27/11/2024
MILD HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY (MHBOT)
Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, or mHBOT, is used to enhance and expedite the healing. In addition, this procedure will benefit patients with a history of delayed wound healing, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and those who smoke, to name a few.
Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (mHBOT) is a therapeutic process that increases oxygen and air pressure in our surgical patients. This intensified oxygen and air pressure increases oxygen molecules in the red blood cells and plasma—the liquid that contains red blood cells. mHBOT’s ability to increase oxygen helps the patient’s blood cells improve the healing process by killing bacteria, reducing swelling and inflammation, and repairing damaged tissues. In addition, plasma oxygenation carries oxygen molecules deeper into tissues to areas that often are too small for the oxygen in red blood cells to be effective. mHBOT is non-invasive, natural, painless, and has minimal risk of side effects.
HOW DOES MHBOT WORK?
When breathing oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure, this gas is transported by hemoglobin in the red blood cells. Under pressure, however, oxygen molecules get 400% deeper into your tissues with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. They shrink under this pressure and can squeeze through constricted blood vessels and inflamed tissue, cross the blood-brain barrier, and enter lymph nodes, cerebrospinal fluid, and the musculoskeletal system. Higher oxygen concentrations are, therefore, efficiently delivered to all tissues, including areas with a poor blood supply. mHBOT allows all areas of the body to access the healing benefits of oxygen.
More oxygen equals more energy, which translates to repairing damaged tissues, enhancing tissue regeneration throughout the body, and reaching optimal levels of cellular function on all levels. Conversely, damage from low oxygenation levels (hypoxy) to cells, most histrionically demonstrated in stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, can be significantly affected by hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Increased oxygenation plays a role in fighting harmful bacterial and viral infections by enhancing the cellular functions of the immune system and causing a toxic environment for anaerobic bacterial infection.
MHBOT BENEFITS
To fully understand how Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy helps surgical patients recover, think of a soda can. As the drink’s CO2 particles are under pressure and decrease their size enough to dissolve into the liquid, after popping the can open, tension is released, the CO2 particles increase in size, and you see the fizz.
This process happens to your oxygen molecules as they decrease in size under pressure and dissolve into the blood plasma. This process exponentially increases oxygen delivery through the body. It makes it possible for oxygen to enter inflamed tissue or hypoxic tissue that is starving for oxygen to support optimal cellular activity, leading to these critical benefits for optimal healing:
Increases blood flow
Improves circulation
Fights against toxins
Increases production of cells
Cells regenerate faster
Improves function of white blood cells
Helps the body to fight sickness
WHAT TO EXPECT DURING AN MHBOT SESSION?
The mHBOT chamber will seem smaller when deflated than when fully pressurized. However, within five minutes, the section will completely inflate, allowing sufficient room for an adult to sit upright or fully extend.
After the chamber inflates, it will pressurize. This period is when you may experience pressure in your ears. The easiest way to relieve any discomfort is to equalize your ears with one or more of these methods:
Close your mouth and clamp your nose firmly with your finger and thumb. Blow like blowing your nose, but keep your nose and mouth closed. When you’ve done this procedure correctly, you will feel the air passing through your ears, which should relieve nasal pressure.
Stretching your mouth (yawning) as wide as possible, or stretching your tongue out. This stretching will drain your sinus passages and relieve pressure.
Sit upright and turn your head completely to the right, then to the left. Repeat the earlier steps until you clear your ears.
As air flows into the chamber, you will notice a slight hissing. Once the prescribed pressure is reached, you will remain in the chamber for approximately one hour.
During decompression, when the chamber slowly releases its pressure at the end of your treatment, you may notice your ears popping, along with a cooler temperature. You do not need to clear your ears at this time. Just breathe normally, and don’t hold your breath.
MHBOT SIDE EFFECTS
Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has minimal side effects. While most patients can quickly get accustomed to pressurization or depressurization, there is a risk of ear and sinus trauma. Ear pain is usually temporary and ceases after the treatment is complete. Cheryl will explain to you how to avoid nasal discomfort by carefully regulating compression and decompression speed according to your specific needs.
Other side effects may include:
Claustrophobia
Temporary changes in near-sighted eyesight
Seizures in patients with a history of seizures
Accelerated cataract development (rare)
Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is not for everyone. For example, patients who have had recent ear injury or surgery, a cold or fever, or lung disease should not use mHBOT.
The most frequent complication after mHBOT is middle ear trauma. Other possible complications are eye damage, low blood sugar, lung collapse, and sinus problems. In rare cases, a patient may get oxygen poisoning. This complication can lead to seizures, fluid in the lungs, lung failure, or other complications. Considering the possible benefits and risks, choosing to use hyperbaric oxygen therapy must be carefully considered
