FAQs and Patient Experience
Frequently Asked Questions
- Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a medical treatment in which concentrated oxygen is inhaled within a pressurized chamber to increase the oxygen in your blood.
- This extra oxygen throughout your body helps to fight bacteria and stimulate the release of substances such as stem cells, which promote healing and the generation of new tissue.
- Tissue Repair occurs through a seemingly magical, yet precise, set of processes and rules which usually work flawlessly.
- The various phases of these regenerative processes require oxygen as an integral component.
- Hyperbaric oxygen raises the oxygen concentration in a person's blood, and subsequently in the tissues in the areas that need to be healed.
- This extra oxygen throughout your body helps to fight bacteria and stimulate the release of substances such as stem cells, which promote healing and the generation of new tissue.
- Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy is a generally safe and easy to manage treatment. There are some things to keep in mind, however.
- The usual sensations in your ears which occur when flying in an airplane also occur when the chamber is pressurized. If you have difficulty with this when flying, it is important to share this with us so we can make it easy for you.
- Additional items which are managed by the hyperbaric team include avoidance of nervous system irritation from excessive oxygen, transient vision changes sometimes experienced, and precautions we adhere to.
- Depending upon your medical condition, in some cases our doctors, who are hyperbaric and diving medicine specialists, may advise that hyperbaric oxygen is risky and not a good choice of therapies.
Hear from our patients about their experience with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Patient Stories
"I came to MO2R on the recommendation of my ENT after having sudden hearing loss eight weeks earlier. I had missed the optimum treatment window of two weeks. This was a ‘salvage’ mission, to reclaim any hearing at all, in order to have something to amplify with a hearing aid.
When I started the treatment sessions I had 0 WDS (word discrimination scores) in my right ear (audiogram). I could hear nothing. About 1/3 of the way through the treatment, an audiogram showed that I had gained 10% word comprehension. I was very hopeful to maybe gain 40 to 50% by the end.
To my surprise, just after the halfway point, I had a significant improvement, to 56% WDS. I would definitely be able to have a hearing aid now.
By the last audiogram, one week after the completion of the treatment sessions, I had amazingly regained 100% WDS! This was completely unexpected by my ENT.
I am so glad that I committed to the treatment plan. It has improved my hearing for the rest of my life."
M.Adler
"I am a cancer patent in remission. As a result of extensive radiation treatments I developed insufficiency fractures of the sacrum and spine, causing a lot of pain especially when weight bearing.
When my oncologist suggested a course of hyperbaric oxygen treatments I was very skeptical, especially when I found out it would take eight weeks- and would “spoil” most of my summer., but I felt I had to give it a try.
After some time I noticed a marked improvement in walking and I was reducing my doses of opioid painkillers.
The treatments proved to be surprisingly pleasant- meeting many very nice people-- the knowledgeable efficient and very kind personnel as well as interesting fellow patients. I was able to adjust the times of the treatments to make it possible to enjoy the summer after all..
Most importantly-- at the end I had drastically cut back on my pain meds, was able to get into the “sub” without assistance, and walk a distance without walker or cane.
It was certainly worth while- thank you!"
"I was told I was going to lose my right lower leg because of an ulcer on the ball of my foot. I’d had it for 15 months. Then I was sent to a wound specialist who opened the wound up took a swab. After a few months I was sent to MO2R. I had a very thorough evaluation and then I was instructed about my ears and how to clear them in the chamber. While I was sitting in the waiting room, I met another patient who has having a coffee. She introduced herself and said don’t worry. I was really scared and probably depressed.
Speaking to another patient really relieved most of my fears and then I started my treatments. After one month my wound had improve greatly. I developed a wound on my left big toe, and they had to work on that. In another month I was completely healed. All the staff were very professional, friendly and courteous. They were really great."
Barbara Pickering