The Mechanics Of Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber
Posted by alvina on October 28th, 2019
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a treatment in which patients are put in a pressurized chamber and breathe in pure oxygen to help cure various ailments. This has been done for years mostly to treat decompression sickness in scuba divers. Now, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is being used for infections, air embolisms, carbon monoxide poisoning, burns, and various wounds that won't heal normally. The body's tissues need enough oxygen to function normally, and when injured, it needs even more oxygen to heal. With hyperbaric oxygen therapy, more oxygen can be taken into the bloodstream to be carried through the body allow more efficient healing.
In a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, air pressure is raised to three times higher than normal air pressure allowing the patient's lungs to get more pure oxygen than they normally would. By breathing in more pure oxygen, we can help fight off bacteria and help release growth factors and stem cells, two key parts in the bodily healing process. The chamber comes in two settings: a table for one person to lie on and be slid into a tube-like an MRI machine, or a large room for multiple people to receive oxygen through a mask or clear hood over the head.
The room or single unit is pressurized to a greater amount than one would feel at sea level. The added oxygen inhaled by the person transfers to the tissues where it is absorbed by the cells, without any nitrogen or carbon dioxide mixed in this effect is even greater. Within higher pressure, the oxygen level increases arterial and tissue oxygen tensions to allow in more oxygen through the blood-stream without the help of our hemoglobin. Also, the extra oxygen breaches through blocked areas in the body that red blood cells cannot pass through. Other wonderful effects of the hyperbaric chamber are a reduction in hypoxia, which is a lack of oxygen in the body, and edema, excessive fluid in the body.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is safe and complications are rare, but none the less they do exist as with any other medical procedure. Treatment time in the oxygen chamber is two hours; achieving the full benefits of the oxygen chamber therapy requires multiple visits. Note that because pure oxygen can cause a fire, nothing battery-powered or any petroleum-based facial or hair product is allowed in the room.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been highly recommended for various medical conditions with great research backing. But it is costly and not available so instantly while there are more studies to the full effectiveness of this treatment. How the therapy and chamber works is straightforward and it is beneficial to the health of many who needs a little extra of the ingredient that brings us life every day: oxygen.
