What can HBOT Treat?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is perhaps most associated with diving injuries and chronic wound healing, but it’s recognized as a safe and effective treatment for more than a dozen acute and chronic conditions*, from diabetic foot ulcers to radiation injury. Specifically, HBOT has been known to treat the following conditions:
Decompression illness (sometimes called diving sickness)
Carbon monoxide intoxication/poisoning
Cyanide poisoning
Gas embolism/air embolism (blockage of blood supply to a vital organ)
Gas gangrene/myonecrosis (bacterial infection)
Acute traumatic peripheral ischemia (tissue injury to an extremity caused by lack or loss of blood flow)
Crush injuries/suturing of severed limbs
Progressive necrotizing infections, such as necrotizing fasciitis (death of tissue caused by fast-spreading bacterial infection)
Acute peripheral arterial insufficiency (which can lead to ulcers and other non-healing wounds)
Compromised skin grafts/skin flaps
Chronic refractory osteomyelitis (bone infection)
Soft tissue radionecrosis (tissue damage caused by radiation)
Actinomycosis (rare bacterial infection that causes sores and abscesses)
Aside from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)-approved conditions above, HBOT therapy is continually being researched as a viable treatment for a range of acute and chronic conditions.
*You might hear or see these sometimes referred to as “indications” by those in the medical profession.
