A patient can undergo Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for PTSD in a private treatment chamber or in a larger room built to accommodate multiple patients at once. These are the three phases of treatment:
You will spend the first half of the session reclining on a table and breathing oxygen through a mask as the pressure in the chamber is slowly increased (this is known as the compression phase).
After the pressure has been adjusted to the ideal range, you will be instructed to put on your mask and breathe in the oxygen. This time, which could last a few hours, is ideal for unwinding with a favorite pastime like reading, watching TV, or listening to music.
A medical expert should always be present throughout any HBOT treatment. They’ll brief you on what to anticipate, suggest appropriate break times, and demonstrate how to pop your ears to alleviate pressure.
After your session of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for PTSD, you will be able to exit the chamber, at which point the pressure will restore to its normal level. In most cases, it lasts for a number of weeks, and each of those weeks constitutes a separate session.
Through Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the combined action of both hyperoxia and hyperbaric pressure together with, oxygen fluctuations generated by a pre-defined protocol may target both oxygen and pressure-sensitive genes, resulting in improved mitochondrial metabolism with anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects.
Moreover, these genes induce the proliferation of stem cells, augmented circulating levels of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), and angiogenesis factors, which induce angiogenesis and improve blood flow in the ischemic area.
In recent years there is growing evidence that HBOT-induced brain neuroplasticity leads to the repair of chronically impaired brain functions in post-stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with prolonged post-concussion syndrome, even years after the brain insult, as well as in healthy aging adults.
HBOT can also induce neuroplasticity and significantly improve the clinical symptoms of the most common prototype of central sensitization syndrome – fibromyalgia syndrome.