1. What does a treatment feel like?
2. What is allowed in the Chamber/What do I wear?
3. How do I prepare for my treatment?
4. How many treatments will it take?
5. What are the potential side effects/adverse reactions?
6. How can I start treatments?
7. What is the difference between a Monoplace and Multiplace Chamber?
8. How do I receive oxygen - face mask vs. oxygen hood?
9. Can I visit the hyperbaric chamber site before I start treatments?
10. Does my insurance cover HBOT?
11. Will my doctor continue to take care of me?
12. Are there any contraindications to hyperbaric oxygen therapy?

1. What does a treatment feel like?

At the start of the treatment, some patients experience a sensation similar to that felt during takeoff and/or landing in an airplane, or going up/down in an elevator. As pressure builds, it is common to feel pressure in the ears. At the end of the treatment, as the pressure is returned to normal, the ears “pop” automatically. Most patients rest comfortably throughout the treatment. Many patients read, sleep, or watch a movie. Since temperature increases during pressurization, the patient may experience a warm feeling when the treatment starts, however this is not uncomfortable. HBOT chambers are equipped with air conditioning to ensure patient comfort.

Return to Top

Basically, patients are instructed to wear cotton undergarments and leave everything else at home or in the car if possible. Each patient is issued hospital scrubs to wear daily. Each patient is also given a bottle with something to drink, as well as a blanket to use as needed.

ITEMS FORBIDDEN IN THE HYPERBARIC CHAMBER:

FOR EVERYONE'S SAFETY PLEASE DO NOT BRING THESE ITEMS INTO THE HYPERBARIC OXYGEN CHAMBER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. IF YOU CANNOT MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS FOR ANY REASON, PLEASE INFORM THE NURSE AND YOUR TREATMENT WILL BE RESCHEDULED.

Matches/Lighters
Cigarettes
Jewelry (must be removed or covered with white tape)
Battery powered equipment (e.g. headphones, watches, hearing aids)
All flammable fabrics - wool/synthetics
Street clothing - wool, silk, “satin” type undergarments
Metallic Objects - bobby pins, hair clips, car keys, etc.
Newspaper, magazines (paperback books are permitted)
Oils and grease (hair preparations, sunscreen, skin lotion)
Hairspray/Hair Gel
Makeup/Perfume
Dentures
Medications
Petroleum-based dressing (e.g. Vaseline gauze) is allowed if covered by another dressing
Alcohol-based applications
Any Static Producing Material (e.g. Velcro)
Hand warmers/transdermal heat patches
Coins
Shoes/Stockings - Cotton socks allowed

**Only 100% cotton undergarments may be worn

Return to Top

The following recommendations are made to improve safety, comfort, and the benefit you will obtain from the treatment.
Your fitness for treatment will be assessed by a hyperbaric medicine specialist prior to your first treatment. Subsequent assessments will occur as necessary. It is your responsibility to notify the doctor or technicians of any medications you are taking, as well as any change in your general health. This is very important should you develop a cold, have problems with clearing your ears or have new dental work.
You will be shown how to "clear" your ears. This is a technique to equalize the pressure on either side of your eardrum to prevent damage to the drum during pressurization. By holding your nose shut and attempting to blow through it, or simply swallowing, air can enter the middle ear cavity via the Eustachian tube. It is only necessary to do this during the compression or pressurization phase in first few minutes of a treatment.
Plenty of rest and a healthy diet are key elements in the healing process. These are recommended during HBOT. Diabetic patients will be encouraged to eat prior to a treatment session, as HBOT may cause a drop in blood sugar level. The blood sugar level will be checked prior to each session.
Smoking or the use of other tobacco products reduces the amount of oxygen carried by the blood, as well as causing blood vessels to constrict. These factors reduce the oxygen delivery to healing tissues, counteracting the benefit of HBOT. You are strongly encouraged to cease smoking.
Please refrain from having hair permanents during the course of your treatment.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is an adjunctive therapy, used in conjunction with other treatments/modalities at the direction of a patient’s private physician. Continued adherence to these other treatments is essential for hyperbaric oxygen therapy to be successful. For example, offloading (keeping weight off the ulcer) is usually suggested. In diabetic patients, control of blood glucose (<150) is very important to maximize the beneficial effects of HBOT.

Return to Top

The treatment’s pressure and duration, as well as the number of treatments received, is determined by the hyperbaric physician. This decision is based on the patient’s diagnosis and their body’s response to the therapy. Most wound healing patients receive one treatment per day (Monday - Saturday) for 20-70 treatments (although some patients have had over 100 treatments for larger more complex wounds). In general, patients with chronic (over 1-2 years) conditions usually receive a longer series of treatments than patients with acute conditions.

Return to Top

HBOT treatment is prescribed by a physician and performed under medical supervision. Although there are minor risks associated with any medical treatment, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is considered extremely safe. The most common side effect is ear pain, and patients are monitored closely for this. Rarely, oxygen toxicity, pulmonary barotrauma, and vision change can be experienced.
The following list of potential side effects is reviewed with each patient prior to beginning therapy.
Otic Barotrauma (pain in the ears or sinuses): Some patients may experience pain in their ears or sinuses. If they are not able to equalize their ears or sinuses, the pressurization will be slowed or halted and suitable remedies will be applied.
Serous Otitis: Fluid in the ears sometimes accumulates as a result of breathing high concentrations of oxygen. It may occasionally feel like having a “pillow over the ear.” This disappears after hyperbaric treatment ceases and often can be eased with decongestants.
Oxygen Toxicity: The risk of oxygen toxicity is minimized by never exposing patients to greater pressure or longer times than are known to be safe for the body and its organs. The risk is less than one in 10,000 treatments.
Visual Changes (blurring, worsening of near-sightedness [myopia], temporary improvement in far-sightedness [presbyopia]): After 20 or more treatments (especially for those over 40 years of age) some patients may experience a change in vision. This is usually temporary and in the majority of patients, vision returns to its pre-treatment level within six weeks of the cessation of therapy. It is not advisable to get a new prescription for glasses or contacts until at least eight weeks after ending hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Cerebral Air Embolism and Pneumothorax: Whenever there is a rapid change in ambient pressure, there is the possibility of rupture of the lungs with escape of air into the arteries or into the chest cavity outside the lungs. This can only occur if the normal passage of air out of the lungs is blocked during decompression. Only slow decompressions are used in HBOT to obviate this possibility. It is important for patients to breathe normally during decompression and not hold their breath.
Risk of Fire: With the use of oxygen in any form there is always an increased risk of fire. However, strict precautions have been taken to prevent this and we are in appliance with all applicable codes. There has never been a fire involving a hyperbaric chamber at Mobile Hyperbaric Centers.

Return to Top

To start hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you will need a referral from your doctor, which could be you family doctor, surgeon, urologist, podiatrist, oncologist, oral surgeon, etc. Insurances such as Medicare, Medicaid, or commercial insurances require a referral from your physician.

Return to Top

A hyperbaric chamber is a container/vessel/room built to withstand an increased internal pressure. They are generally cylindrical, spherical, or rectangular. Hyperbaric treatments may be carried out in either a monoplace or multiplace chamber. The former accommodates a single patient and the entire chamber is pressurized with 100% oxygen, which the patient breathes directly. The latter holds two or more people (patients, support personnel, observers) and the chamber is pressurized with plain air; the patients breathe 100% oxygen within a hood (some facilities use masks). Mobile Hyperbaric Centers uses only multiplace chambers. Multiplace chambers are usually constructed in steel and monoplace units are mainly acrylic. Multiplace chambers have port-holes or small windows and comfortable seating is provided.
 

Our chamber

A monoplace chamber

Return to Top

In a monoplace chamber the entire chamber is filled with oxygen but in a multiplace chamber this is not the case as stated above. So there are two methods available - oxygen hood and face mask. Mobile Hyperbaric Centers has found the oxygen hood to be more comfortable than the mask. Below is a picture of the typical hood and a patient with a hood.

Return to Top

Absolutely. All you need to do is contact our facility closest to you and we could set up a visit to our site.

Return to Top

Most insurance companies cover hyperbaric oxygen therapy, including Medicare and Medicaid. We will assist in obtaining verification of coverage from an insurance company prior to starting treatments.

Return to Top

Yes. The hyperbaric physician serves only as a consultant who will work closely with the patient’s own physician to manage the treatment program.

Return to Top

The only absolute contraindications to HBOT is an untreated tension pneumothorax (an accumulation of air or gas in the pleural cavity of the lungs) and pregnancy. There are several conditions in which caution must be observed, but for the most part does not eliminate the patient from being a candidate for HBOT. It is important the hyperbaric physician be made aware of the following conditions prior to beginning treatment:
Chronic sinusitis
Congenital spherocytosis
Emphysema with CO2 retention
History of optic neuritis
History of reconstructive ear surgery
History of spontaneous pneumothorax
History of thorax surgery
Pulmonary lesions in routine X-ray or CT scan
Seizure disorders
Sickle cell anemia
Uncontrolled high fever
Upper respiratory infections
Viral infections

Return to Top