If your doctor has prescribed hyperbaric oxygen therapy for a chronic or acute condition, you may not know what to expect from the process. These therapy sessions in hyperbaric chambers don’t always offer immediate results, which can leave you wondering if they’re making a difference.
There are a number of tips that can help you understand this treatment, decide whether you’re getting the most out of your sessions, and know when it may be time to adjust your care.
What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
The normal air that you breathe every day is 21% oxygen. When you receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you get access to air that is 100% oxygen, and you do so while being in a chamber that is pressurized at anywhere from 1.5 to three times the normal atmospheric pressure.
The higher oxygen levels and increased pressure in hyperbaric chambers allow you to absorb more of the gas. When you increase the amount of oxygen in your blood plasma, it’s easier for this nutrient-rich blood to reduce inflammation, reach injured tissues, stimulate healing, and fight off infections.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is effective at treating numerous conditions, including:
- Gas embolisms
- Burns
- Anemia
- Radiation injuries
- Crush injuries
- Diabetic foot ulcers
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
- Decompression sickness
If you’re a good candidate to receive this type of care, understanding what you can expect from the treatment process is not always simple, however, because changes can be subtle. How do you monitor the improvements you’ve made?
Therapy in Hyperbaric Chambers: Monitoring Your Progress
As you get ready to start hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the following tips can help you monitor how quickly you are improving and whether you’ll need to adjust your treatment.
Set Goals and Expectations Before Therapy Starts
It’s essential to have clear and realistic expectations of what hyperbaric oxygen therapy can do for your condition. Your provider is invaluable during this step because they will give you a baseline of your current health status.
By knowing where you are starting from and setting a realistic goal, it can be easier to notice even the smallest improvements.
Ask your provider what the most likely outcome will be, depending on your condition, and have them provide some type of outline of the treatment schedule. What changes can you expect in two weeks? A month? A year? Although the results of treatment can be different for everyone, this can still give you an idea of the basics.
It can also help to know what your most important goals are. If reducing inflammation is the first step to dealing with a wound, that should be your focus when you look for improvements. You can make changes once you reach that goal.
Keep a Journal of Your Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Keeping a journal can give you a great idea of the progress you’ve made. Sometimes, improvements can be slow, and you may not remember where you started out. By writing down your symptoms each day, measuring pain or discomfort levels, and noting what you experienced during and after each session, you will have all of the information you need to gauge your progress.
Don’t just focus on your physical symptoms, either. Note your mental and emotional states, too, because they can influence your overall well-being.
Aside from giving you a bird’s eye view of your treatment, you can use your journal to speak with your doctor about any concerns or worries you have. You can point to specific symptoms you may not yet know how to deal with or use the information to plan the next stage of treatments.
Communicate Regularly With Your Provider
Go for check-ins as often as possible so that you and your provider can clearly see how the therapy is working. These evaluations give your doctor a significant amount of information, allowing them to adjust the therapy as needed.
You may not be improving as quickly as expected, for example, which could mean that it may be necessary to increase sessions.
Not only does having regular check-ins assist your path toward healing, but it can also boost your confidence. You know that you can always speak with your doctor and get any issues addressed quickly.
Celebrate Successes and Milestones
Whether big or small, celebrating your successes is another way of gauging the improvements you’ve made. Even completing a few months of treatment is cause for celebration because you’re on the right path. Doing this keeps your confidence and commitment levels up while also giving you a chance to reflect on how far you’ve come.
After celebrating the milestones and successes, you can look at them more closely to see what your next goal should be. You can also make adjustments if something did not work as well as you expected. Changes in your conditions can prompt changes in treatment, so it’s vital that you and your provider remain flexible.
Trust Yourself and Your Provider
If you notice changes, whether positive or negative, trust what you’re feeling and speak with your provider. A simple step, such as mentioning that you are not improving as quickly as you were before, for example, can prompt an adjustment to your treatment that could significantly enhance your results.
Give your provider the chance to assess the concerns you have. They may have a different view of your progress, which can provide the peace of mind you need.
Beginning Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Safely
Hyperbaric chambers offer the chance to improve the amount of oxygen you have in your blood plasma. Higher levels of oxygen can prompt the kind of healing you may need to address wounds that don’t seem to improve, systemic inflammation, and a variety of other issues.
At Nenergy Boost, we provide a wealth of regenerative medicine services and IV therapy options. You can receive the personalized care you deserve in a comfortable space. Are you ready to begin your journey to a healthier you? Schedule a consultation with the team at Nenergy Boost to get started.