Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy, or HBOT, is a therapy that entails administering oxygen at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. The therapy has been used for treating diving-related decompression sickness, infection, and carbon monoxide poisoning. The procedure could be used to treat concussion, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or post-concussion syndrome.
A Brief Intro to Concussions
When an individual gets hit on their head and suffers significant trauma, a concussion or traumatic brain injury (TBI) could be an outcome. Concussions could lead to short-term loss of memory, resulting in the person not being able to remember how the injury or accident occurred.
Concussions are usually caused by some kinds of external force, which include wounds penetrating the cranium and closed-skull injuries. Concussions could have varying levels of severity; however, all go down as serious injuries and must be duly evaluated by a doctor.
Adolescent and professional athletes, particularly the ones engaged in contact sports, are at an increased risk of developing concussions. Also, TBIs usually are trademark wounds of veterans coming back from a war zone. However, this doesn’t mean others are immune from concussions or have zero risks of developing the condition. Motorcycle and car accidents, sports injuries, slips and falls – all could lead to brain trauma.
Using HBOT to Treat Concussion
The modern HBOT procedure wherein 100 percent O2 is breathed inside a pressurized chamber has been around since the 1930s. It was first used for treating decompression illness among divers. Currently, there are multiple FDA-approved use-case scenarios for HBOT, which include decompression illness, air embolism, gas gangrene, radiation necrosis, osteomyelitis, and the recently added – diabetic ulcers.
How does HBOT work? By boosting tissue oxygenation, cells function more optimally. Increased oxygen creates extra energy for enhanced tissue regeneration and accelerated repair. Low oxygen levels, or hypoxic tissue, could result in cell death. This is the major cause of several major health problems, including heart attack, stroke, diabetes complications, and cancer.
HBOT treats TBI by administering 100 percent oxygen at a particular ATA (atmosphere absolute) level. HBOT could induce neuroplasticity, which may lead to the repair of chronically weakened brain functions and enhanced quality of life, particularly during the later stages of life.
Neuroprotection gets induced in the brain in the form of different mechanisms, which include increasing tissue oxygenation, decreasing apoptosis, reducing inflammation, declining ICP (increased intracranial pressure), promoting angiogenesis and neurogenesis.
The standard operating procedure is administering 100 percent oxygen at a 1.5 ATA rate. Several clinical trials and studies have demonstrated that HBOT therapy could increase neuroplasticity, decrease inflammation, and restore cognitive and motor function, even many years after the accident or injury occurred.
Benefits and Reservations
The benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for concussions could be improved patient health and a continuing healing process. The therapy would help support different brain functions and tissue restoration, enhance the quality of life of a patient, and overall well-being.
HBOT can significantly and permanently improve chronic TBI symptoms even several months or years after the injury. However, this assertion is usually met with skepticism in the medical industry, since it’s taught for decades that a post-concussion symptom that persists for more than six months post a head injury cannot be repaired or reversed. HBOT treatment, therefore, has been limited to rehabilitative services and symptom management.
