When you get a cut on your skin or undergo surgery, your body gets into healing mode automatically. But what happens when your healing slows down? What if you have a wound that won’t seem to close? What if you experience pain and inflammation for too long?
You might be surprised to know that delayed healing is very common, as millions of people are suffering from diabetes today. A non-healing wound or injury can occur due to many reasons, including chronic conditions like diabetes, infections, or other diseases. When this happens, the body fails to bring enough oxygen to affected areas, which is a crucial part of the healing process.
This is the point where Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy comes in to help, by supplementing oxygen to the body. Though it is not the best solution for all medical conditions, its use in particular cases has proved to be very useful for chronic wounds and other types of injuries.
But Why Do Some Injuries Take Longer To Heal?
The healing of wounds is complicated and occurs in different stages involving inflammation and the formation of new tissue. Normally, wound healing proceeds as expected, but there are conditions that interfere with the healing process, which leads to acute injuries changing into chronic wounds. Poor circulation is an important factor among them; diseases like diabetes, in terms of increased sugar levels, lead to damage of blood vessels, and as a result, they become weaker.
Other factors preventing recovery of wounds include infections, different types of swelling, traumatic injury, obesity, smoking, and so on. Age is another important factor, since older tissues are not able to recover as fast as younger ones.
Chronic wounds can be caused by the fact that the healing process gets stuck at the inflammation phase, which leads to pain and inflammation, and even a higher risk of complications such as amputation.
The Treatment Option: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves the delivery of pure oxygen (almost 100%) to a person in a chamber under pressure, often 1.5–3 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure. This increases the volume of oxygen carried in the body through blood plasma, going beyond what is possible through red blood cells alone. According to Henry’s Law, the increased pressure makes it possible to dissolve more oxygen in the body. The duration of each session varies between 60 and 120 minutes, and the total number of hours of treatment depends on the condition being treated. The chambers can be either monoplace (for a single person) or multiplace (for a group of patients treated together). The treatment process is painless, although the pressure change can be felt, similar to ear popping while flying.
HBOT Benefits: How It Accelerates Tissue Repair
- Creating New Blood Vessels (Angiogenesis): A wound cannot heal properly without a sufficient blood supply. During the therapy, a person is treated with high amounts of oxygen, which signals the body to produce various growth factors responsible for the creation of new blood vessels. Because the body has received a sufficient amount of oxygen, it is provided with an adequate environment to develop a new network of blood vessels through the injured site. The capillaries responsible for providing a constant flow of blood to the injured site will keep functioning long after the therapy is finished.
- Increasing the Level of Collagen Production: In order to heal the wound, the body requires oxygen to synthesize a strong collagen network. Collagen can be considered a basis for synthesizing skin and other tissues. The cells responsible for collagen synthesis need a high level of oxygen in order to produce collagen and heal the injury.
- Combating Infection and Reducing Swelling: Bacteria generally grow in oxygen-poor, dark environments. HBOT therapy fills the body with pure oxygen, creating an environment in which it becomes difficult for harmful bacteria to survive and grow. Moreover, this method contracts enlarged blood vessels, thus expelling excess fluid from the body and reducing localized swelling.
- Releasing Stem Cells: Much research shows that under pure oxygen, when a patient breathes high-pressure oxygen, their body releases large amounts of stem cells into the bloodstream. Stem cells are considered reparative tools because they have the ability to transform into any tissue the body needs, such as new skin or muscle.
Specific Conditions For Which HBOT Is Most Beneficial
Some specific conditions for which HBOT is considered among the most effective treatments are:
Diabetes and Foot Ulcers: High amounts of sugar in the bloodstream cause damage to blood vessels over time, and blood flow is naturally reduced in areas like the feet; hence, the right amount of nutrients and oxygen is not able to reach the affected area. Use of HBOT delivers pure oxygen directly to stubborn open wounds in a pressurized chamber, which helps in the absorption of oxygen into the blood plasma. This helps heal the tissue much faster.
Radiation and Delayed Radiation Injury: Radiation therapy for any reason, be it cancer treatment, causes some damage to surrounding normal tissues in the process, leading to stiffer vessels over time. Since the blood vessels become stiffer, circulation around that tissue is significantly affected. HBOT helps restore blood circulation and healing of the wound.
Chronic Bone Infection: Bone infections become very difficult to treat, especially with basic treatment options. No matter how many oral antibiotics are taken, they struggle to reach the infected area because the circulatory system is weak; this is very common in diabetic patients. For this, HBOT is helpful because it directly targets blood circulation.
Crush Injuries: Severe, traumatic injuries block circulation and cause severe local swelling and inflammation. The hyperbaric chamber helps preserve tissue health under extreme physical stress.
How TenMed Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine Helps
We understand that dealing with an injury or a wound that does not get better is highly frustrating. That’s why we do not believe in short-term or generic solutions. Our approach is focused on addressing the problem at its source, which is the lack of oxygen. Through the use of advanced hyperbaric chamber technology combined with personalized care, we help you achieve the best results from HBOT treatment by stimulating the healing process inside your body.
Conclusion: An unhealed wound or prolonged injury should not keep you from experiencing life to the fullest. Non-healing wounds happen not because of a lack of healing effort, but rather because your body may not have enough oxygen to restart the tissue-repair process. By utilizing innovative procedures like HBOT, it is possible to repair damaged blood vessels, eliminate stubborn swelling, and help you rebuild a healthy circulatory system.
FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1. Are there any side effects to hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
Answer: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is remarkably safe. The primary side effects are very minor and could include a bit of pressure in the ears, which disappears once the session is over. Some patients may feel a little sleepy right after treatment, but this quickly passes as the body adjusts to the new oxygen provided during treatment.
Question 2. What is the biggest benefit of HBOT for non-healing tissues?
Answer: HBOT serves many biological functions that enable tissue healing. Some of the benefits of HBOT include:
- Angiogenesis: Building a new network of small blood vessels to restore blood flow to the damaged area.
- Collagen synthesis: Providing sufficient energy to the cells responsible for building a healthy environment for new skin and muscle tissue.
- Infection control: Filling the wound area with oxygen to kill bacteria and improve immune system function.
Question 3. How many hours will I have to spend inside an HBOT chamber to see results in my non-healing diabetic foot wound?
Answer: Since healing is a gradual process, a single session will not work wonders on your wound. Each HBOT session lasts about 60 to 120 minutes, usually scheduled as prescribed by your physician.