HBOT
Oxygen is a naturally occurring gas that is absolutely necessary for life and healing. Purified oxygen is defined as a drug but is the most natural of all “drugs.” Oxygen under pressure, which is what HBOT is all about, is still the same gas but is more able to penetrate into parts of the body where the blood flow is hindered which produces ischemia (loss of blood flow) and hypoxia ( lack of oxygen). When oxygen under pressure is breathed by a patient in a sealed chamber it is termed a HBOT. HBO treatments typically last from 45 to 120 minutes during which time the person’s body is surrounded by air pressure equivalent to the pressure produced by diving 16 to 33 feet underwater (7.35 to 14.7 pounds per square inch = 1.5 to 2 ATA).
In addition to raising the arterial levels of oxygen 10 to 15 times higher than that produced by normal atmospheric pressure, the pressure exerted within the body can and does exert therapeutic benefits on acute and chronically traumatized and swollen tissues. This produces all kinds of health benefits such as helping fight off infections, getting oxygen into ischemic tissues, promoting new blood vessel formation, and stimulating dormant or idling neurons in the brain.
When to Use HBOT
When it comes to cerebral palsy, most doctors agree that the best time to use HBOT is as soon after the condition appears as possible (All things considered.) However, HBOT has been shown to resolve tissue swelling even many years after CP first appeared in a child. How does it do this? For one thing it constricts blood vessels and interrupts the vicious cycle where a lack of oxygen leads to tissue swelling, which then leads to further oxygen deficiency, etc. Also in children the brain is still developing and it much more responsive to high levels of oxygen than is true of adults.
HBOT can Produce Remarkable Results!
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is by no means a cure for children with cerebral palsy, but when used with other modalities including stem cells it can produce remarkable healing & restoration.