Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, or HBOT

I was going to write about different types of therapy this week, but now after doing research, I have decided to only write about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT).

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber?

HBOT looks like an mri machine, yet it is completely enclosed. These chambers can be made for one person, or many people. When it is large enough for more than one person, someone of support can go inside with you. You lie on a table in the enclosed chamber and breathe oxygen while the pressure inside is slowly increased. The therapy may last as little as three minutes or as long as two hours. Because the pressure is so high some people have ear pain or a popping feeling in their ears. The oxygen dose is determined specifically for each person. HBOT is not safe for everyone. The health care professional must be specifically trained from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. Medicare, Medicaid, and many insurance companies may cover these procedures. Resource: Complication of Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment hopkinsmedicine.org HBOT is used to treat many health conditions, but I will be concentrating on how it can help survivors of severe traumatic brain injuries.

What does HBOT do?

For this therapy, you breathe in pure oxygen in air pressure levels of 1.5 to 3 times higher than average. One of the things HBOT does in the brain is help create new capillaries so it starts building new capillaries around the injured area. It gets new blood flow to the injured area of the brain. Breathing pure oxygen in a pressured environment, your blood is able to promote healing and repair damaged cells faster than normal. It is thought to have a neuroprotective effect such that the area of tissue surrounding a brain injury that is “at risk” or vulnerable to dying/ becoming damaged is minimalized. This can contribute to recovery of neurological function. It is thought to help reduce headaches and lead to improved sleep, mood, and cognitive function. Resource: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) brainline.org

Some patients in a long-term comatose state can be revived to nearly normal functioning through multiple treatments of HBOT.  HBOT may help viable yet sleeping brain cells to recover. Resource: Breaking comas-Neubauer Hyperbaric Neurological Center

Why isn’t HBOT used on all brain injured patients?

Brain injuries vary in severity: not all brain injuries result in tissue damage that can benefit from excess oxygen. While research has shown that HBOT may benefit acute severe tbi, it does not appear to help in the case of acute, mild tbi or post-concussive syndrome. Resource: Can Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Help with Brain Injury Recovery? cognitivefxusa.com

Can HBOT help years after a brain injury?  

Many studies have reported that multiple HBOT could improve neurological deficits and cognitive impairments at the acute stage and at late chronic stages, months to years after tbi.  Treatment may range from less than one week to several months’ duration, the average being 2 to 4 weeks depending on the response of the individual patient and the severity of the original problem. Resource: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for traumatic brain injury: bench-to-bedside ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

How often is HBOT needed?

It can range from 1-2 sessions per day 5 days a week, to 1-2 sessions per week as needed for performance and health maintenance. Resource: How Often Should You Do Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy? Charlottesvillehyperbarics.com

I only heard about this treatment while reading a book called The Courage to Come Back: Triumph Over TBI   A Story of Hope by Michael Coss. He suffered a Diffuse Axonal brain injury from a horrific car accident. He was in a coma for six and a half months and upon receiving three treatments in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, he woke up. Told he would never walk, talk, or feed himself, here he is 17 years later doing all of those things. Michael lives in a home with other brain injured people that need care, but with a caregiver he goes on trips for vacation, he goes to concerts, gives many presentations about his story to help and educate others. He inspires people. He has inspired me. Michael lives a fulfilling life. He has grasped his new life with hope and the belief that anything is possible if you believe. He never gave up no matter who said, “You can’t”.  He has an inspiring documentary I have seen, and I am giving you the link so you can watch it too. https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FiWOPJrCCxLk%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3y2eUJANSNjmTllha50DBtrB9ArngVx-2jiDOB3oWxspIxKb23JZN6Ckc&h=AT3ndRpHSoI6RsLUQPs9iZCVnVAK5zWh4kGzq_9NsWhpYlAkxaXmQZkuv6WQe1qRPoMRNOd-nu3_g0bx-fcsNfbXrPSE74qZBQuWaGjf_LzDzFLy4gQICx2Q9YguLShpvKs-Lw

Michael Coss has a brain injury support group titled, Anything is Possible-Brain Injury Survivor Support Group. He has also developed a nonprofit organization called The Michael Coss Brain Injury Foundation that raises money for brain injured children so selected ones can receive HBOT.

Due to my meeting this man online after reading his book, a man that has received this therapy successfully, I discovered that we are a lot alike in the way that we look at the world. After watching his documentary, I turned to Veronica sitting on the couch beside me and said, “He is us. We are him.” What I mean by that is we never give up. It took him eight years of physical therapy, but he got out of his wheelchair and can walk unassisted now. So many people are fast to feel sorry for themselves. About this I said to Michael, “Not you or us. We, you, Veronica my daughter, and I want to see the good, have faith, and we believe in ourselves.” Surely having the support we need has made the difference. I see that. Oh the bad times were so sad. We had to grieve our old selves and our old lives. And we did that and picked ourselves up and made a new wonderful life seeing our blessings not concentrating on our losses.

 Honestly, I am going to look into seeing if Veronica would be a good candidate for HBOT.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and learn about a treatment not everyone knows about.

If you are interested in learning about Veronica’s and my first 12 years recovering from our brain injuries, our trials and triumphs, please read my book titled,

A Miracle a Day, One Day at a Time: Hope After Traumatic Brain Injury

And press the link below to get to my book.

https://store.bookbaby.com/book/a-miracle-a-day-one-day-at-a-time

Have a beautiful week concentrating on your blessings. If you are breathing, they are there, maybe small, but certainly not insignificant.