Wound Healing with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) supercharges our ability to heal by stimulating a variety of physiological advantages through the application of pressure and oxygen. HBOT drastically improves recovery time while improving tissue strength, flexibility, and vascularization.
Injury causes inflammation and blood vessel damage that reduce blood flow to the site of injury, limiting our ability to heal. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy bypasses these limitations by diffusing oxygen directly into the fluid of our blood (plasma), delivering this plasma oxygen directly to injured tissue that is in limited supply due to inflammation and swelling.
Common Injuries treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
- Post-surgical – dramatically improves healing and allows patients to return to movement that is essential for recovery
- Burns
- Cuts
- Plastic Surgery
- Post-Surgical Scarring, Pain and Inflammation
- Bone Fractures
- Strain and Sprains
- Infection
- Slow Healing Wounds
How can hyperbaric oxygen therapy help with Injury Healing?
There are numerous healing functions that are supercharged during hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a result of pressure.
- providing abundant levels of plasma-rich oxygen to our tissue for healing
- reducing inflammation throughout our brain and body
- reducing swelling
- increasing fibroblast production which are critical to healing
- reducing scarring (fibrosis)
- increasing stem cell production for tissue repair
- improving detoxification
- increasing collagen production, which is the most abundant protein in the body and is a major contributor to the health of our joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles, bone, and skin.
- increasing flexibility of joints and muscles (by stimulating the hydroxylation of proline and lysine)
- stimulating osteoblasts that are essential for new bone production and repair.
- stimulating release of growth factors such as trophic factor to enhance repair and regeneration at the cellular level.
- stimulating growth of new blood vessels to supply tissue with greater circulation and oxygen to promote repair and regeneration by releasing greater amounts of vascular endothelial growth factor
- balancing our fight or flight and relaxation and digestion systems by strengthening the health of our autonomic nervous system, impacting blood flow within our brain that leads to dizziness, headaches, slow processing, memory changes and many other symptoms
- enhancing cerebrospinal fluid flow
Other benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a quickly evolving science and the full benefits are continually being discovered. HBOT increases the amount of oxygen in our bloodstream and increases circulation to deliver abundant amounts of oxygen to the brain, supersaturating our tissue with energy needed for healing, growth, and repair. This creates a healthier environment for our brain to work and control our autonomic nervous system. Because of this, the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be found in all parts of the body and in a wide range of ways. Some benefits can include:
- Faster healing from trauma
- Reduced inflammation
- Increased stem cell release
- Improved brain health
- Detoxification
- Improved autonomic nervous system function
- …and many more
Learn more about the many benefits of HBOT and how it works.
Supporting Research
- Research from Stephen R. Thom and his team showed that over the course of 20 hyperbaric oxygen treatments, circulating stem/progenitor cells increased by 800% as a result of Nitric Oxide synthesis.
- HBOT remains among the safest therapies used today.
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is an important advanced therapy in the treatment of problem wounds, including diabetic foot ulcers and late effect radiation injury as described by Heyboer et al.
Sources
- Thom SR, Bhopale VM, Velazquez OC, Goldstein LJ, Thom LH, Buerk DG. Stem cell mobilization by hyperbaric oxygen. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2006 Apr;290(4):H1378-86. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00888.2005. Epub 2005 Nov 18. PMID: 16299259.
- Goldstein LJ, Gallagher KA, Bauer SM, Bauer RJ, Baireddy V, Liu ZJ, Buerk DG, Thom SR, Velazquez OC. Endothelial progenitor cell release into circulation is triggered by hyperoxia-induced increases in bone marrow nitric oxide. Stem Cells. 2006 Oct;24(10):2309-18. doi:
- Fosen KM, Thom SR. Hyperbaric oxygen, vasculogenic stem cells, and wound healing. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2014 Oct 10;21(11):1634-47. doi: 10.1089/ars.2014.5940. Epub 2014 May 19. PMID: 24730726; PMCID: PMC4175035.
- Velazquez OC. Angiogenesis and vasculogenesis: inducing the growth of new blood vessels and wound healing by stimulation of bone marrow-derived progenitor cell mobilization and homing. J Vasc Surg. 2007 Jun;45 Suppl A(Suppl A):A39-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2007.02.068. PMID: 17544023; PMCID: PMC2706093.
- Lee YS, Chio CC, Chang CP, Wang LC, Chiang PM, Niu KC, Tsai KJ. Long course hyperbaric oxygen stimulates neurogenesis and attenuates inflammation after ischemic stroke. Mediators Inflamm. 2013;2013:512978. doi: 10.1155/2013/512978. Epub 2013 Feb 21. PMID: 23533308; PMCID: PMC3595722.
- Heyboer M 3rd, Sharma D, Santiago W, McCulloch N. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Side Effects Defined and Quantified. Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2017 Jun 1;6(6):210-224. doi: 10.1089/wound.2016.0718. PMID: 28616361; PMCID: PMC5467109.
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