Hyperbaric oxygen therapy delivers a massive influx of oxygen—even to areas with poor blood flow—and results in remarkable benefits that cannot be achieved with any other therapy.

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is medicine's most efficient method of transporting oxygen to cells throughout the body. Safe and painless, it involves breathing concentrated oxygen inside a specially designed, pressurized chamber. (Hyperbaric means “under pressure.”) The result is dramatic benefits for stroke, traumatic head and spinal cord injuries, diabetic ulcers, slow-healing wounds, burns, autism, and a broad range of other conditions.

A typical hyperbaric oxygen treatment session lasts 45 minutes to two hours. During this time, you sit or recline comfortably in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber while breathing oxygen through a mask. You can listen to music, read, watch TV, or simply relax. As the chamber is pressurized, you may notice increased pressure in your ears—a feeling similar to that of a flight takeoff or landing—but there is no other discomfort. When the session ends, the pressure is slowly returned to normal. Hyperbaric oxygen treatments may be repeated, depending on the condition, anywhere from five to 40 times.

How Does Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Work?

When you breathe oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure, this gas is transported on hemoglobin in the red blood cells. Under pressure, however, oxygen dissolves in the plasma, cerebrospinal fluid in the brain and spinal cord, lymph, and other body fluids. It is therefore easily delivered to all tissues, including those with a poor blood supply. Therefore, even areas that have been deprived of oxygen are afforded the tremendous healing benefits of oxygen.

Stroke is perhaps the most dramatic example of what can happen when oxygen delivery to a vital organ is cut off. During a stroke, a blockage or bleeding in blood vessels in the brain interrupts the flow of oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood. As a result, cells in affected area die or are damaged, resulting in speech, vision, mobility, or other problems. When these areas are infused with massive amounts of oxygen during a hyperbaric oxygen treatment, damaged brain cells literally wake up.

But even more subtle oxygen deprivation resulting from poor circulation, injury, surgery, and other causes can retard healing and impair function. That’s why HBOT benefits so many diverse conditions.

HBOT Works on Multiple Fronts

HBOT also works on other fronts to promote healing. It curbs infection by providing a hostile environment to anaerobic bacteria, which thrive in the absence of oxygen. It promotes the growth of new capillaries and blood vessels to areas with poor circulation and boost collagen formation. It also mobilizes stem cells.

Stem cells have the unique ability to transform into a variety of cell types. Although you usually hear about embryonic stem cells and the like, we all harbor stem cells in our own bodies, primarily in our bone marrow, and they can be called into action to repair organs and tissues.  Studies show that after just one HBOT treatment, concentrations of circulating stem cells doubled, and after a full course, there was an eight-fold increase in these rejuvenating cells.

These unique mechanisms, coupled with the healing powers of oxygen, provide tremendous benefits. Stroke patients once told there was no hope of regaining function are walking and talking again. Diabetics scheduled for limb amputation due to gangrenous ulcers have cancelled surgeries. Patients with Parkinson’s disease and autism make dramatic strides. And people with serious burns, trauma, and other injuries heal rapidly and return to normal function much earlier than anticipated.

What Conditions Benefit From Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
Autism Bacterial infections of the skin Burns
Carbon monoxide poisoning Decompression sickness ("the bends") Diabetic ulcers and other complications
Head and spinal cord injury Infections Migraine headache
Multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases Musculoskeletal injuries Neurodegenerative disorders
Non-healing wounds Parkinson’s disease Post-surgical healing
Spider bites Stroke  

Real-Life Success Stories

Click here to read about how other people just like you used Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to get back on the road to health.

Additional Information

Click here to read more about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Contact Us

To learn more about becoming a patient and receiving Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at the Whitaker Wellness Institute, contact a Patient Services Representative at (800) 488-1500 or click here.

Come See Us

The Whitaker Wellness Institute is located near the Orange County/John Wayne Airport in Newport Beach, California. If you are looking for a place to receive Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Orange County, call (800) 488-1500 to make an appointment today.