there’s more to hyperbaric oxygen than just breathing in air

 

This treatment is near and dear to us.   In our circumstances, we found this to be the single most amazing treatment that produced great results.  

 

In a Nutshell

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) does not undo the effects of stroke.  It does not grow new brain tissue.  It cannot get your body to move again.  What HBOT can do is feed your cells with pure oxygen richer than the air we breathe.  That pure oxygen provides the optimum environment for your inflamed damaged tissues to heal and for brain neurons to grow optimally.

 

What It Does

Why not just breathe oxygen through a cannula?  The pressure of the chamber opens your cells to receive oxygen in every cell of your body and it opens your bone marrow to release your own stem cells.  

 

Those stem cells rapidly multiply with each and every treatment building on themselves and travel through the body to heal damage and inflammation wherever it may be.   Stem cell injections take up to a year to fully realize their potential and that is the same with HBOT in that regard. 

 

After stroke, particularly traumatic ones, the brain needs to be calmed down, it needs oxygen to help the penumbra come back online and help the neurons to rebuild.  Neurons are mini brain highways that transmit information.  

 

Let’s say you lost speech.  The brain can be retaught how to retrieve language but the process is excruciatingly slow and difficult.  The brain has to build new neuronal connections to transmit this information.  The growth is slow and cannot be rushed.  

 

Oxygen helps that process.  Everyone is different.  Everyone will have different results.  If you’re committed to your therapy on the daily and you incorporate HBOT as part of your therapy regimen, we are confident you’ll see results like we have.  

 

Insurance Coverage

The drawback is that HBOT is “off label” for stroke recovery meaning it isn’t covered by insurance.  Ever.  And probably never will be given the cost.  HBOT for stroke depends on building results so you do 30-40 sessions in a row, take an 8 week break and start another cycle of 30-40 sessions.  

 

We’ve found HBOT owners are compassionate people.  They KNOW what they’ve got and how helpful it is for so many diseases and damages.  They want to help and try to keep their fees as close to covering operational costs as possible.  But that many sessions at once is going to add up.  We’ve found many HBOT owners offer payment plans, help you find financing and even grants if you fall in certain categories.

 

A Final Word

Read the HBOT information on the Resources page, do your research and come to your own conclusions as to whether this treatment is right for you.  Neuroplasticity and therapy will help  whether you do HBOT or not.  The difference, in our non medical opinion and personal experience, is how fast it happens when HBOT is combined with intensive PT/OT and Speech.