever and wherever we can.  

Could your hospital, practice, or clinic benefit from enhanced wound care capabilities?

Are you interested in attaining the highest level of certification as a center of excellence for HBOT? Accredited facilities demonstrate a commitment to enhancing performance, managing risk, and distinguishing themselves from non-accredited facilities. 

The entire CūtisCare team is dedicated to pursuing exceptional patient outcomes through purpose-built, cost-effective, compliant, innovative HBOT solutions. We provide hospitals, research facilities, clinics, and private practices nationwide with the solutions, physician mentoring, and knowledge they need to treat their patients’ chronic wound problems. 

We can also help clarify the approved uses of HBOT by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and provide guidance with hyperbaric treatment indications and patient selection criteria.

Maybe you have some questions about wound care treatment and Hyperbaric Medicine? 

Either way, we’d love to share our 25 years of knowledge and experience with you. Get in touch with one of our HBOT thought leaders today.