Treating Injury and Inflammatory Disease
Breathing 100% oxygen at greater than normal atmospheric pressure has shown to be a powerful anti-inflammatory therapy and a significant driver of tissue repair and healing processes. HBOT is used worldwide to treat dozens of conditions from wounds that won’t heal, infections and crush injuries, to stroke, neurological disease and brain injury. Our center offers state-of-the-art hyperbaric oxygen therapy under the direction of qualified physicians in a medical practice setting.
Who We Help?
Bethesda Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is part of a private medical practice in North Bethesda, Maryland. We introduced HBOT into our practice six years ago to support our patients dealing with the debilitating effects of complex, chronic inflammatory conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and the myriad infections labeled Lyme disease. We have since seen HBOT return veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and PTSD to their families, and return young athletes sidelined by concussion for months or years to school. We have seen HBOT effectively and safely treat burns, radiation therapy injuries, neuropathies, and non-healing wounds. And we have seen significant cognitive, neurological and motor skill improvements in stroke patients, adults with declining cognition, children who have suffered early brain injury, and young people on the autism spectrum.
What is HBOT?
Quite simply, hyperbaric oxygen therapy means breathing pure oxygen in an environment that is pressurized above the normal atmospheric pressure at sea level. This results in much greater amounts of oxygen entering circulation through the lungs and diffusing throughout all the tissues of the body, even to areas where blood supply may be limited by injury or illness. It is not a new idea. In the late 1600s the first attempts were made to treat illness by increasing the pressure of normal room air (hyperbaric air). In the early 1900s, pressure chambers have been used to treat divers suffering from decompression illness (the “bends”). Breathing pure oxygen at increased pressure during surgery and to treat infection was introduced in the 1950s.
What Does HBOT Do?
Oxygen is critical in producing the cellular energy for almost all living processes, from growing and healing, to thinking. When the intricate molecular engines that keep us alive are starved of oxygen by injury or disease, our health suffers. In the worst case, cells die. But very often, the damage and disruption are reversible. HBOT delivers high levels of oxygen to all tissues of the body, regardless of blood supply, which:
- Reduces inflammation
- Reduces edema and pain
- Restarts cellular metabolism
- Kills bacteria and fights infection
- Stimulates stem cell production by 800 percent
- Stimulates nerve growth
- Triggers development of new capillary networks
- Increases growth factor production
If you would like to talk with us about how HBOT may be of benefit to you,
please click here and complete the Prospective Patient Inquiry Form.
Hyperbaric Oxygen in the News
Newly emerging research supports the theory that brain health is intricately linked with digestive health, particularly in traumatic brain injury and concussion patients. Both the brain and the gut respond to inflammatory processes that lead to tissue damage and loss...read more
HBOT may relieve symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to new research by investigators at Tel Aviv University’s Sagol School of Neuroscience. Mice with brains having the specific condition that is characteristic of human AD (triple-transgenic model of AD,...read more
Finally a sign of hope for the hundreds of thousands of veterans suffering from PTSD. After years of undaunted efforts by veterans organizations, researchers, clinicians, Congressional members and their staff, this may be a first step in bringing HBOT to the hundreds...read more
HBOT is Safe and Effective Treatment for TBI, PTSD, PPCS; Suicidal Ideation and Panic Attacks Greatly Reduced
HBOT has again been shown to be an effective treatment for veterans with mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Persistent Post-Concussion (PPCS) Syndrome according to a study by Paul Harch, MD, published here in the journal Medical...read more
Not only are young girls and adolescent female athletes more likely to suffer concussions in contact sports, but they also take longer to recover. This is according to new research published by John Neidecker, a sports medicine physician with the Orthopedic...read more
Football legend Joe Namath (number 12) says that based on what we now know about the brain damage caused by playing contact football, young people should not participate, at the least not before age 12. His concerns are not only based on current medical research, but...read more