Bariatric wound care, also known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, is a process that uses oxygen to treat serious wounds that are hard to heal. If you suffer from thermal burns, soft tissue infections, radiation burns, skin grafts, diabetes wounds and infection you fear the wounds will never heal. This is very frightening for patients. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy speeds wound healing, reduces infections, and often saves limbs for patients.
How is the Therapy Given?
This therapy is often given in a room called a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The medical staff delivers 100% oxygen to the wound at very high pressure. Sometimes it is given through a gas mask directly into your lungs. It often can be applied to one part of the body like your leg or arm where the wound is located. The wound on the leg is wrapped with a plastic bag and it is filled with oxygen.
This therapy helps heal the wound from the inside out. It builds new blood vessels, helps to fight serious infections, and reduces swelling in the body. Chronic wounds that don’t heal are often caused by diabetes, immobility, vascular diseases, and poor circulation. Bariatric wound care helps the body to heal these wounds naturally.
Treatments and Side Effects
Often your doctor will determine whether you need treatment by blood tests and examining the wounds. There are two types of chambers patients are placed in: mono-place and multi-place. A mono-place chamber is designed to treat one person with oxygen. Multi-place chambers treat several patients at a time using masks or hoods to deliver the oxygen.
This therapy must be prescribed by a physician and performed under supervision. Some of the side effects are changes in the pressure in the eyes and ears. Often tubes are put in the ears to minimize damage and changes are often minor and do not last long.
This type of therapy is excellent for wound healing and open wound care. Wounds like diabetic foot ulcers, surgical wounds, and grafts heal quickly. When your doctor sends you to a specialist they will do a physical exam, take blood tests, and design a specific treatment to help heal your wounds.
Treatment often involves a patient spending about 90 minutes in a chamber several days a week. Single chambers often have TV’s and comfortable bedding so that patients can watch TV or sleep during the treatment. Treatments often last four to six weeks.
Don’t suffer with wounds that don’t heal. Bariatric wound care can help heal wounds that threaten your health. It is effective and painless for open wound care and serious wounds that don’t heal for men and women. If you’re interested in the possibility of bariatric wound care for treatment, talk to your doctor and see if it might be an option for you!
Written by: Joan Russell