Hyperbaric O2 Medical Treatment

Hyperbaric O2 medical treatment is the use of concentrated amounts of oxygen to treat medical conditions and illnesses. The use of oxygen to treat medical conditions began during the 1900s with physician Orville Cunningham, and now, many hospitals have at least one chamber to perform hyperbaric O2 medical treatment.

Identification

• Hyperbaric O2 medical treatment involves laying down or standing up in a room known as a chamber that delivers oxygen at around 2.5 times what is found in the atmosphere. During the treatment, you are encouraged to relax and breathe normally.

Time Frame

• The average hyperbaric O2 medical treatment lasts from 30 minutes to two hours.

Types of Uses

• The highly concentrated levels of oxygen delivered during a hyperbaric treatment help burns and wounds heal more quickly, and can be used to treat air embolism, bone infections known as osteomyelitis, carbon monoxide poisoning, brain infections, decompression sickness, gangrene, skin irritation from radiation therapy and foot ulcers in diabetic patients, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Expert Insight

• While effective for treating wounds and burns, hyperbaric O2 medical treatment is sometimes advertised as being able to treat other medical condition, for which there is no scientific evidence to support these claims, according to the American Cancer Society. Unproven uses of hyperbaric O2 medical treatment include the treatment of AIDS, arthritis, autism, multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy, senility, cirrhosis, Lyme disease and cancer.

Risks

• The most common side effect of hyperbaric O2 medical treatment is temporary lightheadedness or tiredness. More serious risks from the treatment include loss of far vision, seizures, the accumulation of fluid in the lungs and oxygen toxicity, which can be fatal.

Considerations

• Because oxygen is considered a drug by the Food and Drug Administration, oxygen therapy is only available with a doctor's prescription.